Bharatas
Also called: Bharata jana · Topic: India, That Is Bharat: Names of India and Unity in Diversity · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 5 "India, That Is Bharat"; Class 6, Ch 7 "India's Cultural Roots"; Class 9, Ch 5 "State and Society up to 1000 CE"
Meaning
The Bharatas were one of the main clans (large family groups) of the Ṛig Veda, India's oldest text. The name Bharata first appears in the Ṛig Veda as the name of this clan. Later texts also mention several kings called Bharata. In the Mahābhārata, the land came to be called Bhāratavarṣha, "the country of the Bharatas". Later this became simply Bhārata. The name is indigenous, meaning it came from within India and not from foreigners. It survives today as the official name Bharat.
Example
In the Ṛig Veda, Sudāsa, king of the Bharatas, won the Battle of the Ten Kings on the river Parushni (the Ravi) against a group of ten rival clans. Many centuries later, Article 1 of the Constitution of India (1950) begins with "India, that is Bharat".
Don't confuse with
- Bharata, son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala: he was a king from later stories, also linked with the name of the land. The Bharatas were a Rigvedic clan.