Surasena (or
Sourasena) (} was an ancient
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
n region corresponding to the present-day
BrajBraj is a region in Uttar Pradesh of India, around Mathura-Vrindavan. Braj, though never a clearly defined political region in India but is very well demarcated culturally, is considered to be the land of Krishna and is derived from the Sanskrit word vraja...
region in
Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh , [often referred to as U.P.] is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 190 million people,...
. According to the Buddhist text
Anguttara NikayaThe Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
, Surasena was one of the
solasa (sixteen)
MahajanapadasMahajanapadas , literally "Great realms," were Ancient Indian kingdoms or countries...
(powerful realms) in 6th century BCE The ancient Greek writers refer the region as Sourasenoi and mention its capital as Methora. There are several traditions regarding the etymology of its name.
Surasena (or
Sourasena) (} was an ancient
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
n region corresponding to the present-day
BrajBraj is a region in Uttar Pradesh of India, around Mathura-Vrindavan. Braj, though never a clearly defined political region in India but is very well demarcated culturally, is considered to be the land of Krishna and is derived from the Sanskrit word vraja...
region in
Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh , [often referred to as U.P.] is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 190 million people,...
. According to the Buddhist text
Anguttara NikayaThe Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
, Surasena was one of the
solasa (sixteen)
MahajanapadasMahajanapadas , literally "Great realms," were Ancient Indian kingdoms or countries...
(powerful realms) in 6th century BCE The ancient Greek writers refer the region as Sourasenoi and mention its capital as Methora. There are several traditions regarding the etymology of its name. According to one tradition, it was derived from a famed Yadava king Surasena, while others see it as an extension of Surabhir (Abhira). According to
MegasthenesMegasthenes was a Greek traveller and geographer. He was born in Asia Minor and became an ambassador of Seleucus I of Syria to the court of Sandrocottus of India, in Pataliputra. However the exact date of his embassy is uncertain...
, people of this place worshipped the shepherd God Herakles, which according to many scholars was due to a misconception while others see in it connotations of Scythic origin of
YaduYadu is the name of one of the five Aryan clans mentioned in the Rig Veda.The epic Mahabharata and Puranas refer to Yadu as the eldest son of king Yayati.The prince of King Yayati, Yadu was a self-respecting and a very established ruler.He had four sons. They were: Prince Sashtrajeet,...
s. It was the sacred land of Lord
KrishnaKrishna is a deity worshipped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of perspectives...
in which he was born, raised, and ruled. It was an ancient
JanapadaThe Janapadas are the major realms or kingdoms of Vedic India, by the 6th century BC evolving into the sixteen classical Mahajanapadas .-Origins:...
. It has been well mentioned in
MahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the . The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
.
It's capital Mathura, was situated on the bank of the river
YamunaThe Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...
, presently a sacred place for the
HindusHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
. The major ruling clans of Surasena were Shoorasenee,
VrishniVrishni s were an ancient clan who claimed their descent from Vrishni, a descendent of Yadu. It is believed that Vrishni was son of Satvata, a descendant of Yadu, the son of Yayati. He had two wives, Gandhari and Madri. He has a son named Devamidhusha by his wife Madri. Vasudeva, the father of...
s and the other Yadavas.
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