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The Yadava (literally, descended from Yadu[1][2]) were an ancient Indian people who believed to be descended from Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage.
The community was formed of various clans, being the Abhira, Andhaka, Vrishni, and Satvatas, who all worshipped Krishna.[3][4][5][6][7] They are listed in ancient Indian literature as the segments of the lineage of Yadu (Yaduvamsha).[8] At various times there have been a number of communities and royal dynasties of the Indian subcontinent that have claimed descent from the ancient Yadava clans and legendary Yadava personalities, thus describing themselves as the Yadavas.[9][10] The Yadavas of the Mahabharata period were known to be the followers of Vaishnavism, of which Krishna was the leader: they were Gopas (cowherd) by profession, but at the same time they held the status of the Kshatriyas, participating in the battle of Kurukshetra. The present Ahirs are also followers of Vaisnavism.[11][12]
In the Mahabharata it is mentioned that when the Yadavas (though belonging to the Abhira group) abandoned Dvārakā (Dwaraka) and Gujarat after the death of Krishna and retreated northwards under Arjuna's leadership, they were attacked and broken up.[13]
Amongst the Yadava clans mentioned in ancient Indian literature, the Haihayas are believed to have descended from Sahasrajit, elder son of Yadu[14] and all other Yadava clans, which include the Chedis, the Vidarbhas, the Satvatas, the Andhakas, the Kukuras, the Bhojas, the Vrishnis and the Surasenas are believed to have descended from Kroshtu or Kroshta, younger son of Yadu.[15]
It can be inferred from the vamshanucharita (genealogy) sections of a number of major Puranas that, the Yadavas spread out over the Aravalli region, Gujarat, the Narmada valley, the northern Deccan and the eastern Ganges valley.[16] The Mahabharata and the Puranas mention that the Yadus or Yadavas, a confederacy comprising numerous clans were the rulers of the Mathura region.[17] and were pastoral cowherds.[18] The Mahabharata also refers to the exodus of the Yadavas from Mathura to Dvaraka owing to pressure from the Paurava rulers of Magadha, and probably also from the Kurus.[19]
- ^ Williams, Monier (2005) [1899]. Sanskrit English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Delhi: Motilal Banrsidass. p. 851. ISBN 978-81-208-3105-6.
- ^ Franklin C. Southworth considers the word Yadava to be possibly Dravidian, meaning "herder", as it has no known Indo-European etymology (Southworth, Franklin C. (1995). Reconstructing social context from language: Indo-Aryan and Dravidian prehistory, in George Erdösy (ed.) The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity, Indian Philology and South Asian Studies, Vol. I, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co., ISBN 978-3-11-014447-5, p. 266n.
- ^ Gadkari, Jayant (1996). Society and Religion: From Rugveda to Puranas. Popular Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-7154-743-2.
- ^ K. P., Jayaswal. Hindu Polity A Constitutional History Of India In Hindu Times. Delhi University House. p. 141.
In the time of Periplus(C 80 AD) the very area called by Ptolemy Larike was called Abiria. It seems that the Abhiras of Gujurat were the Rastrikas of Asoka and the Yadavas of Mahabharatha
- ^ Roy, Sarat Chandra (24 January 1974). Man in India Volume 54. A. K. Bose. p. 40.
In the Harivamsa, the Yadava kingdom called Anaratta is described as mostly inhabited by the Abhiras(Abhira-praya-manusyam)
- ^ Bhattacharya, Sunil Kumar (24 October 1978). Kṛṣṇa-cult. Associated Publishing House. p. 182.
surrounding territories round about Mathura mainly consist of Abhiras(Abhira-praya). Later it is said that all the races of Anhdakas, Vrisnis, etc. belonged to this race of Yadu. If this be so, it is evident that Krshna belonged to a race which included the race of Abhiras
- ^ While discussing about the Puranic accounts, Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri used the term, Yadava clans for the Andhakas, the Vrishnis and the Kukuras (Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra (1972). Political History of Ancient India, Calcutta: University of Calcutta, p.447fn3). But Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar used the term Yadava tribes for the Satvatas, the Andhakas and the Vrishnis (Bhandarkar, R. G. (1995). Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems, Delhi: Asian Educational Service, ISBN 978-81-206-0122-2, p. 11).
- ^ Thapar, Romila (1978, reprint 1996). Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations, New Delhi: Orient Longman, ISBN 978-81-250-0808-8, p. 223.
- ^ Forlong, John G. R. (2008). Encyclopedia of Religions. Vol. III: N–Z. New York: Cosimo Classics. p. 504. ISBN 978-1-60520-488-8.
- ^ Kosambi, D. D. (1988). The Culture and Civilization of Ancient India in Historical Outline, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, ISBN 978-0-7069-4200-2, p. 116.
- ^ Shashi, Shyam Singh (1994). Encyclopaedia of Indian Tribes: The tribal world in transition. Anmol Publications, 1994. p. 76. ISBN 9788170418368.
The Yadavas of the Mahabharata period were known to be the followers of Vaisnavism, of which Krsna was the leader: they were gopas (cowherd) by profession, but at the same time they held the status of the Ksatriyas, participating in the battle of Kurukshetra. The present Ahirs are also followers of Vaisnavism.
- ^ Vaidya, Chintaman Vinayak (2001). Epic India, Or, India as Described in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Asian Educational Services, 2001. p. 423. ISBN 9788120615649.
The fact that the Yadavas were pastoral in their habits is distinctly proved by the fact that Krishna's sister Subhadra when she was taken away by Arjuna is described as having put on the dress of a Gopi or female cowherd. It is impossible to explain this fact unless we believe that the whole tribe was accustomed to use this dress. The freedom with which she and other Yadava women are described as moving on the Raivataka hill in the festivities on that occasion also shows that their social relations were freer and more unhampered than among the other Kshatriyas. Krishna again when he went over to Arjuna's side is said in the Mahabharata to have given in balance for that act an army of Gopas to Duryodhana. The Gopas could have been no other than the Yadavas themselves.
- ^ Roy, Sarat Chandra (Rai Bahadur) (1974). Man in India. A.K. Bose.
- ^ Pargiter, F. E. (1972) [1922]. Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p. 87.
- ^ Pargiter, F. E. (1972) [1922]. Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, pp. 102–4.
- ^ Thapar, Romila (1978, reprint 1996). Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations, New Delhi: Orient Longman, ISBN 978-81-250-0808-8, pp. 216–7.
- ^ Sircar, D. C. (2008). Studies in the Religious Life of Ancient and Medieval India. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 16. ISBN 978-81-208-2790-5.
- ^ Dalal, Roshen (18 April 2014). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-81-8475-277-9.
- ^ Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra (1972). Political History of Ancient India, Calcutta: University of Calcutta, pp. 127–8.