Daradas were an ancient people who lived north and north-west to the Kashmir Valley. This kingdom is identified to be the Gilgit region, in the

Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative units of Pakistan, administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has b ...

region (part of ancient Baloristan) along the river Sindhu or Indus. They are often spoken along with the

Kambojas The Kambojas were a southeastern Iranian peoples, Iranian people who inhabited the northeastern most part of the territory populated by Iranian tribes, which bordered the Indian subcontinent, Indian lands. They only appear in Indo-Aryan langua ...

. The Pandava hero Arjuna had visited this country of Daradas during his northern military campaign to collect tribute for Yudhishthira's Rajasuya sacrifice. The country of Darada has also been mentioned in the Rasa Ratna Samucchaya, a book dealing about Rasasastra

Location of Daradas

*The Vayu Purana, Brahmanda Purana and

Vamana Purana The ''Vamana Purana'' (, IAST: ), is an ancient Sanskrit text that is at least 1,000 years old and is one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism. The text is named after one of the incarnations of Vishnu and probably was a Vaishnava text ...

mention the Daradas with the Kambojas, Chinas, Tusharas and the Bahlikas etc. The Bhuvankosha of the Puranas locates the Daradas,

, Barbaras, Bahlikas, Lampakas etc. in the Uttarapatha division of ancient India. e.g.: :''ete desha udichyastu'' :''Kambojah Daradashchaiva Barbarashcha Angalaukikah , , '' :''Chinashchaiva Tusharashcha Pahlavadhayata narah , '' *Puranas also refer to river Sindhu as watering the lands of Daradas,

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

s and the Aurasas (Ursas). *Brhatsamhita groups the Daradas with the Abhisaras and the Tanganas. * Mahabharata also mentions the Daradas as neighbors to the

and Bahlikas. *Mahabharata locates the country of Daradas in the ''Himavata-Pradesa''. *

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

refers to the Daradas as living below the sources of the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayas, Himalayan river of South Asia, South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northw ...

. *

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

refers to the Daradas as ''Dadicae'' and groups them with the

s and the Aparytae. Herodotus and

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

also connect the Daradas with the gold producing area located in the west of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

. There is an evidence that the Daradas, in ancient times, had their colonies located in Baltistan and

Leh Leh () is a city in Indian-administered Ladakh in the Kashmir#Kashmir_dispute, disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the WP:TE ...

also. All the above references locate the Daradas in Uttarapatha as neighbors to Kambojas of

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

- Nuristan.

Struggles in Mahabharata

''Sabha Parva'' of Mahabharata attests that Arjuna had led a digvijaya expedition against the Kashmiras, Ursas, Abhisaras, Sinhapuras, Suhmas, Daradas,

, Bahlikas, Lohas, Rishikas and Parama Kambojas etc. ''Drona Parva'' of Mahabharata attests that

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

had vanquished the Daradas along with Anga, Vanga, Magadha, Kasi, Kosala, Vatsa, Garga, Karusha, Pundra, Avanti, Daserka, Kashmira, Ursa, Madugalas,

, Pisachas, Malavas, Sakas, Yavanas etc.

Daradas in Yudhishtra's Rajasuya ceremony

The Daradas along with numerous other tribes from northwest had including the Bahlikas, Kiratas, Pahlavas, Paradas, Kambojas, Shakas, Yavanas, Trigartas, Kshudrakas, Malavas, Angas, Vangas etc. had joined Yudhishtra at his Rajasuya ceremony and brought him numerous gifts.

Daradas in Kurukshetra war

Daradas had also participated in the Kurukshetra war fought between the Kauravas and Pandavas. They are variously listed with Sauviras, Bahlikas, Shakas, Yavanas, Pahlavas, Paradas, Kekayas, Kambojas, Madras, Mlecchas, northern and westerner tribes etc.

Horses of Daradas

Brahmanda Purana refers to the horses from Darada country.

Daradas in Brahatsamhita of Varahamihira

The Daradas are mentioned with the Shakas, Yavanas, Paradas and the

in the 6th-century AD Brhatsamhita of Varahamihira. They are also mentioned with the Abhisaras in the same text as living on the borders of

Daradas in Tibetan chronicles

The Daradas are mentioned in the Tibetan chronicle Dpag-bsam-ljon-bzah (''The Excellent Kalpa-Vrksa''), along people like the Yavanas,

, Tukharas, Hunas, Khasas etc.

Rajatarangini references to Daradas

According to ancient text Rajatarangini of Kalhana, a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

text from the north, king Lalitaditya Muktapida of

undertakes to reduce his neighbouring countries. He launches war expedition onto the region of north from Kashmir and first he fights with the

and deprives them of their horses. Immediately after the Kambojas, he meets the Tukharas. Tukharas do not give him fight, but run away even abandoning their horses in the field. Then Lalitaditiya meets the Bhauttas in Baltistan in western

north of Kashmir, then the Dardas in Karakorum/

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

, the Valukambudhi and then he encounters ''Strirajya'', the Uttarakurus and the Pragjyotisha respectively. Kalhana names several Darada rulers: ''Acalamangala'', during the reign of Ananta of

, AD 1028 to AD 1063, ''Vidhyadhara Shahi'' during the reign of Harsa, 1089–1101 AD, ''Jagaddala'' during the reign of Uccala, AD 1101 to AD 1111, ''Manidhara'' during the reign of Sussala, AD 1112 to AD 1120), and ''Yasodhara'' during the reign of Jayasimha, AD 1128 to AD 1149.

Epigraphic references to Daradas

Three inscriptions on rocks along the Indus and Gilgit Rivers in the southern reaches of the Karakoram provide the earliest epigraphic references to Darada kings. The first inscription is found on rocks where the present-day road between Gilgit and Skardu crosses the Gilgit River, over a bridge known as the Alam bridge, now called the Farhad bridge. The inscription is in poor Kharoshthi, and Fussman has read "daradaraya", meaning "King of the Daradas".Fussman 1978:1-6. The second inscription is found at Chilas Terrace, near to Chilas village along the Indus River, south of the junction of the Gilgit River and the Indus River. It is in Brahmi script. Hinuber has published a transliteration , which he interprets as daran-maharaja "great king of Daran" or "great king of the Daradas" (1989:57-8). A third inscription is immediately below the Thalpan bridge over the Indus River on the Thalpan side of the bridge. It is also in Brahmi script. Hinuber publishes a transliteration of ''daratsu maharaja sri vaisravanasena ssatrudamanah'', which he translates as "The glorious Vaisravanasena, the subduer of enemies, great King in the land of the Daradas" (1989:59). Hinuber has interpreted these Brahmi

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

s as referring to the same king Vaiaravanasena, and dates them to the 4th or 5th centuries AD. He remarks that this king "is the second oldest king of the Daradas known by name, preceded only by the ''daradaraya'' mentioned at Alam bridge in a Kharoshthi inscription" (1989:59). These inscriptions appear to be the only known self-reference to a Darada people.

References

{{reflist, 30em Ancient peoples of India Ancient peoples of Pakistan