Ushinara (
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 ...
.
Location
The Uśīnaras lived in the northernmost part of the
, with the Uśīnara-giri ("Uśīnara mountain") being located near
Kanakhala.
History
The Uśīnaras, as well as the neighbouring
Kekaya and
Madraka tribes, were descended from the Ṛigvedic
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.
A queen of Uśīnara, named Uśīnarāṇī, is mentioned in the
Ṛgveda.
In mythology
The Uśīnaras appear in epic Hindu literature, especially in the
and the
.
References
Further reading
*
{{refend
Ancient peoples of India