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PAÑCHĀLA KINGS Vedic tradition. In the Mahābhārata,' Uttamaujas is called a Pāñchālya as well as a Sriñjaya. The clan probably lived on the Jumna in epic times.2 As to the Somakas, their connection with the Pañchālas is known throughout the great epic. They occupied Kāmpilya and its neighbourhood.
The royal family of the Pañchālas is represented in bardic tradition as an offshoot of the Bharata dynasty.* Divodāsa, Sudās(a) and Dru pada are included among the kings of this line. Divodāsa and Sudās also figure in the Rig-Veda where they are closely connected with the Bharatas. But they are not mentioned as Pañchāla kings. In the Mahabhārata Drupada is also called Yajñasena and one of his sons is named Sikhaṇdin. A śikhandin Yājñasena is mentioned in the Kaushitaki Brāhmana,? but it is not clear whether we are to regard him as a prince, or as a priest of Kesin Dālbhya, king of the Pañchālas.
The external history of the Pañchālas is mainly that of wars and alliances with the Kurus. The Mahabharata preserves traditions of conflict between these two great peoples. We are told by the epic that Uttara-Pañchāla was wrested from the Pañchālas by the Kurus and given away to their preceptor. Curiously enough, the Somanassa Jatakao places Uttara-Pañchāla-nagara in Kururattha. The relations between the two peoples (Kurus and
1 Mbh. VIII. 11, 31 ; 75. 9. 2 Mbh. iii. 90. 7. with commentary.
3 Cf. Mbh., I. 185. 31 ; 193. 1 ; II. 77. 10: Dhrista-dyumnal Somakānām pravarhah ; Saumakir Yajñascna iti.
4 Mbh., Ādi., 94.33; Matsya, 50. 1-16; Vāyu, 99. 194-210. 5 Ved. Ind., 1, p.363 ; II., pp. 59, 454 6 Mbh., Adi., 166. 24; Bhishma, 190, et seq. 7 VIL. 4, 8 Mbh. i. 166.
9 No. 505. The union of Kuru-Pañchālas is hinted at in Jaim. Up. Br. 111. 7. 6. O. P. 90-10
