 | This article relies on a single source. (June 2022) |
Madra was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-western India whose existence is attested since the Iron Age (c.1100–500 BCE).
The Madras were divided into Uttara-Madra ("northern Madra"), Dakṣiṇa-Madra ("southern Madra"), and Madra proper:
The Madras, as well as the neighbouring Kekaya and Uśīnara tribes, were descended from the Ṛgvedic Anu tribe which lived near the Paruṣṇī river in the central Punjab region, in the same area where the Madras were later located.
Several Vedic scholars from the Brāhmaṇa period were from Madra proper, including Śākalya, who was a member of the court of the Vaideha king Janaka, as well as Madragāra Śauṅgāyani, and Uddālaka Āruṇi's teacher Patañchala Kāpya.
During the 6th century BCE, the Madras, along with the Kekayas, Uśīnaras, and Sibis, fell under the suzerainty of the Gandhāra kingdom, which was the principal imperial power in north-west Iron Age India.
During the 5th century BCE, Kṣemā, the daughter of the Madra king, was married to the king Bimbisāra of Magadha, who himself engaged in diplomatic relations with the Madras' suzerain, the Gandhari king Pukkusāti.
The Madras appear in epic Hindu literature, especially in the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata. In the latter, the wife of the Kuru king Pāṇḍu was a Madra princess eponymously named Mādrī, after the kingdom which she hailed from.
Another famous Madra princess mentioned in the Mahābhārata is Sāvitrī, whose father is Aśvapati, the king of Madra.
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