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CHAPTER LXXII
THE MEKALAS The Mekalas were a small tribe inhabiting the tract of country comprising the modern Amarkanțak (Amarakanţaka) hills and the surrounding region. In ancient times, the Amarkantak range was known as Mekala, whence the name of the tribe is derived; and as the river Narmadā (mod. Narbadā) has its source in these hills, she was known as Mekalasutā 1 or Mekalakanyā, i.e. 'daughter of Mekala', or Mekalā.3 The Mekala mountain (mod. Amarkantak) is a part of the Vindhyas; and in the Purānas, the Mekalas are referred to as a Vindhyan tribe. This is also supported by the Vāmanapurāna (Chap. 13)4 which locates the Mekalas along with the Kārūsas, Bhojas, Daśārņas, Nişadhas and others, just below the Vindhyan range. The identification of the locality is confirmed by mythological allusions as well; for Mekala is said to have been a Rsi, the father of the river Narmadā,—a mythological interpretation of the well-known geographical fact. The mountain where the river rises is also known as Mekalādri (Haimakośa, IV, 149). According to the Bengal recension of the Rāmāyana, Mount Mekala is referred to as the source of the river Son (Kiskindhyā Kānda, XI, 20).
According to the Epic tradition as contained in the Dronaparvan (IV, 8) of the Mahābhārata, Karņa is said to have conquered the Mekalas along with the Utkalas, Paundras, Kalingas, Andhras, Nisadas, Trigarttas and Vāhlikas. In the Rāmāyana also, the Mekala country is associated with the Utkala and Daśārņa countries. The army of monkeys which was despatched in search of Sītā was asked to visit Mekala, Utkala, and Daśārņa, among other countries of the south (Canto XLII).
The Mārkandeya Purāna probably associates the Mekalas with the Ambasthas (LVIII, 14): the reference is to Mekhalāmusta, which appears to be a corruption of Mekala and Ambastha. If this is the case, it doubtless refers to the time when the Ambasthas or a section of them had migrated from their original habitat in the Punjab to south-eastern India, near the Mekala hill in the upper regions of the Narmadā.
There is another reference to Mekala in the Visnupurāna (IV, Chap. 24, 17), where ten kings are said to have had Mekala as their land of birth.
1 S. Konow, Karpūramañjarī, p. 182. 2 Amarakoşa, I, 2, 3, 32, etc.
3 Abhidhānaratnamālā, III, 52. 4 Among the tribes mentioned in this list are the Košalas who were definitely not located anywhere near the Vindhyas, but in the N.E. Accordingly, this list is not to be taken as accurate.
