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{{Short description|Ancient Indian tribe}}
{{Infobox noble house
|surname=Bhoja tribe
|type=
|native_name=
|native_name_lang=
|other_name=
|coat of arms=
|parent house = [[Yadava#The Andhakas|Andhaka]]<ref name="india"/>
|country=[[Vidarbha Kingdom]], [[Kunti Kingdom]], [[Surasena|Surasena Kingdom]]
|styles=''[[Raja]]''
|founded=
|founder=
|final ruler=
|current head=
|dissolution=
|deposition=
|cadet branches=*Bhojas of Mrittikavati
*[[Vidarbha Kingdom|Bhojas of Vidarbha]]
*[[Kunti Kingdom|Bhojas of Kunti]]
*[[Bhojas of Goa]]
*[[Surasena|Bhojas of Mathura]]
*[[Kritavarma|Bhoja-Andhakas]]}}
[[File:East-Hem 600bc.jpg|thumb|300px|The Bhojas are shown in the south of the Indian subcontinent]]
The '''Bhoja tribes''' were a collection of semi-[[Indo-Aryan peoples|Aryan]] ancient tribes, located in [[India]] during the [[Vedic Period|Late Vedic Period]]. They are described as being an offshoot of the [[Yadava]] tribe in the Indian epic of ''[[Mahabharata]]''. They were a branch of the Andhaka clan, who were in turn descendants of the Satvata clan descended from [[Yadu (legendary king)|King Yadu]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shastri |first1=J. L. |title=The Brahma Purana Part 1: Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Volume 33 |date=1 January 2013 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-3900-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=POftDwAAQBAJ&dq=svayambhoja&pg=PA93 |language=en}}</ref> The Bhojas were sub-divided into eighteen branches and ruled from their capital at Mrittikavati, on the banks of the [[Banas River|Parnasa river]] in [[Central India]].<ref name="vishnu">{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Horace Hayman |title=The Vishnu Purana, translated by Horace Hayman Wilson |date=1840 |url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp106.htm |language=en |chapter=Book IV: Chapter XIII}}</ref><ref name="sanskrit">{{cite book |title=Subjects of Examination in Sanskrit Appointedby the Senate of the Calcutta University for the First Examination in Arts Being the First Eight Cantos of the Raghievansa and the First Five Cantos of the Bhatlikavya Ed. with ... English and Bengali Translations ... by Nihmani Mickhyopadhyaya Nyayalankara |date=1880 |publisher=Cakravarti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g40cK7Cy2akC&dq=Mrittikavati&pg=RA1-PA215 |language=sa}}</ref>

==Origin==
The origin of the Bhojas differs from source to source. Most sources such as the famous Indian epic of ''[[Mahabharata]]'' mention the Bhojas as an offshoot of the [[Yadava]] tribe.

The [[Vishnu Purana]] says that the Bhojas of Mrittikavati were descendants of Mahabhoja, son of Satvata, and that they were a kindred tribe of the Andhakas and [[Vrishni|Vrishnis]].<ref name="vishnu2">{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=Fitzedward |title=The Vishńu Puráńa: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition |date=1865 |publisher=Trübner |page=158-159 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GNFfAAAAMAAJ&dq=Bhoja+tribe&pg=PA159 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="vishnu"/>

The [[Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland]] theorizes that the Bhojas came to [[India]] from [[Iran]], intermixing with the existing tribes wherever they settled.<ref name="vidarbha bhoja">{{cite book |title=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |date=1889 |publisher=Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EfHHiAqBvQkC&dq=Bhoja+tribe&pg=PA273 |language=en}}</ref> The groups which settled in [[Rajasthan]], [[Malwa]] and [[Kathiawar]], became closely related to the [[Yona|Yavanas]]. They are probably the ones called ''[[Mleccha|mlechhas]]'' (foreigners) in a passage of the [[Matsya Purana]]. The group that settled in the [[Mathura]] region allied with the [[Surasena]] and [[Vrishni]] tribes to establish the [[Surasena|Kingdom of Surasena]]. The group which settled in [[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra]] and the [[Indus River delta]] became associated with the [[Sauvira Kingdom|Sauviras]].<ref name="vidarbha bhoja"/>

In the [[Adi Parva]] of the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' (85.3533) and in a passage of the ''[[Matsya Purana]]'' (34.30) the Bhojas are mentioned as the ''[[mleccha]]''s (foreigners). But another passage of the ''[[Matsya Purana]]'' (44.69) describes them as pious and the performers of the religious rites.<ref name="india"/>

==In literature==
===Vidarbha===
{{Main|Vidarbha Kingdom}}
The largest and most prosperous kingdom of the Bhoja tribe was the [[Vidarbha Kingdom]]. In the ''[[Ramayana]]'' epic, the Bhoja princess of Vidarbha was married to [[Aja of Kosala|Prince Aja]] of the [[Kosala Kingdom]] in a ''[[Swayamvara]]'' ceremony.<ref name="sanskrit"/> Aja was the son of the powerful [[Solar dynasty|Ikshavku]] king [[Raghu]], and the father of King [[Dasharatha]], in turn father of [[Lord Rama]]. King [[Bhishmaka]] of Vidarbha, the father of [[Rukmini]] and his son King [[Rukmi]] are called "Bhoja-Yadavas" in the ''[[Mahabharata]]''.{{citation required|date=April 2024}}

===Mathura===
{{Main|Surasena{{!}}Surasena kingdom}}
The [[Surasena|Bhojas of Mathura]] allied with the other [[Yadava]] tribes were expelled from their kingdom by [[Kamsa]], son of King [[Ugrasena]]. However, the hero-deity [[Krishna]] helped them reconquer [[Mathura]] from [[Kamsa]] and re-establish their rule.<ref name="vyasa"/> The eighteen tribes of the Bhojas fled their kingdom due to fear of the powerful king of [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]], [[Jarasandha]].<ref name="vyasa">{{cite book |title=The Mahabharata of Vyasa | date=24 August 2021 | publisher=Enigma Edizioni |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=egw_EAAAQBAJ&dq=The+18+tribes+which+fled+Jarsandha&pg=PT744}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Jain |first1=Sandhya |title=Adi Deo Arya Devata: A Panoramic View oF Tribal-Hindu Cultural Interface |date=19 March 2022 |publisher=Notion Press |isbn=979-8-88530-378-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NDBlEAAAQBAJ&dq=Bhoja+tribe&pg=PT80 |language=en}}</ref>

===Kunti===
{{Main|Kunti Kingdom}}
Another prominent Bhoja kingdom was the [[Kunti Kingdom]]. It was ruled by King [[Kunti-Bhoja]]. [[Kunti]], the mother of [[Pandavas]] and the first wife of [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]] king [[Pandu]], was the adopted daughter of [[Kuntibhoja]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Sambhava Parva: Section CXI|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01112.htm|access-date=2020-08-31|website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref>

===Mrittikavati===
The Bhojas of Mrittikavati ruled somewhere around the [[Malwa Plateau]], on the banks of the Parnasha ({{Langx|sa|पर्णाशा|translit=Parṇāśā}}) river in [[Central India]].<ref name="india">{{cite book |last1=Chopra |first1=Omesh K. |title=HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA, From the Last Ice Age to The Mahabharata War (≈9000–1400 BCE) |date=12 January 2023 |publisher=Blue Rose Publishers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xOmmEAAAQBAJ&dq=Bhoja+tribe&pg=PA139 |language=en}}</ref> These Bhojas held the Satvata tribe in subjection.<ref name="law">{{cite book |last1=Law |first1=Bimala Churn |title=Tribes in Ancient India |date=1973 |publisher=Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |page=366-73 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YApuAAAAMAAJ&q=tribes%20in%20ancient%20india |language=en}}</ref> A Bhoja king took part in the great [[Kurukshetra War]].<ref name="vishnu2"/>

According to the [[Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society]], they were allied with [[Parshurama]] in defeating the powerful [[Heheya Kingdom|Haihaya]] king [[Kartavirya Arjuna]]. As a result of their success, they achieved supremacy over the [[Narmada]] and [[Tapti]] River valleys for a time.<ref>{{cite book |title=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |date=1889 |publisher=University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WIMlttRq_P4C&dq=Bhoja+tribe&pg=PA273 |language=en}}</ref>

===Bhoja-Andhakas===
{{see also|Kritavarma}}
[[Kritavarma]], a [[Yadava]] hero, is sometimes described as belonging to and ruling over the Andhaka and Bhoja clan as their king.<ref name="kritvarma"/> In the [[Mausala Parva]] of the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' epic, the clans of the Andhakas and Bhojas began to fight each other in drunken duels during a feast, leading to the death of almost all the [[Yadava]] royals.<ref name="kritvarma">{{Cite book |last1=Valmiki |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qj9bDwAAQBAJ&dq=satyaki+kritavarma&pg=PT8826 |title=Delphi Collected Sanskrit Epics (Illustrated) |last2=Vyasa |date=2018-05-19 |publisher=Delphi Classics |isbn=978-1-78656-128-2 |pages=8826 |language=en}}</ref>

==Descendants==
{{Main|Bhojas of Goa}}
Bhojas of Goa were a dynasty that ruled [[Goa]], parts of [[Konkan]], and some parts of [[Karnataka]] from at least the 3rd century AD to the 6th century. Goa came under the political sway of the Bhojas who ruled this territory in feudal allegiance to the [[Maurya Empire|Mauryan emperor of Pataliputra]] or perhaps under [[Satavahana Dynasty|Satavahanas]]. Their capital was located at Chandrapura or Chandraura (modern day [[Chandor]]) in [[Goa]].<ref name=bhoja>{{cite book|last=Shyam Singh|first=Shashi|title=Encyclopaedia Indica: Ancient Goa|year=2000|publisher=Anmol Publications|isbn=8170418593 |page=657}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Bhojas of Goa]]
*[[Vidarbha Kingdom]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category: Ancient peoples of India]]
[[Category:Yadavas]]

Bhoja tribe - Revision history

KK JANGIR at 12:53, 7 November 2024