Sindhu Kingdom is mentioned in Indian epics like the Mahabharata and Harivamsa, often alongside the Sauvira kingdom, to be located on the banks of river Indus River (Indus). It is believed that Sindhu kingdom was founded by Vrishadarbha, one of sons of Sivi. Its inhabitants of the kingdoms were called Sindhus or Saindhavas. According to the epic Mahabharata, Jayadratha (the husband of Duryodhana's sister) was the king of Sindhus, Sauviras and Sivi kingdom. Probably Sauvira and Sivi were two kingdoms close to the Sindhu kingdom and Jayadratha conquered them, holding them for some period of time. Sindhu and Sauvira kingdom seem to have been two warring states fighting each other.
Origin of the name
"Sindhu" means "river" and "sea" in classical
Sanskrit. The term originated from Proto-Indo-Aryan
*síndʰuṣ, from Proto-Indo-Iranian
*síndʰuš (possibly derived from the BMAC substrate
)
, or possibly from
sédhati (“to go, move”), from Proto-Indo-European
*ḱiesdʰ- (“to drive away; to go away”). The term
Sindhu was used often to describe the Indus region as a whole, the early
Vedic period name for the
Punjab, for example, was
Sapta Sindhu.
Mahabharata
Sindhu (the Bhojas, the Sindhus, the Pulindakas) is mentioned as a separate kingdom of Bharata Varsha at (6:9).
[ (Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa)] The Kasmiras, the
Sindhu Sauviras, the
Gandhara kingdom (or
) were mentioned as kingdoms of Bharata Varsha at (6:9). Sindhu and Sauvira are mentioned as a united country at many places, including (5:19), (6:51), (6:56), (7:107), (8:40), and (11:22).
Cultural affinity
Culturally, Sindhus were mentioned as similar to the
Madra kingdom as per
Karna: "The Prasthalas, the
Madra kingdom, the
Gandhara kingdom, the
Arattas, those called Khasas, the Vasatis, the Sindhus and the
Sauvira kingdom are almost as blamable in their practices." (8:44) "One should always avoid the Vahikas, those impure people that are out of the pale of virtue, and that live away from the Himavat and the
Ganges and
Sarasvati River and
Yamuna and
Kurukshetra and the
Indus and its five tributary rivers." (8:44)
Military habits
"The
Gandhara kingdom (or
), the Sindhus, and the
Sauvira kingdom fight best with their nails and lances. They are brave and endued with great strength. Their armies are capable of vanquishing all forces, The Usinaras are possessed of great strength and skilled in all kinds of weapons. The Easterners are skilled in fighting from the backs of
war elephants and are conversant with all the ways of unfair fight. The
Yavana kingdom, the
Kamboja kingdom, and those that dwell around Mathura are well skilled in fighting with bare arms. The Southerners are skilled in fighting sword in hand." (12:100)
Battles between Sindhu and Sauvira
At (5:133) we find
Kunti telling the story of
Vidula who persuaded her son, who was the king of Sauvira but banished by the Sindhu king, to fight against the Sindhus and take back his kingdom from them: "The princess Vidula, one day, rebuked her own son, who, after his defeat by the king of the Sindhus, lay prostrate with heart depressed by despair." (5:133) "It is true, the king of the Sindhus hath many followers. They are, however, all discounted. Rejoice, O son, and make thyself happy in the possession of wealth in the company of the daughters of the Sauviras and do not, in weakness of heart, be ruled over by the daughters of the Saindhavas." (5:134) "Pierced by the wordy arrows of his mother, the son roused himself like a steed of proud mettle and achieved (defeating the Sindhus) all that his mother had pointed out." (5:136)
Jayadratha and Sindhu kingdom
At (3:262) Jayadratha is mentioned as the son of Vriddhakshatra. Jayadratha is mentioned as the son of Sindhu at (1:188). Jayadratha is mentioned as of Sindhu's race at (5:142). Jayadratha is mentioned as the king of Sindhu,
Sauvira kingdom and other countries at (3:265). The warriors of the
Sivi kingdom,
Sauvira kingdom and Sindhu tribes were under the command of Jayadratha (3:269). At (11:22) Jayadradha is mentioned as the king of Sindhu and
Sauvira kingdom. Apart from
Dussala (1:117) (the sister of
Duryodhana), Jayadradha had two other wives, one from
Gandhara kingdom and the other from
Kamboja kingdom (11:22).
Jayadratha is mentioned as the sole ruler, governing "the rich countries of Saivya, Sivi kingdom, Sindhu and others" at (3:265). Jayadratha "had under his sway ten kingdoms," of which Sindhu was the main kingdom (8:5). Jayadratha had also played a vital role in the battle of Kurukshetra, and was killed by Arjuna. On a particular day in the battle of Kurukshetra, due to the absence of Arjuna who was fighting elsewhere, Jayadratha was able to stop the Pandavas (except Arjuna) and helped kill Abhimanyu treacherously for Kauravas.
Sindhu in Kurukshetra War
In the
Kurukshetra War, Sindhu sided with the
Kauravas under their ruler
Jayadratha. (6:71), (7:10,136)
"Jayadratha of the country of the Sindhu, and the kings of the southern and the western countries and of the hilly regions, and Shakuni, the ruler of the Gandhara kingdom, and all the chiefs of the eastern and the northern regions, and the Sakas, the Kirata kingdom, and Yavana kingdom, the Sivi kingdom and the Vasatis with their Maharathas at the heads of their respective divisions joined the Kaurava army." (5:198) "A silver boar adorned the standard-top of the ruler of the Sindhus. Decked with golden chains, it was of the splendour of a white crystal." (7:102)
"In Bhishma's division were all the sons of Dhritarashtra, and also Sala who was a countryman of the Bahlika kingdom, and also all those Kshatriyas called Amvastas, and those called Sindhus, and those also that are called Sauvira kingdom, and the heroic dwellers of the country of the five rivers." (6:20)
"Those warriors that are opposed to Arjuna, viz., the Sauvira kingdom, the Sindhava-Pauravas, headed by Karna, are regarded as foremost of car-warriors." (7:108) "Many combatants belonging to the Nishadas, the Sauvira kingdom, the Bahlika kingdom, the Darada kingdom, the Westerners, the Northerners, the Malava kingdom, the Abhighatas, the Surasena kingdom, the Sivi kingdom, the Vasatis, the Salwa kingdom, the Sakas, the Trigarta kingdom, the Amvashthas, and the Kekeya kingdom, similarly fell upon Arjuna." (6:118) "Bhishma protected by the warriors headed by Saindhava and by the combatants of the East and the Sauvira kingdom and the Kekeya kingdom, fought with great impetuosity." (6:52)
Arjuna's words, when Jayadratha and others together attacked and killed his son Abhimanyu, during the Kurukshetra War:
"Thou shalt in tomorrow's battle, O Vasudeva Krishna, behold the earth strewn by me with the heads of kings cut off by the force, of my shafts! (Tomorrow) I shall gratify all cannibals, rout the foe, gladden my friends, and crush the ruler of the Sindhus, viz. Jayadratha! A great offender, one who hath not acted like a relative, born in a sinful country, the ruler of the Sindhu, slain by me, will sadden his own. Thou shalt behold that ruler of the Sindhus, of sinful behavior, and brought up in every luxury, pierced by me with my shafts!" (7:73)
Sindhu breed of horse
Horses belonging to Sindhu breed were used extensively in the
Kurukshetra War. (7:24) "Steeds consisting of the best of the
Kamboja kingdom breed as also of those born in the country of the Rivers, and of those belonging to
Aratta and Mahi and
Sindhu, and of those of Vanayu also that were white in hue, and lastly those of hilly countries" were the different types of horse employed in this war. (6:91)
Steeds from Sindhu "were lean-fleshed, yet strong and capable of a long journey and endued with energy and strength of high breed and docility, free from inauspicious marks, with wide nostrils and swelling cheeks, free from faults as regards the ten hairy curls, ... and fleet as the winds." (3:71)
Sindhu River
"The
Indus River (Indus) too is flowing with a current of fresh blood." (3:223) "The seven large rivers including the Sindhu (Indus) though flowing eastwards then flowed in opposite directions. The very directions seemed to be reversed and nothing could be distinguished. Fires blazed up everywhere and the earth trembled repeatedly." (5:84) "The spot where the Sindhu mingleth with the sea, is that tirtha of Varuna." (3:82)
-
"There is a celebrated tirtha of the name of Sindhuttama" (3:82)
Other references
-
Samvarana, a king in the like of King Porus, "with his wife and ministers, sons and relatives, fled in fear, and took shelter in the forest on the banks of the Sindhu extending to the foot of the mountains." (1:94)
-
A sage named Sindhudwipa is mentioned at (9:39–40) and (13:4) as attaining .
Sindhu Kingdom in Harivamsa Purana
In the
Harivamsa Purana, the Sindhu kingdom is mentioned at (2.56.26). The
Yadavas, led by
Krishna, arrived there in search for a place to build the city of Dvārakā. The place was so charming, that some of the Yadavas "started enjoying the heavenly comforts in some of the places there".
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