Battle of the Ten Kings

Book 3 of the Rig Veda states that the Bharata tribe crossed the Beas River and the Sutlej River, moving towards the (future) Kurukshetra area where they came across a nascent (and temporary) inter-tribal alliance Some of those allusions seem to be heavily context-specific and (still) remain unrecognized; there exist considerable disputes about interpretations of particular words, in light of the employed figures of speech and other poetic devices. == First phase ==

The first phase of the battle took place on the banks of the Ravi River (then Parusni) near Manusa village, west of Kurukshetra. The Bharata king and their priest are respectively mentioned as Sudas Paijavana and Vasistha, in the Rig Veda; however the names change in Samaveda and Yajurveda Samhitas. == Second phase ==

Thereafter, the battleground (probably) shifted to the banks of river Yamuna, wherein the local chieftain Bhida was defeated along with three other tribes — Ajas, Śighras, and the Yakṣus. == Aftermath ==

The Battle of the Ten Kings led Bharatas to occupy the entire Puru territory of Western Punjab (then Panchanada) centered around Sarasvati River and complete their east-ward migration. The territory would eventually become the first Indian Subcontinental "state" under the Kuru tribe in post-RV span. It became the heart-land of Brahminical culture and purity, which eventually would influence and transform Indian culture, merging with local traditions and developing into the Historical Vedic religion. The Purus went on to survive as a marginal power in Punjab; Witzel and some other scholars believe Porus (c. early 300 BC) to be a king from the same tribe. ==Historicity==

Numerous translators since the 1800s including K. F. Geldner have considered the battle as a historical event, based on the narration-characteristics of the verses. Witzel dates the battle between approximately 1450 and 1300 BCE; he deems the concerned hymns to be late interpolations. Stephanie W. Jamison warns against using it as a major source to reconstruct history since the description of the battle is "anything but clear." Both Witzel and Jamison find the very next hymn (7.19, verse 3) to show a striking shift of allegiance with Indra helping Sudas as well the Purus, who won land. Stephanie W. Jamison notes it to be the most famous historical conflict in RV—in that, it secured the dominance of Bharatas over Vedic tribes—as does Witzel. ==Possible prototype for the Kurukshetra War==

Witzel notes this battle to be the probable archetype/prototype of the Kurukshetra War, narrated in the Mahabharata. John Brockington takes a similar approach. S. S. N. Murthy goes to the extent of proposing the battle as the very "nucleus" of the Kurukshetra War; Walter Ruben adopts a similar stance. However, Witzel maintains the nucleus text of the Mahabharata to be in description of some event in the Late Vedic spans; it was since reshaped (and expanded) over centuries of transmission and recreation to (probably) reflect the Battle of the Ten Kings. ==See also==