Kuru Kingdom
The Kuru - Panchala were an Indo-Aryan tribal confederation in northern India.
It was formed probably in the eleventh century BC and had a fundamental importance for the development of early Indian society. Over the duration of their existence is not known. At least the Kuru kingdom was destroyed under the pressure of pushing behind Salvatore in spätvedischer time.
The three strains of the Kuru (also: Kauravas ) sat in the space between the five Mesopotamia and the upper Gangetic plain, and the six clans of Panchala sat in the upper Gangetic plain. The Kuru kings led their lineage for centuries on the Paurava or Bharata back, but the traditional genealogy is wavering. Situated between the famous Bharata king Suda ( a) and the well-known Kuru king Parikshit were only a few decades, because of Parikshit important priest Tura Kavasheya was the great-grandson of a killed in the Ten Kingdoms battle priest named Kavasha. Parikshit is mentioned in the Mahabharata and in a hymn of the Atharvaveda in the Puranas. Its capital was Asandivat and may today Asandh the river Chitang, but is also often identified with Hastinapura. A second center is to Indraprastha, that is, Have been Delhi. As the Indo-Aryan tribes still semi-nomadic wandering about at that time with ox carts and their farming neighbors driving Dasyu robbed, put the existence of a political center a novelty dar.
Parikshit 's son Janamejaya said. He is said to have conquered after the Mahabharata and Taxila (if that's not true) have been a great conqueror, at least according to the Aitareya Brahmana. His three brothers Bhimasena, Ugrasena and Shrutasena directed from the Vedic horse sacrifice ( Ashvamedha ), its successful implementation included the recognition of sovereignty by the neighbors. In this case, a horse was consecrated and set free for one year. An army (or 400 warriors) followed him and opened the fight against any opponent who dared to obstruct the animal the way. It was then strangled, placed together with the Queen under a blanket, cut, cooked and sacrificed.
To Bharata, and even more to Kuru - time four items which were then filed later in the Indian caste system were formed. Three of these objects, that is, the state of the priests ( Brahmins ), the nobles ( Kshatriya ) and the free tribesmen ( Vaishya ) were the Aryans reserved, while the ( reliable? ) subjugated were classified in a fourth state as Shudra. The hierarchical model replaced while the unbridled struggle of the Indo-Aryans from each other by a contest in which you had to earn his place in the hierarchy by the observance of a religious ritual, ie it ordered the Indo-Aryan society. This did not fight longer the 30 Indo-Aryan tribes of the Rigveda against each other but it was formed in the large association of Kuru - Panchala and the " Plateau " ( Madhyadesa ), are mentioned in addition to the smaller tribes only marginally. Campaigns in the east and south took the place of internal strife and the Indo-Aryan society model was partly by force, partly peaceful exported (about 1000-800 BC). The natives, however, were excluded as non-Aryans from the possibility of acquiring a suitable ritual position and their discrimination case was passed on to some of their professions (eg blacksmiths, millers ).
At the time of Kuru - Panchala in a large part of northern India was a gray -painted ceramics (PGW ) in use, but the assignment to one or the other strain is difficult. Furthermore, the emergence of the iron is dated to this time.