Kuru Kingdom

Kuru Kingdom was a state in Gangetic plain and Nepal (South Asia) that lasted from c. 1200 to 500 BCE, about 700 years. Its people spoke Indo-Aryan languages (Vedic, Sanskrit, Prakrit, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Sinhala).

The first Vedic tribal union to work like a state, in the country around Kurukshetra and Delhi. Its priests arranged the Vedic hymns into fixed collections, and its memory shaped the Mahabharata.

See Kuru Kingdom on the interactive timeline

Facts

Dates

c. 1200 to 500 BCE

Duration

700 years

Type

State

Region

Gangetic plain and Nepal, South Asia

Language family

Indo-Aryan

Capital

Asandivat, later Hastinapura

Came from

• Rigvedic tribes c. 1500 to 1100 BCE

Events in South Asia during its time

• 1000 BCE Iron spreads across the Ganges plain

Neighbours in South Asia

• Achaemenid eastern satrapies c. 535 to 330 BCE
• Magadha (Haryanka dynasty) c. 544 to 413 BCE
• Panchala c. 1100 to 350 BCE
• Avanti c. 600 to 350 BCE
• Vajji confederacy c. 700 to 468 BCE
• Kosala c. 700 to 475 BCE
• Shakya republic c. 650 to 480 BCE
• Gandhara c. 600 to 518 BCE

Elsewhere in the world at the same time

• Carthage c. 814 to 146 BCE, North and West Africa
• Shang dynasty c. 1600 to 1046 BCE, East Asia
• Roman Republic 509 to 27 BCE, Europe
• New Kingdom of Egypt c. 1550 to 1069 BCE, North and West Africa
• Greek city-states c. 800 to 338 BCE, Europe
• Neo-Assyrian Empire 911 to 609 BCE, Middle East
• Hittite Empire (New Kingdom) c. 1400 to 1180 BCE, Middle East
• Achaemenid Empire 550 to 330 BCE, Middle East
• Athens 508 to 322 BCE, Europe

Questions