Kauravas
Topic: Society in Early India: Kinship, Varna-Jati, Women · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "Kinship, Caste and Class - Early Societies"
Meaning
In the Mahabharata, the Kauravas are the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra of the Kuru lineage. Their eldest brother, Duryodhana, leads them. They fight their cousins, the Pandavas, over land and power, and lose the war. Historians read the feud as a story about patriliny, which means passing the throne and property from father to son.
Example
In the dice game, the Kauravas win everything that Yudhisthira stakes, including his brothers, himself and finally Draupadi. Draupadi then asks whether Yudhisthira had already lost himself before he staked her. The question is never settled, and Dhritarashtra gives the Pandavas back their freedom.
Don't confuse with
- Pandavas: the five sons of Pandu, cousins of the Kauravas from the same Kuru lineage. The Pandavas won the war, and patrilineal succession was then proclaimed.