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TheUttarakurus (Sanskrit:उत्तर कुरु;Uttarakuru) were an earlyVedic Hindu tribe that inhabited the Uttarakuru country orUttara Kuru Kingdom. It is also the name of advipa ('continent') in ancientHindu cosmology. The name "Uttara-Kuru" means "North ofKuru (kingdom)". TheKurus were atribe and also a kingdom during theVedic civilization ofAncient India. The Uttara Kuru are therefore defined as a population to the north of the Kurus, which historians have concluded to be north of theHimalayas, inCentral Asia.
Some modern historians identify this kingdom's territory as an Indian frontier north ofGandhara, that could encompass modern-dayIran,Kazakhstan,Afghanistan,Tajikistan,Turkmenistan,Uzbekistan,Kyrgyzstan, and parts of southernRussia.[citation needed]
The Greek "Ottarakorai" and the Roman "Attacori" myths are probably related toUttara Kuru.
At some point during the reign ofPururavas-Aila (the first king mentioned in the line of lunar dynasty of Indian kings) Uttara Kuru and the Kurus of India belonged to the same Kuru Empire.Arjuna collected tribute from Uttara Kuru during his northern military campaign forYudhishthira'sRajasuya sacrifice. The epics also mention that they followed a republican constitution with no monarchy.
Aitareya Brahmana makes first reference toUttarakuru andUttaramadra as real-lifeJanapadas. According to Aitareya Brahmana, these two nations lay beyond theHimalayan ranges (Hindukush). The Aitareya Brahmana adduces these two people as examples ofrepublican (vairajiya) nations, where wholeJanapada took the consecration of rulership.[1]
Aitareya Brahmana again notes that Uttarakuru was a deva-kshetra or divine land.
Based on its description in thePuranas, Uttarakuru seems to be in the real world.
Puraniccosmography divides Earth into seven concentricislands calledJambu, Plaksha, Salmali, Kushadvipa, Kraunca, Sakaldwipiya, and Pushkara, that are separated by the seven encirclingseas. The insular continent Jambudvipa forms the innermostconcentricisland in the scheme of continents. Jambudvipa includes nine countries (varṣa) and nine mountains. The land ofIlla-vrta lies at the center of Jambudivipa at whose center is locatedMount Meru (Hindu Kush). The land ofUttarakuru lies to the north of Mount Meru/ Kailash.[2]
TheBhagavata Purana notes the Uttarakuru as the land of the "northernKurus", a people separate from the Dakshina Kurus. TheBrahmanda Purana andVayu Purana state that Pururavas, the ancestor of the Puru race once inhabited with Urvashi in Uttarakuru. InMatsya Purana, Uttarakuru is described as 'Tirtha', that is: a pure place where one went to undergo ritual ablutions.
Mahabharata sometimes glorifies the Uttarakuru as afairy land. It is stated to be the ultimate abode of the blessed souls. The souls of the blessed ones and the gloriousKshatriyas who fall in battle go toUttarakuru after death.
Adiparva of Mahabharata refers to a practice offree love among the denizens ofUttarakuru, like the one followed by birds and the beasts, and is not regarded sinful as it is stated to have the approval of the rishis and the sanction of antiquity. At other times, the epic describes the Uttarakurus as real entity and associates them with the realKurus.
At theRajasuya Sacrifice performed by kingYudhishtra, the kings of north-west brought gifts, some of which belonged toUttarakuru.
After reducing theKambojas andDaradas on south ofHindukush,Arjuna proceeded to Trans-Hindukush countries and fought with the Lohas,Parama-Kambojas and theRishikas. Thereafter, Arjuna subjugated theKimpuruhas, Haratakas and theUttarakurus, which were the neighboring tribes in the trans-Himalaya region.
Karna in practice of war started Vijayatra conquering whole Eurasia.
In the enumeration of the countries of north,Ramayana referencesKambojas,Yavanas,Shakas, Paradas and then further northwards, it refers to the land of theUttarakurus lying beyond riverShailoda andKichaka bamboos valleys. It gives very vivid and graphic picture of Uttarakuru region.[3]
Uttarakuru also finds numerous references inBuddhist literature. InDigha Nikaya,Uttarakuru is said to be the name ofcity. Lalita-Vistara describes theUttarakuru as Pratyanta-dvipa or a frontierisland.
Uttarakuru is well described in theAtanatiya Sutta of theDigha Nikaya. It is an island 24000 Yojanas away from Jambudvipa. It is one of the great Mahadvipas or continents. It is said to be a place of great abundance. It falls under the rule of the heavenly kingVessavana. Atanatiya is one of the great cities of this land. The inhabitants are elegant in complexion, unselfish, have no marital relationships (for more than 7 days), have no property of their own, no houses. But they are able to sleep on the earth, sweet smelling rice without husk grows on its own accord, rice is cooked on pots using stoves and self heating crystals. The people of Uttarakuru naturally have great virtue ofPancasila and a fixed lifespan. Trees have an abundance of fruits, birds sing beautiful songs (some cry saying "jiva" or long life) and there is an all givingKalparuksha. It is also said that only those with greatiddhi powers orcakkavattin kings who can visit this place. These people cannot comprehend theDhamma.
A Burmese text calledLokapannatti gives further details on Uttarakuru.
Sumangalavilasini says that the wife of a Chakravarti king comes either fromUttarakuru or from the race of a kingMadra.
Buddhaghosa records a tradition which states that, when Vedic king Mandhata returned toJambudvipa from his sojourn in the fourMahadipas, there were, in his retinue, a large number of the people ofUttarakuru. They all settled down in Jambudípa, and their settlement became known as Kururattha (Kuru Rashtra).Majjhima Commentary[4] also attests that the people of Kururatha had originally belonged to the Uttarakuru.Uttarakuru is mentioned in Dhammapada Verse 416 in relation to Jotika, a treasurer and extraordinarily rich person of Rajagaha who was a follower of the Buddha and later became an arahat. He had an alien wife who was brought to him by the gods and she came from Uttarakuru or the 'Northern Island' since it is situated in the North of Mt. Meru, a mythical structure in the cosmos that harbours various abodes/planets including the earth. Her name was Satulakayi and she brought with her a pint-pot of rice and three crystals stone-stove that cooked rice automatically and could serve food for many people. She stayed with Jotika until he joined the Order and became an arahat, after which she went back to Uttarakuru.
Uttarakuru is also mentioned in the Abhidhamma text in relation to the Buddha's visit to Tavatimsa, a heavenly world of devas where the Buddha went for the whole of the three-month period of the rains (vassa)[5] to expound the Abhidhamma to the gods. Since the Buddha was a human he required to feed his physical body during a short tenure in Tavatismsa which is equal to four calendar months on earth. He went for alms to Uttarakuru which is an abode of humanoid beings that lies near Tavatimsa and he did not come back to the earth. <DhA.iv.199-213>
Uttarakuru is mentioned in the Sarvāstivāda Vaibhāsika canon. Pt. 23 in Bareau's anthology[6] says: "Les habitants de l'Uttarakuru n'ont pas de détachement (virāga) et les nobles (ārya) n'y naissent pas." (The citizens of Uttarakuru are not dispassionate (virāga) and nobles (ārya) are not born there.)
According toRajatarangini ofKalhana, kingLalitaditya Muktapida ofKashmir leads a war expedition against thetribes of north (i.e. north of Kashmir) and in sequence, encounters the Kambojas, Tusharas, Bhauttas, Daradas, Valukambudhis,Uttarakurus, Strirajya (mythical or otherwise) and Pragjyotisha with whom he fights one after the other.
Ptolemy'sGeography refers toOttorokorai (Uttarakuru)tribe,Ottorokora as a city, andOttorokoras as a river.[7]
TheAttacori ofPliny probably also refers to the Uttarakuru people and their country.[8]
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 behistorical people. Hence scholars have attempted to identify the actual location of Uttarakuru.
Puranic accounts always locate the Uttarakuru varsa in the northern parts ofJambudvipa (India).
The Uttarakuru is taken by some as identical with the Kuru country mentioned in theRig-Veda. The Kurus and Krivis (Panchala) are said to form the Vaikarana ofRigveda and the Vaikarana is often identified withKashmir. Therefore, Dr Zimmer likes to identify theVaikarana Kurus with the Uttarakurus and places them in India's Kashmir.[9]
German-American historian,Michael Witzel locates Uttarakuru in the south-eastern parts ofCentral Asia.
According to Kashmiri historian,Subhash Kak, Uttara Kuru was theTarim Basin inXinjiang, in Central Asia.[10]
According to some scholars, the above locations however do not seem to be correct since they go againstAitareya 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.[11]
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 representsSanskrit 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.[12] The Karddamas obtained their name from river Karddama inPersia/ancientIran. 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 theHindukush 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.[13]
The above identification of Uttarakuru comes from Dr M. R. Singh.[14]
K. P. Jayswal identifies Mt Meru of thePuranas with the Hindukush ranges and locates the Uttakuru in the Pamirs itself.[15]
V. S. Aggarwala thinks that the Uttarakuru was located to north of Pamirs inCentral Asia and was alsofamous for its horses of Tittirakalamasha variety.[16] Thus it probably comprised parts ofKyrgyzstan andTian-Shan. Incidentally, the reference to horses fromUttarakuru rules out any possibility of locating UttarakurusinKashmir andUttarakhand states since these regions have never been noted for their horses.
Buddha Prakash locates the Uttarakuru-varsa inSinkiang province ofChina.
Bhishamaparava ofMahabharata attests that the country of Uttarakuru lay to the north ofMt Meru and to the south ofNila Parvata[citation needed]
The Mt Meru of Hindu traditions is identified with the knot ofPamirs. Mountain Nila may have been theAltai-Mt.
The Mahabharata refers to the Kichaka bamboos growing on the banks of river Shailoda.[17] Mahabharata further attests that the Kichaka bamboo region was situated betweenMountain Meru (Pamirs) andMountain Mandara (Alta Tag). The river valleys between these two mountains are still overgrown with forests of Kichaka Bamboos.
Ramayana also attests that thevalleys 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[18] and of Mahabharata[19] has been variously identified with river Khotan, Yarkand, and Syr (Jaxartes) by different scholars.
Raghuvamsa[20] also refers to the Kichaka bamboos ofCentral Asia in the eastern regions of the Pamirs or Meru mountains which were known as Dirghavenu inSanskrit.
The above discussion shows that the land of Uttarakurus was located north ofriver Shailoda as well as of theKichaka bamboo valley.
Rajatarangini places Uttarkuru land in the neighborhood of Strirajya. Based onXuanzang's evidence,[21] 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 ofSinkiangprovince ofChina and parts of theTian-Shan Mountains.
Christian Lassen suggests that the Ottorokoroi of Ptolemy should be located in the east ofKashgar i.e. inTarim Basin.[22]
Some writers, however, assert that Uttarakuru was the name for the vast area lying north of Himalaya and extending as far asArctic Circle.
Some people tend to identify the Uttarakurus and the Uttaramadras with the ancestors of theTocharian (Uttarakuru = Tokhari) branch ofIndo-Europeans, located to the north of the Himalayas[1]Archived 2006-02-07 at theWayback Machine
Tokhari orTukharas, the laterYucchis, are the same as the Rishikas of Mahabharata.
