Kuru Kingdom was split into three parts: Kuru proper (which itself also split intoVatsa kingdom) "Kurujangala" and "Uttarakuru".Kuru proper was in the middle region ofGanga-YammunaDoab, Kurujangala was in western part and Uttarakuru was in eastern region.[7]
King Kuru II ofPuru dynastyafter whom the dynasty was named 'Kuruvansha' or 'Kaurava'. After his name, the district inHaryana was called asKurukshetra.[8] By the glory, zenith and name of this king the dynasty hence renamed from Paurava Kingdom to Kuru Kingdom.[9] After these Kings several kings of this dynasty established several kingdoms. He had three sons, namely Vidhuratha I who became the ruler ofPratisthana,Vyushitaswa who died at a very young age, and Sudhanva, who became the ruler ofMagadha. Henceforth, Vidhuratha became the first kuru king of Hastinapura.[10]
Chitrāngada (son of Shantanu, who was killed prematurely.Bhishma, who was the eldest son of the Shantanu andGanga; had functioned as the regent of the Kurus, under Chitrāngada, Vichitravirya, Pandu and Dhritarashtra II)
Vichitravirya (younger brother of Chitrāngada, who died prematurely).
Pandu (son of Vichitravirya and Ambalika.Vidura, who was his half brother, served as his, and his elder brother's Prime Minister)
Dhritarashtra II (older half-brother of Pandu, and son ofAmbika who didn't succeed Vichitravirya directly due to his blindness).
TheKauravas, led byDuryodhana (sons of Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, who were slain in the Kurukshetra War).
a:Shantanu was a king of the Kuru dynasty or kingdom, and was some generations removed from any ancestor calledKuru. His marriage toGanga preceded his marriage toSatyavati.
b:Pandu andDhritarashtra were fathered byVyasa in theniyoga tradition afterVichitravirya's death. Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura were the sons of Vyasa with Ambika, Ambalika and a maid servant respectively.
c:Karna was born toKunti through her invocation ofSurya, before her marriage toPandu.
e:Duryodhana and his siblings were born at the same time, and they were of the same generation as theirPandava cousins.
f : Although the succession after the Pandavas was through the descendants of Arjuna and Subhadra, it was Yudhishthira and Draupadi who occupied the throne of Hastinapura after the great battle.
The birth order of siblings is correctly shown in the family tree (from left to right), except forVyasa andBhishma whose birth order is not described, and Vichitravirya and Chitrangada who were born after them. The fact thatAmbika andAmbalika are sisters is not shown in the family tree. The birth of Duryodhana took place after the birth of Karna and Yudhishthira, but before the birth of the remaining Pandava brothers.
Some siblings of the characters shown here have been left out for clarity; this includesVidura, half-brother to Dhritarashtra and Pandu.
Pandavas means sons of King Pandu. Pandavas were five in number as:Yudhishtira,Bhima,Arjuna,Nakula andSahadeva. The first three of five Pandavas were the sons of Kunti and Pandu while the younger two were born to Madri after Pandu's request.[11]
Upapandavas were the 5 sons of Pandava andDraupadi (daughter of KingDrupada ofPanchala). Their names were Prativindhya (from Yudhishthira), Sutasoma (from Bheema), Shrutakarma (from Arjuna), Satanika (from Nakula) and Shrutasena (from Sahadeva).[12]
^B. Kölver, ed. (1997).Recht, Staat und Verwaltung im klassischen Indien [Law, State and Administration in Classical India] (in German). München: R. Oldenbourg. pp. 27–52.
^"Mahabharata".Collins English Dictionary (13th ed.). HarperCollins. 2018.ISBN978-0-008-28437-4.
^Bonnefoy, Yves.Asian Mythologies. translated under the direction of Wendy Doniger. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. 1993. pp. 180–183.ISBN0-226-06456-5
^van Buitenen, J.A.B., ed. (1981).The Mahābhārata. Translated by van Buitenen (Phoenix ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.ISBN9780226846644.
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