According to the Aitareya Brahmana (VIII.14), the Satvatas were a southern people held in subjection by the Bhojas. Panini, in his
Ashtadhyayi mentions the Satvatas also as being of the
Kshatriya gotra, having a
sangha (tribal oligarchy) form of government According to a tradition, found in the
Harivamsa (95.5242-8), Satvata was a descendant of the Yadava king
Madhu and Satvata's son Bhima was contemporary with
Rama. Bhima recovered the city of Mathura from the
Ikshvakus after the death of Rama and his brothers. Andhaka, son of Bhima Satvata was contemporary with
Kusha, son of Rama. He succeeded his father to the throne of Mathura. The
Andhakas, the
Vrishnis, the
Kukuras, the
Bhojas and the
Surasenas are believed to have descended from Satvata, a descendant of
Kroshtu. In the
Drona Parva (141.15) of the
Mahabharata, Andhakas were categorized as the
Vratyas (deviators from orthodoxy).
Bhojas According to the
Aitareya Brahmana (VIII.14), the Bhojas were a southern people, whose princes held the Satvatas in subjection. The
Vishnu Purana (IV.13.1-61) mentions the Bhojas as a branch of the Satvatas. However, according to a number of other Puranic texts, the Bhojas were descendants of Babhru, grandson of Satvata. According to the
Bhagavata Purana, the Kukuras occupied the territory around
Dwarka. The Vayu Purana mentions that the Yadava ruler
Ugrasena belonged to this clan (
Kukurodbhava). According to the Puranas, Ahuka, an Kukura, had two sons by a
Kashi princess, Ugrasena and Devaka. Ugrasena had nine sons and five daughters,
Kamsa being the eldest. Devaka had four sons and seven daughters,
Devaki was one of them.
Kamsa usurped the throne of Mathura after imprisoning Ugrasena. But later he was killed by
Krishna, son of Devaki, who re-installed Ugrasena to the throne. The Nashik Cave Inscription of Gautami Balashri mentions that her son
Gautamiputra Satakarni conquered the Kukuras. The
Junagadh Rock Inscription of
Rudradaman I includes the Kukuras in the list of the peoples conquered by him. Although, Panini, in his
Ashtadhyayi (IV.1.114) includes the Vrishnis in the list of the clans of the
Kshatriya gotra, having a
sangha (tribal oligarchy) form of government, The
Mora Well Inscription, found from a village near Mathura and dated to the early decades of the Common era records the installation of the images of the five Vrishni
viras (heroes) in a stone shrine by a person, named Tosha. These five Vrishni heroes have been identified with
Samkarshana,
Vasudeva,
Pradyumna,
Aniruddha and Samba from a passage in the Vayu Purana (97.1-2). A unique silver coin of the Vrishnis was discovered from
Hoshiarpur,
Punjab. This coin is presently preserved in the
British Museum,
London. Later, a number of copper coins, clay seals and sealings issued by the Vrishnis were also discovered from Sunet, near
Ludhiana.
Shaineyas The Shaineyas are believed to have descended from Shini, son of Anamitra, son of Vrishni. In the
Mahabharata and the Puranas, the most notable Shaineya was
Yuyudhana, son of Satyaka and grandson of Shini. He was a contemporary of Krishna. According to the Puranas, Asanga and Yugandhara were his son and grandson respectively. His name is found in the
Nirukta (2.2) as the holder of the jewel. In the Puranas, Akrura is mentioned as the son of Shvaphalka, who was great-grandson of Vrishni According to the Puranas Akrura had two sons, Devavant and Upadeva. Both
Balarama and
Krishna died soon after this war. Later, son of Kritavarma became ruler of Mrittikavati and grandson of Yuyudhana became ruler of the territory near the
Sarasvati River. The rest of the surviving Yadavas took refuge in
Indraprastha. Vajra, great-grandson of Krishna was installed as their king. Vajra is mentioned as the great-grandson of Krishna in the
Vishnu Purana. According to a section of this text (IV.15.34-42), he was the son of
Aniruddha and Subhadra. But according or another section (V.32.6-7), he was the son of Aniruddha and Usha, daughter of Bana and granddaughter of
Bali. Bahu (or Pratibahu) was his son and Sucharu was his grandson. The narrative of the Yadava fratricidal war is also found in two
Jataka tales of the
Pali Buddhist canon: the
Ghata Jataka and the
Samkicca Jataka. According to the
Ghata Jataka, Vasudeva, Baladeva and eight other
Andhaka-Venhu (probably, a corrupt form of
Andhaka-Venhi,
Pali equivalent to Sanskrit Andhaka-Vrishni) brothers seized
Dvaravati and killed its king Kamsa. Later, these brothers fought amongst themselves and except Vasudeva and Baladeva everybody died. Vasudeva and Baladeva also died soon after. The
Samkicca Jataka mentions that the
Andhaka-Venhus killed each other. Kautilya also in his (I.6.10) mentioned about the destruction of Vrishni clan because of their foolhardiness. ==Yadava Kinship system==