Yaxisdelhi: small changes

2025-11-14T16:26:01Z

small changes

imported>MeditatingDragon at 12:55, 15 August 2021

2021-08-15T12:55:42Z

New page

'''Uttarakuru''' ({{lang-sa|उत्तर कुरु}}; {{IAST|Uttarakuru}}) is the name of a [[dvipa]] ("continent") in ancient [[Hindu mythology|Hindu]] and [[Buddhist mythology|Buddhist]] mythology as well as [[Jain cosmology]]. The Uttarakuru country or '''Uttara Kuru Kingdom''' and its people are sometimes described as belonging to the real world, whereas at other times they are mythical or otherworldly spiritual beings. The name Uttara Kuru means "North [[Kuru (kingdom)|Kuru]]". The [[Kuru (kingdom)|Kurus]] were a tribe during the [[Vedic civilization]] of [[India]]. The Uttara Kuru were therefore a population to the north of the Kurus, or north of the [[Himalayas]].

The Greek '''Ottarakorai''' and the Roman '''Attacori''' myths are probably related to '''Uttara Kuru'''.

Some historians identify this kingdom's territory with modern-day [[Kyrgyzstan]].{{cn|date=August 2021}}

At some point during the reign of [[Pururavas]]-[[Aila dynasty|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 for [[Yudhishthira]]'s [[Rajasuya]] sacrifice. The epics also mention that they followed a republican constitution with no monarchy.

==Vedic literature==
[[Aitareya Brahmana]] makes first reference to ''Uttarakuru'' and [[Uttaramadra]] as real-life [[Janapadas]]. According to Aitareya Brahmana, these two nations lay beyond the [[Himalaya]]n ranges ([[Hindukush]]). The Aitareya Brahmana adduces these two people as examples of [[republic]]an (vairajiya) nations, where whole [[Janapada]] took the consecration of rulership.<ref>

:tasmad atasyam udichya dishi ye ke ca pren himvantam janapada uttarakurva uttaramadra
:iti vairajyaya te.abhishichyante
::— ''(Aitareya Brahmana, VIII/14)''.</ref>

Aitareya Brahmana again notes that Uttarakuru was a deva-kshetra or divine land.

==Puranas==
Based on its description in the [[Purana]]s, Uttarakuru seems to be in the real world.

[[Puranic]] [[cosmography]] divides our earth into seven concentric [[dvipa|island]]s called [[Jambudvipa|Jambu]], Plaksha, Salmali, Kushadvipa, Kraunca, Sakaldwipiya, and Pushkara, that are separated by the seven encircling [[samudra|sea]]s. The insular continent Jambudvipa forms the innermost [[concentric]] [[island]] in the scheme of continents. Jambudvipa includes nine countries (varṣa) and nine mountains. The land of ''Illa-vrta'' lies at the center of Jambudivipa at whose center is located [[Mount Meru]]([[Hindu Kush]]). The land of ''Uttarakuru'' lies to the north of Mount Meru/ Kailash.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh |first=M.R. |title=Geographical Data in Early Puranas |year=1981 }}</ref>

The [[Bhagavata Purana]] notes the Uttarakuru as the land of the "northern [[Kuru (kingdom)|Kuru]]s", a people separate from the Dakisha Kurus. The [[Brahmanda Purana]] and [[Vayu Purana]] state that Pururavas, the ancestor of the Puru race once inhabited with Urvashi in Uttarakuru. In [[Matsya Purana]], Uttarakuru is described as '[[Tirtha (Hinduism)|Tirtha]]', that is: a pure place where one went to undergo ritual ablutions.

==Mahabharata==
[[Mahabharata]] sometimes glorifies the Uttarakuru as a [[fairy]] land. It is stated to be the ultimate abode of the blessed souls. The souls of the blessed ones and the glorious [[Kshatriya]]s who fall in battle go to ''Uttarakuru'' after death.

Adiparva of Mahabharata refers to a practice of [[free love]] among the denizens of ''Uttarakuru'', 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 real [[Kuru (kingdom)|Kuru]]s.

At the ''Rajasuya Sacrifice'' performed by king [[Yudhishtra]], the kings of north-west brought gifts, some of which belonged to ''Uttarakuru''.

After reducing the [[Kambojas]] and [[Daradas]] on south of [[Hindukush]], [[Arjuna]] proceeded to Trans-Hindukush countries and fought with the Lohas, [[Kambojas|Parama-Kambojas]] and the [[Rishikas]]. Thereafter, Arjuna subjugated the [[Kimpurusha|Kimpuruhas]], Haratakas and the ''Uttarakurus'', which were the neighboring tribes in the trans-Himalaya region.

[[Karna]] in practice of war started Vijayatra conquering whole Eurasia.

==Ramayana==
In the enumeration of the countries of north, [[Ramayana]] references [[Kambojas]], [[Yavana]]s, [[Sakas|Shakas]], Paradas and then further northwards, it refers to the land of the ''Uttarakurus'' lying beyond river ''Shailoda'' and ''Kichaka bamboos'' valleys. It gives very vivid and graphic picture of Uttarakuru region.<ref>Ramayana 4.43.1-62.</ref>

==Buddhist text==
Uttarakuru also finds numerous references in [[Buddhist]] literature. In [[Digha Nikaya]], ''Uttarakuru'' is said to be the name of [[city]]. Lalita-Vistara describes the ''Uttarakuru'' as Pratyanta-dvipa or a frontier [[island]].

Uttarakuru is well described in the [[Atanatiya Sutta]] of the [[Digha 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 king [[Vessavana]]. 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 of [[Five Precepts|Pancasila]] 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 giving [[Kalpavriksha|Kalparuksha]]. It is also said that only those with great [[iddhi]] powers or [[cakkavattin]] kings who can visit this place. These people cannot comprehend the [[Dhamma]].

A Burmese text called [[Lokapannatti]] gives further details on Uttarakuru.

[[Sumangalavilasini]] says that the wife of a Chakravarti king comes either from ''Uttarakuru'' or from the race of a king [[Madra]].

[[Buddhaghosa]] records a tradition which states that, when Vedic king Mandhata returned to [[Jambudvipa]] from his sojourn in the four ''Mahadipas'', there were, in his retinue, a large number of the people of ''Uttarakuru''. They all settled down in Jambudípa, and their settlement became known as Kururattha (Kuru Rashtra).
Majjhima Commentary<ref>Vol I, p 184.</ref> 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'')<ref>"... vassa ('rains') signifies a three-month period of residence in one place during the rainy season, enjoined upon bhikkhus by the Buddha in order that they should not travel about trampling down crops and so annoy farmers. To translate it by 'lent' as is sometimes done lets in a historical background and religious atmosphere of mourning and fasting quite alien to it (with no etymological support)." ''The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga'' by Bhadantarariya Buddhaghosa & translated by Bhikkhu Nanamoli, pg. liii-liv, (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/PathofPurification2011.pdf).</ref> 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>

==Rajatarangini of Kalhana==
According to [[Rajatarangini]] of [[Kalhana]], king [[Lalitaditya Muktapida]] of [[Kashmir]] leads a war expedition against the [[tribe]]s 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.

==Foreign sources==
[[Ptolemy]]'s [[Geography]] refers to ''Ottorokorai'' (Uttarakuru) [[tribe]], ''Ottorokora'' as a city, and ''Ottorokoras'' as a river.<ref>Richard L. Thompson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=3TZmDSr-1msC&pg=PA127&lpg=PA127&dq=Ottorokorai&source=bl&ots=2LAOw7ePD1&sig=oW5ZkenzB0ekAOxSyDDiOJhJ16I&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjj2MLPoOHXAhWBQI8KHWhOCdUQ6AEIQDAE#v=onepage&q=Ottorokorai&f=false The Cosmology of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa: Mysteries of the Sacred Universe]</ref>

The ''Attacori'' of [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] probably also refers to the Uttarakuru people and their country.<ref>Gerald J. Gruman, MD, PhD, [https://books.google.com/books?id=1HOY2FXumZoC&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=Attacori+Pliny&source=bl&ots=NGMWau8J1F&sig=3ZhgGfjm4-4cOFJ0YG2E_YshfHU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjM7-3roOHXAhUcSY8KHfBMBcoQ6AEILjAB#v=onepage&q=Attacori%20Pliny&f=false A History of Ideas About the Prolongation of Life]</ref>

==Geographical location==
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 be [[historical]] people. Hence scholars have attempted to identify the actual location of Uttarakuru.

[[Puranic]] accounts always locate the Uttarakuru varsa in the northern parts of [[Jambudvipa]].

The Uttarakuru is taken by some as identical with the Kuru country mentioned in the [[Rig-Veda]]. The Kurus and Krivis (Panchala) are said to form the Vaikarana of [[Rigveda]] and the Vaikarana is often identified with [[Kashmir]]. Therefore, Dr Zimmer likes to identify the ''Vaikarana Kurus with the Uttarakurus'' and places them in Kashmir<ref>Altindisches Leben: Die Cultur der vedischen Arier nach den Samḣitā, 1869, p 103, Dr Heinrich Zimmer - Indo-Europeans; See also: ''Vedic Index'', p. 84, [[A. B. Keith]] and [[A. A. Macdonell]].</ref>

[[Michael Witzel]] locates his Uttarakuru in [[Uttarakhand]] state.
According to Prof. [[Subhash Kak]], Uttara Kuru was the [[Tarim Basin]] in [[Xinjiang]], [[China]].<ref>https://medium.com/@subhashkak1/uttara-kuru-and-the-jats-c2d3130e4cb7</ref>

According to some scholars, the above locations however do not seem to be correct since they go against ''Aitareya Brahmana'' evidence which clearly states that Uttarakuru and Uttaramadra lay beyond Himalaya (''pren himvantam janapada Uttarakurva Uttaramadra''). Moreover, no notice of the Uttaramadras ([[Bactria|Bahlika]], [[Bactria]]) has been taken of 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.<ref>Aitreya Brahmana VIII.14.</ref>

[[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 represents [[Sanskrit]] 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.<ref>Ramayana , Uttarakanda, 89.3-23.</ref> The Karddamas obtained their name from river Karddama in [[Persian Empire|Persia]]/ancient [[Iran]]. 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 the [[Hindukush]] 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.<ref>Kumarasambhavam, I, 1.</ref>

The above identification of Uttarakuru comes from Dr M. R. Singh.<ref>Geographiacl Data in Early Puranas, 1972, pp 63-65</ref>

K. P. Jayswal identifies Mt Meru of the [[Puranas]] with the Hindukush ranges and locates the Uttakuru in the Pamirs itself.<ref>Hindu Polity, 1978, p 124, 138-39.</ref>

V. S. Aggarwala thinks that the Uttarakuru was located to north of Pamirs in [[Central Asia]] and was also ''famous for its horses of Tittirakalamasha variety''.<ref>India as Known to Panini, p 61.</ref> Thus it probably comprised parts of [[Kyrgyzstan]] and [[Tian-Shan]]. Incidentally, the reference to horses from ''Uttarakuru'' rules out any possibility of locating Uttarakurus ''in [[Kashmir]] and [[Uttarakhand]] states since these regions have never been noted for their horses''.

Buddha Prakash locates the Uttarakuru-varsa in [[Sinkiang]] province of [[China]].

''Bhishamaparava'' of [[Mahabharata]] attests that the country of Uttarakuru lay to the north of ''Mt Meru'' and to the south of ''Nila Parvata''{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}

The Mt Meru of Hindu traditions is identified with the knot of [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]]s. Mountain Nila may have been the ''Altai-Mt''.

The Mahabharata refers to the Kichaka bamboos growing on the banks of river Shailoda.<ref>MBH, II, 48-2.</ref> Mahabharata further attests that the Kichaka bamboo region was situated between ''Mountain
Meru'' (Pamirs) and ''Mountain Mandara'' (Alta Tag). The river valleys between these two mountains are still overgrown with forests of Kichaka Bamboos.

Ramayana also attests that the [[valley]]s 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<ref>Ramayana 4.43.37-38</ref> and of Mahabharata<ref>MBH II.48.2-4.</ref> has been variously identified with river Khotan, Yarkand, and Syr (Jaxartes) by different scholars.

[[Raghuvamsa]]<ref>Raghu 4.73.</ref> also refers to the Kichaka bamboos of [[Central Asia]] in the eastern regions of the Pamirs or Meru mountains which were known as Dirghavenu in [[Sanskrit]].

The above discussion shows that the land of Uttarakurus was located north of ''river Shailoda'' as well as of the ''Kichaka bamboo valley''.

[[Rajatarangini]] places Uttarkuru land in the neighborhood of Strirajya. Based on [[Xuanzang]]'s evidence,<ref>I, p 330.</ref> 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 of [[Sinkiang]] [[Provinces of China|province]] of [[China]] and parts of the [[Tian-Shan Mountains]].

[[Christian Lassen]] suggests that the Ottorokoroi of Ptolemy should be located in the east of [[Kashgar]] i.e. in [[Tarim Basin]].<ref>Quoted in Original Sanskrit Texts, by J Muir.</ref>

Some writers, however, assert that Uttarakuru was the name for the vast area lying north of Himalaya and extending as far as [[Arctic]] Circle.

Some people tend to identify the Uttarakurus and the Uttaramadras with the [[Tocharians|Tocharian]] (Uttarakuru = Tokhari) branch of [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-Europeans]], located to the north of the Himalayas [http://www.bharatvani.org/books/rig/ch7.htm]

Tokhari or ''Tukharas'', the later [[Yuezhi|Yucchi]]s, are the same as the Rishikas of Mahabharata.

==See also==
*[[Kingdoms of Ancient India]]
*[[Kuru Kingdom]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
*Geographical Data in Early Puranas, 1972, Dr M. R. Singh
*{{Cite book |last=Flood |first=Gavin |title=An Introduction to Hinduism |year=1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-43878-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontohi0000floo }}
*{{Cite book|last=Wilson |first=H. H. |title=''The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition'' |year=2006 |publisher=Read Country Books|location=Cambridge |isbn=1-84664-664-2}}
*[[Mahabharata]] of [[Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa]], translated to English by Kisari Mohan Ganguli

==External links==
*[http://www.valmikiramayan.net/kishkindha/sarga43/kishkindha_43_frame.htm Valmiki Ramayana - Kishkindha Kanda Sarga 43]
*[http://www.hindunet.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=47354&page=3&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1 About UttaraKurus, Kuru/Puru and The Madras/Uttara-Madras]
*[http://www.palikanon.com/namen/u/uttarakuru.htm Pali Definition of Uttarakuru]

{{Tribes and kingdoms of the Mahabharata}}
{{Ancient India and Central Asia}}
{{HinduMythology}}

{{Uttarakhand}}

[[Category:Locations in Hindu mythology]]
[[Category:Human migration]]
[[Category:Ancient Central Asia]]
[[Category:Foreign relations of ancient India]]

Uttarakuru - Revision history

Yaxisdelhi: small changes

imported>MeditatingDragon at 12:55, 15 August 2021