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The Bahlikas (; Bāhlika) were the inhabitants of a location called Bahlika (, located in Bactria), mentioned in the Atharvaveda, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Puranas, Vartikka of Katyayana, Brhatsamhita, Amarkosha, and other ancient inscriptions. Other variations of Bahlika include Bahli, Balhika, Vahlika, Valhika, Bahlava, Bahlam/Bahlim, Bahlayana, and Bahluva.
Some of the Atharvaveda invoke fever to go to the Gandhara, Mahavrsas (a tribe of Punjab), Mujavants, and, further off, to the Bahlikas. Mujavant is the name of a hill (and the people) located in the Hindukush/Pamir Mountains.Early Eastern Iran and the Atharvaveda, Persica-9, 1980, p. 87, Dr Michael Witzel
Atharvaveda-Parisista juxtaposes the Vedic Bahlikas with the Kambojas (i.e., Kamboja-Bahlika).AV-Par, 57.2.5Early East Iran and the Atharvaveda, Persica-9, 1980, p. 106, Dr Michael Witzel
Besides the Atharvaveda Parisista, several other ancient texts also associate the Bahlikas with the Kambojas:
The Kashmir recension of the ancient Ramayana contains the following reading:
Sanskrit Acharya Kshmendra of Kashmir rendered the above text into his Ramayana Manjri as follows:
Aratta.Bahlika.Kamboja. Ramayana Manjri, 4/252
Besides Kambojas, the Atharvaveda-Parisista also associates the Vedic Bahlikas with the Sakas, , and Tusharas ( Saka-Yavana-Tukhara-Vahlikaishcha).Atharvaveda Pari. 51.33
The fact that Puranic evidence locates the Bahlikas in Uttarapatha and further associates the Bahlikas with the Kambojas, Tusharas, Sakas, and Yavanas in the Atharvaveda Parisista and other ancient sources suggests that the Bahlikas were located as close neighbors to these groups. Since the Kambojas were located in Badakshan and Pamirs, the Tusharas to the north of Pamirs, and the Sakas on the river Jaxartes and beyond, the Bahlikas or Bahlams, as neighbors to these people, should be placed in Bactria.
The Brahmanda Purana attests that the river Chaksu (Oxus or Amu Darya) flowed through the land of Bahlavas (Bahlikas).
The Iron pillar of Delhi inscription by King Chandragupta II also mentions the Bahlikas as living on the west side of the Indus River (Sindhu). After crossing the seven mouths of the Indus, King Chandragupta is stated to have defeated the Bahlikas.Indian Historical Quarterly, XXVI, 118n
These references attest that the Bahlikas were originally located beyond the seven mouths of the Indus River in Bactria, where the land was watered by the Oxus River. However, later, a section of these people moved from Balkh to the Punjab region, while others appear to have moved to southwestern India as neighbors to the Saurashtras and Abhira tribe of Sovira.
Princess Madri from the Madra Royal Family is also referred to as Bahliki (i.e., a princess of the Bahlika clan).MBH I. 124. 21
In the digvijay expedition of Pandava Arjuna, there is a reference to a group called the Bahlikas, whom Arjuna had to fight.Tatah paramavikranto Bahlikankurunandanah..MBH 2.27.22 They are stated to have been located on the southern side of Kashmir as neighbors to the Ursa and Sinhapura kingdoms.Mahabharata, II.27.20-23
A passage in the Ramayana attests that on the way from Ayodhya to Kekaya, one had to pass through the country of Bahlikas, located somewhere in Punjab. This suggests that ancient Bahlikas had moved to and planted a settlement in Punjab.Ramayana II.54.18-19Geographical Data in Early Puranas, p. 120, Dr. M. R. Singh This is also verified in the epic Mahabharata.
This evidence suggests that there was another Bahlika country besides the one in Bactria.
Dr. P. E. Pargiter points out that there was another Bahlika settlement in the plains of Punjab, alongside or south of Madradesa.The Puranas Text of the Dynastics of the Kali Age, p. 50, Dr. P. E. PargiterGeographical Data in Early Puranas, p. 127, Dr. M. R. Singh
The Baraca of the Periplus is identified with the Bahlika of Sanskrit texts.Periplus, p. 74Ethnic Settlements in Ancient India, p. 174. The Puranas attest that a branch of the Bahlikas ruled near the Vindhyas.
The Satapatha Brahmana mentions a king named Bahlika Pratipeya, whom it calls Kauravya (=Kaurava).Satapatha Brahamana XII 9.3.3 It has been pointed out that this Kaurava king is identical with Bahlika Pratipeya of the Mahabharata.MBH V, 23.9MBH 149.27Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1910, p. 52
According to the Mahabharata, the king of Bahlika was present at Syamantapanchaka in Kurukshetra on the occasion of a solar eclipse. The name 'Bahlika Desa' originates from the middle son of King Pratipa of Hastinapura, Vahlika, who abandoned his paternal kingdom to live with his maternal uncle in Bahlika, eventually inheriting the kingdom. Thus, being older than King Shantanu, Bahlika was the paternal uncle of Bhishma and predated him.
The people of Balhika presented to Yudhishthira as a tribute ten thousand asses (donkeys), numerous of woolen texture, numerous skins of the Ranku deer, clothes made from jute and woven with threads spun by insects, and thousands of other clothes possessing the color of the lotus, soft sheep-skins, sharp and long swords and scimitars, hatchets, fine-edged battle-axes, perfumes, and Gemstone of various kinds (2.50).
Darada, the king of Bahlika, was the incarnation of Asura Surya. At the time of his birth, the earth was cleaved because of his weight (1.67), (2.43).
The King of Bahlika presented to Yudhishtra a golden chariot yoked with four white Kamboja studs at the time of the Rajsuya ceremony (2.53.5).
Karna fought with and vanquished the Bahlikas, along with the Kambojas of Rajpura, the Amvashthas, the Videhas, the Gandharvas, the fierce Kiratas of the fastness of Himavat, the Utpalas, the Mekalas, the Paundras, the Kalingas, the Andhras, the Nishadas, and the Trigartas (7.4.5-6).
King Bahlika participated in the Kurukshetra War. The Mahabharata calls him a mighty ( mahabali) king. Bahlikan cha mahabalam : 5.155.33. Along with his son Somadatta and grandson Bhurisravas, King Bahlika participated in the Mahabharata war with one Akshauhini (division) army of Bahlika soldiers and sided with the Kauravas against the Pandavas. Bahlika and his grandson Bhurisravas were among the eleven distinguished Generals or Senapatis of the Kaurava army appointed by Duryodhana.Mahabharata 5.155.30-33
Vatsyayana in his Kamasutra records a peculiar custom prevalent among the Bahlikas, where several young men marry a single woman in Bahlika country and in Strirajya.Kamasutra of Vatsyayana, p. 385 It is said in the Mahabharata that the Pandava brothers (i.e., Kurus) were married to one woman, Draupadi. This suggests that the Kurus were originally from Bahlika, which was identified with Uttarakuru (Dr. M. R. Singh). Since Uttarakuru of the Aitareya Brahmana is said to lie beyond Himalaya, Bahlika or Bactria is also beyond the Hindukush (i.e., Himalayan range).
Besides the Kurus, the Madra (; IPA/Sanskrit: ) were also originally from around Bahlika, as suggested by the Vamsa BrahmanaVamsa Brahmana 1.18-19. of the Sama Veda. This text refers to one Madragara Shaungayani as a teacher of Aupamanyava Kamboja. Dr. Zimmer and the authors of the Vedic Index postulate a possible connection between the Uttaramadras and the Kambojas. Both these groups were close neighbors in the northwestern part of ancient India.Vedic Index, I, pp. 84-85, 138India as Known to Panini, 1953, p. 50, Dr. AggarwalSome Kshatriya Tribes, p. 232, Dr. B. C. LawGeographical Data in Early Puranas, pp. 65, 164, Dr. M. R. Singh. According to Jean Przylusky, Bahlika (Balkh) was an Iranian settlement of the Madras, known as Bahlika-Uttaramadras.The Udumbras, Journal Asiatique, 1926, p. 11, Jean Przylusky, showing that Bahlika (Balkh) was an Iranian settlement of the Madras who were known as Bahlika-Uttaramadras
In the Aitareya Brahmana, the Uttarakurus and Uttaramadras are stated to live beyond the Himalayas ( paren himvantam).Aitareya Brahmana, VIII/14.
This suggests that in remote antiquity (the Vedic age), the (Iranian settlement of) the Madras was located in parts of Bahlika (Bactria)—the western parts of the Oxus country. These Madras were, in fact, the Uttaramadras of the Aitareya Brahmana (VIII/14).In accordance with the views of Dr. J. Przyluski, A. B. Keith, A. A. Macdonell, Dr. V. S. Aggarwal, Dr. M.R. Singh, Dr. J. L. Kamboj However, in the 4th century BC, this Bahlika/Bactria came under Yavana/Greeks political control, and the land began to be referenced as Bahlika-Yavana in some ancient Sanskrit texts.
Thus, the foregoing discussion suggests that the Uttarakurus, Uttaramadras, and Kambojas were all located beyond the Himalaya/Hindukush ranges. The Uttarakurus were likely in the northern parts of Bahlika, the Uttaramadras in the southern parts, and the Kambojas (=Parama Kambojas) to the east of Bahlika, in the Transoxiana region. The ancient Bahlika appears to have spanned a large expanse of territory. The commentator of the Harsha-Carita of Bana Bhatta also defines the Kambojas as Kambojah-Bahlika-Desajah, meaning the Kambojas originated in or belonged to Bahlika. Thus, it seems likely that in remote antiquity, the ancestors of the Uttarakurus, Uttaramadras, and Parama Kambojas were one people or closely allied and lived in or around Bahlika (Bactria).
Brihat Samhita also references the Bahlikas and mentions them alongside Cinas, Gandharas, Sulikas, Paradas, Vaisyas, etc.
Kavyamimamsa by Rajshekhar (10th century AD) lists the Bahlikas with the Sakas, Tusharas, Vokanas, Hunas, Kambojas, Pahlavas, Tangana, Turukshas, etc., and states that they were tribes located in the Uttarapatha division.Kavyamimamsa, Ch. 17, Rajshekhar.
The Buddhist play Mudrarakshas by Visakhadutta, as well as the Jain works Parishishtaparvan, refers to Chandragupta's alliance with a Himalayas king named Parvatka. This alliance provided Chandragupta with a composite army made up of the Yavanas, Kambojas, Sakas, Kiratas, Parasikas, and Bahlikas, as stated in Mudrarakshas.History and Culture of Indian People, Age of Imperial Kanauj, p. 57, Dr. Pusalkar and Dr. MajumdarAncient India, 1956, pp. 141-142, Dr. R. K. MukerjeePolitical and Social Movements in Ancient Panjab, 1964, p. 202, Dr. Buddha ParkashThe Culture and Art of India, p. 1959, p. 91Comprehensive History of Ancient India, Vol II, 1957, p. 4, Dr. K. A. N. Sastri
The Sammoha Tantra speaks of the tantra culture of foreign countries like Bahlika, Kirata, Bhota, Cina, Mahacina, Pahlavas, Airaka (Iraq), Kamboja, Hunas, Yavana, Gandhara, and Nepal.
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