Though the later texts mix up the facts with the fancies on Uttarakurus, yet in the earlier, and some of the later texts, Uttarakurus indeed appear to be
historical people. Hence scholars have attempted to identify the actual location of Uttarakuru.
Puranic accounts always locate the Uttarakuru varsa in the northern parts of
Jambudvipa (India). The Uttarakuru is taken by some as identical with the Kuru country mentioned in the
Rig-Veda. The Kurus and Krivis (Panchala) are said to form the Vaikarana of
Rigveda and the Vaikarana is often identified with
Kashmir. Therefore, Dr Zimmer likes to identify the
Vaikarana Kurus with the Uttarakurus and places them in India's Kashmir.
German-American historian,
Michael Witzel locates Uttarakuru in the south-eastern parts of
Central Asia. According to Kashmiri historian,
Subhash Kak, Uttara Kuru was the
Tarim Basin in
Xinjiang, in Central Asia. According to some scholars, the above locations however do not seem to be correct since they go against
Aitareya Brahmana evidence which clearly states that Uttarakuru and Uttaramadra lay beyond Himalaya (
pren himvantam janapada Uttarakurva Uttaramadra). Moreover, no notice of the Uttaramadras, i.e.,
Bahlika (Bactria) has been taken off while fixing up the above location of Uttarakuru. Uttarakurus and Uttaramadras are stated to be immediate neighbors in the Trans-Himalaya region per Aitareya Brahmana evidence.
Ramayana testifies that the original home of the Kurus was in Bahli country. Ila, son of Parajapati Karddama was a king of Bahli, where Bahli represents
Sanskrit Bahlika (Bactria). Also the kings from Aila lineage have been called Karddameyas. The Aila is also stated to be the lineage of the Kurus themselves. The Karddamas obtained their name from river Karddama in
Persia/ancient
Iran. Moreover,
Sathapatha Brahmana attests a king named Bahlika Pratipeya as of the Kauravya lineage. Bahlika Pratipeya, as the name implies, was a prince of Bahlika (Bactria). Thus, the Bahli, Bahlika was the original home of the Kurus. Thus, Bahlika or Bactria may have constituted the Uttarakuru. Mahabharata and Sumangalavilasini also note that the people of Kuru had originally migrated from Uttarakutru. Bactria is evidently beyond the
Hindukush i.e. Himalaya. In ancient literature, Himalaya is said to be extending from eastern ocean to western ocean and even today is not separated from it. The above identification of Uttarakuru comes from Dr M. R. Singh. K. P. Jayswal identifies Mt Meru of the
Puranas with the Hindukush ranges and locates the Uttakuru in the Pamirs itself. V. S. Aggarwala thinks that the Uttarakuru was located to north of Pamirs in
Central Asia and was also
famous for its horses of Tittirakalamasha variety. Thus it probably comprised parts of
Kyrgyzstan and
Tian-Shan. Incidentally, the reference to horses from
Uttarakuru rules out any possibility of locating Uttarakurus
in Kashmir and Uttarakhand states since these regions have never been noted for their horses. Buddha Prakash locates the Uttarakuru-varsa in
Sinkiang province of
China.
Bhishamaparava of
Mahabharata attests that the country of Uttarakuru lay to the north of
Mt Meru and to the south of
Nila Parvata The Mt Meru of Hindu traditions is identified with the knot of
Pamirs. Mountain Nila may have been the
Altai-Mt. The Mahabharata refers to the Kichaka bamboos growing on the banks of river Shailoda. Mahabharata further attests that the Kichaka bamboo region was situated between
Mountain Meru (Pamirs) and
Mountain Mandara (Alta Tag). The river valleys between these two mountains are still overgrown with forests of Kichaka Bamboos. Ramayana also attests that the
valleys of river Shailoda were overgrown with Kichhaka bamboos and the country of Uttarakuru lay beyond river Shailoda as well as the valleys of Kichaka bamboos. River Shailoda of Ramayana and of Mahabharata has been variously identified with river Khotan, Yarkand, and Syr (Jaxartes) by different scholars.
Raghuvamsa also refers to the Kichaka bamboos of
Central Asia in the eastern regions of the Pamirs or Meru mountains which were known as Dirghavenu in
Sanskrit. The above discussion shows that the land of Uttarakurus was located north of
river Shailoda as well as of the
Kichaka bamboo valley.
Rajatarangini places Uttarkuru land in the neighborhood of Strirajya. Based on
Xuanzang's evidence, Strirajya is identified as a country lying north of Kashmir, south of Khotan and west of Tibet. Thus, the Uttarakuru which finds reference in the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Rajatarangini probably can not be identified with the Bahlika or Bactria as M. R. Singh has concluded. Uttarakuru probably comprised north-west of
Sinkiang province of
China and parts of the
Tian-Shan Mountains.
Christian Lassen suggests that the Ottorokoroi of Ptolemy should be located in the east of
Kashgar i.e. in
Tarim Basin. Some writers, however, assert that Uttarakuru was the name for the vast area lying north of Himalaya and extending as far as
Arctic Circle. Some people tend to identify the Uttarakurus and the Uttaramadras with the ancestors of the
Tocharian (Uttarakuru = Tokhari) branch of
Indo-Europeans, located to the north of the Himalayas Tokhari or
Tukharas, the later
Yucchis, are the same as the Rishikas of Mahabharata. ==See also==