Abhiras of Rajputana The Abhiras were a strong and powerful people with well-built bodies [40] and originally lived in the desert. [12] Mahabharata (IX, 37, 1) locates the Abhiras in western Rajputana where the river Sarasvati disappears. [35][41] and north eastern Sind .[19] In Samudraguptas time (c. AD 350) the Abhiras lived in Rajputana and Malava on the western frontier of the Gupta empire. [42] Historian Dineshchandra Sircar thinks of Abiravan between Herat [43] and Kandahar which may have been the original home of the Abhiras. [12] Their occupation of Rajasthan also at later date is evident from the Jodhpur [citation needed ] inscription of Samvat 918, that the Abhira people of the area were a terror to their neighbours, because of their violent demeanour. [43][44] Abhiras of Rajputana were sturdy and regarded as Mlecchas , and carried on anti Brahmancial activities.As a result, life and property became unsafe. Pargiter points to the Pauranic tradition that the Yadavas , while retreating northwards after the Kurukshetra war from their western home in Dwarka and Gujarat, were attacked and broken up by the rude Abhiras of Rajasthan. [45] The Abhiras did not stop in Rajasthan; some of their clans moved south and west reaching Saurastra and Maharastra and taking service under the Satavahanas and the Kshatrapas . [46] Also founded a kingdom in the northern part of the Maratha country, and an inscription of the ninth year of the Abhira King Ishwarsena .[47][48]
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 09:43:12 +0000
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