Mahabharata - Kuru Family Tree

Kuru Family Tree

Key to Symbols

• Male: blue border
• Female: red border
• Pandavas: green box
• Kauravas: yellow box

Notes

• a: Shantanu was a king of the Kuru dynasty or kingdom, and was some generations removed from any ancestor called Kuru. His marriage to Ganga preceded his marriage to Satyavati.
• b: Pandu and Dhritarashtra were fathered by Vyasa after Vichitravirya's death. Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura were the sons of Vyasa with Ambika, Ambalika and a maid servant respectively.
• c: Karna was born to Kunti through her invocation of Surya, before her marriage to Pandu.
• d: Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva were acknowledged sons of Pandu but were begotten by Kunti's invocation of various deities. They all married Draupadi (not shown in tree).
• e: Duryodhana and his siblings were born at the same time, and they were of the same generation as their Pandava cousins.

The birth order of siblings is correctly shown in the family tree (from left to right), except for Vyasa and Bhishma whose birth order is not described, and Vichitravirya who was born after them. The fact that Ambika and Ambalika are sisters is not shown in the family tree. The birth of Duryodhana took place after the birth of Karna, Yudhishtira and Bhima, but before the birth of the remaining Pandava brothers.

Some siblings of the characters shown here have been left out for clarity; these include Chitrāngada, the eldest brother of Vichitravirya. Vidura, half-brother to Dhritarashtra and Pandu.