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Battle of Ten Kingdoms 

The Dasrajanya (ten kings) war is the Worlds first recorded Battle. Not just that, it was no mere neolithic stick and stone fight .It was the first organized war-- with infantry, archers, and elephants.

The reason behind the war is the rivalry between Vishwamitra and Vashishta. Further, the worship of formless God by Maharishi Brugu and personalized form by Maharishi Angirasa had led to the rift.

The King Sudas was an Indo-Aryan tribal king of the Bharatas. King Sudas was of Ikshavaku dynasty, from a long lineage of Kings going back thousands of years since Manu and the ancestor of Lord Shri Rama of Ayodhya. He was the 16th generation descendant of Emperor Bharata – whom India is named after. Sudas was the grandson of the powerful king Divodas Atithigva (who had his empire in the regions of Punjab and was married to Madhavi) and he was the son of King Pijavana.

In the Rig Veda, King Sudas is called "Paijavana" (VII.18.21-25), 'Son of Pijavana'. Pijavana means also (like Yavana) 'one who speeds' or a fast mover.His name Sudas means "one who gives beautiful gifts/ bountiful/ giver of great gifts".

Sudas inherited the kingdom from his grandfather and greatly expanded it. The King Sudas's capital city was on the banks of the Yamuna River and was virtuous, famous for his religious observances and beloved of his subjects because of is charitable disposition. In the process, he alienated all the neighboring kingdoms surrounding him. After years of subjugation, a group of roughly a dozen or “ten” (“dasha”) kings and chieftains (“raja; rajnya”) formed a confederacy to combine their strength and defeat King Sudas once and for all. In a war that would span many years with a number of key battles, Sudas was able to defeat the entire confederacy of kings and emerge victorious. His priests, Vishvamitra and Vasishtha eulogized him for his remarkable victory and those words of praise along with details of the war can be found in the Rg Veda.

The major event in the Rigveda is indeed of the Battle of 10 kings or Dasharajnya Yuddha and the hero of this war is King Sudas of North Panchala kingdom, the ancestor of Draupadi. Apart from details of what happened in the war, the information is precise enough to tell us what caused the war and where the war took place.

Read Vedic Wings for full story....Sivkishen Author