Kekaya (

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 ...

: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

of north-western

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

whose existence is attested during the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

(c.1100–500 BCE). The members of the Kekaya tribe were called the Kaikayas.

Location

The Kekayas were located between the

Gāndhāra Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending as far east as the Pothohar Plateau ...

kingdom and the Vipāśā river, more precisely on a tributary of the

Irāvatī ''Irāvatī'' is the ninth studio album by Megumi Hayashibara. The album was released in two editions, a regular edition and a limited edition with cardboard sleeve and hardcover photobook. It has also been reissued on at least one occasion. Th ...

river named the Saranges by ancient Greek authors. The capital of Kekaya was a city named Rājagṛha or Girivraja, identified with the modern-day Girjak or

Jalalpur Jalalpur is a town, tehsil and a municipal board in Ambedkar Nagar district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Geography Jalalpur is located at . It has an average elevation of . The city is directly connected to Azamgarh, Akbarpu ...

in the

Pakistani Punjab Punjab (, ) is a province of Pakistan. With a population of over 127 million, it is the most populous province in Pakistan and the second most populous subnational polity in the world. Located in the central-eastern region of the country, i ...

History

The Kekeyas, as well as the neighbouring

Madra Madra (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-western India whose existence is attested since the Iron Age (c.1100–500 BCE). The members of the Madra tribe were called the Madrakas. Location The Madras were divided into -Madr ...

ka and

Uśīnara Ushinara (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-western South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. Location The Uśīnaras lived in the northernmost part of the , with the Uśīnara-giri ("Uśīnara mountain ...

tribes, were descended from the Ṛgvedic Anu tribe which lived near the

Paruṣṇī The Ravi River is a transboundary river in South Asia, flowing through northwestern India and eastern Pakistan, and is one of five major rivers of the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two other ...

river in the central

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

region, in the same area where the Kekayas were later located. A famous king of Kekaya during the late

Vedic period The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, between the e ...

was Aśvapati, who is mentioned in the and the as a patron of s, and was an elder contemporary of the Vaideha king

Janaka Janaka (, IAST: ''Janaka'') is the King of Videha who ruled from Mithila (region), Mithila, in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Janaka was married to Sunayana (Ramayana), Sunayana. He is the father of Sita and Urmila in the epic. The term Janaka ...

. During the 6th century BCE, the Kekayas, along with the

s, and

Sibi Sibi (; ;) is a city situated in the Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan Subdivisions of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. The city serves as the administrative headquarters of the Sibi District, district and Sibi Tehsil, tehsil of the same name ...

s, fell under the suzerainty of the

kingdom, which was the principal imperial power in north-west Iron Age South Asia.

Later history

The 10th century CE of Rājaśekhara furnishes a list of the extant tribes of his times which also includes the Kekayas along with the Shakas, Tusharas, Vokanas,

Hunas Hunas or Huna (Middle Brahmi script: ''Hūṇā'') was the name given by the ancient Indians to a group of Central Asian tribes who, via the Khyber Pass, entered the Indian subcontinent at the end of the 5th or early 6th century. The Hunas occu ...

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 ...

, Vahlikas, Vahlavas, Limpakas, Tangana, Turukshas, referring to them all as the

s of Uttarapatha or north division. A branch of the Kekaya seems to have migrated to southern India in later times and established its authority in Mysore country.Ancient History of Deccan, pp 88, 101; Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 58, Dr H. C. Raychaudhury.

In epic literature

The Kekayas appear in epic Hindu literature, especially in the and the . In the former, the step-mother of the god

Rāma Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda'' ...

and mother of the prince Bharata is the eponymous princess of Kekaya, Kaikeyī.

Location

History

Later history

In epic literature

References

Further reading