Parada kingdom
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(May 2011) |
Pāradas(alternativelyVaradas,Parita) was an Iron Age kingdom described in various ancient and classical Indian texts. The exact location of the kingdom is unknown. TheVayu Puranalocates the tribe on the upper course of theAmu Darya(also known as Chaksu) andSyr Daryarivers inCentral Asia.[1]TheMahabharata,however, associates the Paradas with thetribesofUttarapatha,and places them on the Sailoda River in theXin gian gprovince ofChina.Additionally, theRamayanalocates the people in theHimalayas.[2]
It is thought that the Pāradas are connected to the laterParatarajas,anIndo-Parthiandynasty inPakistanduring the 1st-3rd century CE.[3]
Puranic texts
[edit]Numerous Puranic texts associate the Parada Kingdom with theKamboja,Saka,YavanaandPahlavatribes, and brand them together asPanca-ganah( "five hordes" ). These five hordes were military allies of theHaihayaor TaljungaKshatriyasof theYadavaline, and were chiefly responsible for dethroning King Bahu ofKosala.Later, King Sagara, son of Bahu, was able to defeat the Haihayas or Taljungas together with the five hordes.
King Sagara had divested the Paradas and other members of thePanca-ganahof their nobleKshatriyahoodand demoted them to thebarbariccasteofMlechchas,due to their non-observance of sacred Brahmanical codes and neglect of the priestly class. Before their defeat at the hands of King Sagara, these five-hordes were calledKshatriya-pungava( "foremost among the Kshatriyas" ).[4]
The Vayu Purana state that the Udichya tribes, including thePanca-ganah,theGandharas,Tusharas,Khasas,Lampakas,Madhyadesis,Vindhyas,Aprantas, Dakshinatyas,Dravidas,PulindasandSimhalas,would be proceeded against and annihilated byKalkiinKali Yuga.