Two Bharatas, Devaśravas Bhārata and Devavāta Bhārata, are mentioned as living near the Āpayā,
Sarasvatī and
Dr̥ṣadvatī rivers. Devavāta's son, Sṛñjaya Daivavāta, defeated the
Turvaśas, and is mentioned alongside Abhyāvartin Cāyamāna who defeated the Vṛcīvants under Varaśikha. These battles occurred at the
Hariyūpiyā (modern Hali-āb) and
Yavyāvatī rivers (modern
Zhob). In a hymn to Sarasvatī, it is stated that she aided (or is sought to aid) Vadhryaśva in defeating niggards, foreigners, insulters of gods, haters, and the sons of Br̥saya. Witzel notes that the name Br̥saya is of non-Indo-Aryan origin, and Parpola proposes that the name came from the language of the
Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex. He states that Br̥saya was a hereditary regnal title in the region, and that it existed even till the time of
Alexander the Great. In addition, the poet expresses the desire not to leave the Sarasvatī river (modern
Helmand and
Arghandab). Divodāsa was adopted by Vadhryaśva after the former was given to him by the river goddess
Sarasvatī. Divodāsa defeated the aboriginal mountain chief Śambara in the autumn of the fortieth year of campaigns, after destroying ninety-nine of the latter's forts. Under Divodāsa, the Bharatas were also enemies of the
Yadu-
Turvaśas. Divodāsa's allies were Prastoka, Aśvatha, and Sr̥ñjaya's son. Scholars differ on whether Sr̥ñjaya's son was a different person from Prastoka or Aśvatha. Several Rigvedic poets mention a patron-client relationship between Divodāsa and Bharadvāja. According to a hymn attributed to Suhotra Bhāradvāja, Bharadvāja was involved in Divodāsa's battles with Śambara. In another hymn, Garga Bhāradvāja enumerates the gifts that were donated to the Bharadvajas by Divodāsa and his allies, of which included part of the booty that was looted from Śambara. Under
Sudās Paijavana (a descendant of Divodāsa) and his
purohita Viśvāmitra Gāthina, the Bharatas crossed the Vipāś and
Śutudrī rivers (modern
Beas and
Sutlej). Eventually Viśvāmitra was replaced by
Vasiṣṭha Maitrāvaruṇi.
Battle of the Ten Kings Under Sudās and Vasiṣṭha, the Tṛtsu-Bharatas win the
Battle of the Ten Kings. The first phase of the battle took place on the banks of the Paruṣnī river (modern
Ravi) near Mānuṣa, west of Kurukṣetra. The principal antagonist is doubtful and names of the participating tribes are difficult to retrieve, in light of the phonological deformations of their names. Plausible belligerents of the tribal union include (in order) —
Pūrus (erstwhile master-tribe of Bharatas),
Yadu (probably commanded by Turvaśa), Yakṣu (relatively unimportant or a pun for Yadu),
Matsyas,
Druhyus,
Pakthas,
Bhalānas,
Alinas, Viṣāṇins, Śivas, Vaikarṇa, and
Anu. == Legacy in later literature ==