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Kingdom of Vidarbha | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unknown (?~1100 BCE)–unknown (?~500 BCE) | |||||||||
.png) Vidarbha and other kingdoms of the late Vedic period | |||||||||
| Capital | Kaundinyapur | ||||||||
| Religion | Historical Vedic religion | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Maharaja (Great King) | |||||||||
| Historical era | Iron Age | ||||||||
• Established | unknown (?~1100 BCE) | ||||||||
• Disestablished | unknown (?~500 BCE) | ||||||||
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The Vidarbha kingdom in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata is among the many kingdoms ruled by Yadu kings (Bhoja Yadavas). It was situated in the region still known as Vidarbha in what is now Maharashtra in central India.
Damayanti, the wife of Nala was the princess of Vidarbha. Similarly Rukmini, the eldest wife of Vasudeva Krishna was from Vidarbha. Sage Agastya's wife Lopamudra, also was a princess from the country of Vidarbha as mentioned in the Mahabharata.[1] Indumati, the Grandmother of Lord Rama and mother of King Dasharatha was also a princess of Vidarbha kingdom. Kundinapuri was its capital, which is identified as Kaundinyapur in the eastern Maharashtra. Rukmini's brother Rukmi founded another kingdom with capital Bhojakata, close to Vidarbha proper. During the Kurukshetra War, when all other kingdoms participated in the battle, Vidarbha under Rukmi stayed neutral, because his army was rejected by both Pandavas and Kauravas who were the two parties engaged in the war. It is not clear if any other king from Vidarbha participated in the war. There is a mention at MBh 6:51, that a Vidarbha army sided with Kauravas under the generalissimo Bhishma.
- ^ Lopamudra The Mahabharata, translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli (1883–1896), Book 3: Vana Parva: Tirtha-yatra Parva: Section XCVII.