Ancient Indian History|The Elimination of the Yadavas - How true is it ?

The Elimination of the Yadavas - How true is it ?

The Yadava clan started from king Yadu himself. There were many offshoots of this clan including Haiheyas, Chedis, Vidarbhas, Andhakas, Kukkuras, Bhojas, Vrishnis, Shainyas, Satvatas, etc. Looking at the geographical extent, their kingdoms existed from Bundelkhand (Chedi) till Rajasthan. From Mathura in the north till Vidarbha ( Maharashtra) in the south. The Yadava clan was perhaps, the biggest clan followed by the Purus and Suryavanshi Ikshvakus. 

Ancient Indian History

 These Yadava kingdoms were formed at different period of time. The earliest being the Anarta kingdom in Gujarat followed by Haiheya ,Vidarbha and Chedi. There existed many more kingdoms like Malava, Dasharna, Avanti, Kunti, Karusha, Saurashtra, etc. The Yadavas had emerged as a dominating clan during the Mahabharata era. No wonder the Kauravas were happy getting the whole Yadava army on their side during the war.

The valid scripture for the description of the war between the Yadavas is none other than the Mahabharata. Some Puranas like Bhagvata, Vishnu provide valuable inputs too. The story of the war is given in Mausala Parva (3 -7), Bhagvata Purana (11.30) and Vishnu Purana (5.37).  It is as follows -

Ancient Indian History

 Yadavas had gone to Prabhas Kshetra on the Gujarat coast for purification and austerity. Mahabharata describes clearly that they had taken with them finest quality of alcohol and meat. Mahabharata mentions that Ugrasena had already issued orders that none of the residents of Dwarka would drink alcohol but still it was taken with them. After performing their duties, the Yadavas settled at Pindaraka on the Gujarat coast. Bhagvata mentions that a special kind of alcohol called Madhu-Maireyaka was ordered by the Yadavas. They drank it to the core. This affected their decision making capacity. The war started with a minor scuffle. There are varied references as to within whom the scuffle started. Vishnu Purana mentions it was between the Kukkuras and Andhakas while Mahabharata says it was between Vrishnis and Andhakas. Mahabharata, as expected, goes further into details. It says it all started with Yuyudhana blaming Kritavarma for siding with Ashvathhma while killing in the Pandava camp. 

                                        

The history of India includes the prehistoric settlements and societies in theIndian subcontinent; the blending of the Indus Valley Civilization and Indo-Aryan culture into the Vedic Civilization;^[1] the development of Hinduism as a synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions; the rise of the Śramaṇa movement; the decline of Śrauta sacrifices and the birth of the initiatory traditions of Jainism, Buddhism, Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism;^[2][3] the onset of a succession of powerful dynasties and empires for more than two millennia throughout various geographic areas of the subcontinent, including the growth of Muslim dynasties during the Medieval period intertwined with Hindu powers; the advent of European traders resulting in the establishment of the British rule; and the subsequent independence movement that led to the Partition of India and the creation of the Republic of India.