Puru (Vedic tribe)

The Purus were a tribe, or a confederation of tribes, mentioned many times in the Rigveda. RV 7.96.2 locates them at the banks of the Sarasvati River. There were several factions of Purus, one being the Bharatas. Purus rallied many other groups against King Sudas of the Bharata, but were defeated in the Battle of the Ten Kings (RV 7.18, etc.).

The Purus and other Early Vedic tribes.

Etymology

The name Puru is of possible Indo-Aryan origin.[1]

Rigveda

In Mandala 4, Trasadasyu is the chieftain of the Purus. He is the son of Purukutsa, and is stated to have been born as a result of his father's Ashvamedha (Horse Sacrifice) with the horse Daurgaha. Trasadasyu's own horse, Dadhrikā, is extolled in RV 4.38-40. In these hymns, Dadhrikā is stated to have become a divine being, the sacrificial horse of the Ashvamedha, and a symbol of Puru and Indo-Aryan dominance.[2][3]

Claimants

Later rulers may have claimed lineage to the Puru clan to bolster their legitimacy. Modern scholars conjecture that Porus may have been a Puru king. However, Porus is not known in Indian sources.[4] Nor can he be traced to the Puru clan.

Notes

Witzel, Michael (1999). "Aryan and non-Aryan Names in Vedic India. Data for the linguistic situation, c. 1900-500 B.C." (PDF). Harvard Oriental Series Opera Minora. 3: 19.
Jamison, Stephanie; Brereton, Joel (2014). The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India. Oxford University Press. pp. 619–626. ISBN 9780199370184.
Erdosy, George; Witzel, Michael (1995). Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Rgvedic history: poets, chieftains and politics. De Gruyter. p. 238.
Nonica Datta, ed. (2003). Indian History: Ancient and medieval. Encyclopaedia Britannica / Popular Prakashan. p. 222. ISBN 978-81-7991-067-2. Not known in Indian sources, the name Porus has been conjecturally interpreted as standing for Paurava, that is, the ruler of the Purus, a clan known in that region from ancient Vedic times.

References

Kosambi, Damodar Dharmanand (1966). Ancient India: A History of its Culture and Civilisation. Delhi: Pantheon Books. pp. 81–83.
Prakash, Buddha (1964). Political and Social Movements in Ancient Panjab. Delhi, Patna, Varanasi: M. Banarsidass. p. 77.

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[1] Witzel, Michael (1999). "Aryan and non-Aryan Names in Vedic India. Data for the linguistic situation, c. 1900-500 B.C." (PDF). Harvard Oriental Series Opera Minora. 3: 19.

[2] Jamison, Stephanie; Brereton, Joel (2014). The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India. Oxford University Press. pp. 619–626. ISBN 9780199370184.

[:1-3] Erdosy, George; Witzel, Michael (1995). Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Rgvedic history: poets, chieftains and politics. De Gruyter. p. 238.

[4] Nonica Datta, ed. (2003). Indian History: Ancient and medieval. Encyclopaedia Britannica / Popular Prakashan. p. 222. ISBN 978-81-7991-067-2. Not known in Indian sources, the name Porus has been conjecturally interpreted as standing for Paurava, that is, the ruler of the Purus, a clan known in that region from ancient Vedic times.