Gandharva Kingdom

Gandharva Kingdom refers to the territory inhabited by a people called the Gandharvas, who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They were well versed in music and dance. Gandarvas were also powerful warriors who roamed in Indian kingdoms disregarding any Indian king or Kshatriya warrior. A Gandharva named Chitrangada killed the Kuru prince Chitrangada for the reason that no two kings with the name Chitrangada shall live. A group of Gandharvas defeated Duryodhana and his powerful allies like Karna. Another Gandharva named Angaraparna, challenged the great warrior Arjuna while he was crossing river Ganges. Though formidable to Kshatriya warriors, Gandharvas were subservient to Devas, who seem to be a superior race of warriors who conquered Gandhara in prehistoric times. Thus Gandarvas lived in the kingdom of Deva Indra, being subservient to the Devas. Many Gandharva kings were mentioned in Mahabharata. Some of them were under the sway of Deva king Indra and some others under the Yaksha king Kubera.

Gandharvas were probably the earlier inhabitants of the Gandhara Kingdom, who were alien to the Vedic civilization in the beginning. Gandharvas in the Hindu mythology are depicted as super natural beings. However, in Mahabharata, there were many references of them as a tribe with a territory.

References of Gandharvas in Mahabharata

Gandharvas are mentioned as many as 505 times in the epic Mahabharata. The 27 tribes of the Gandharvas and Apsaras were mentioned at...
Read More