Madra Kingdom - Madra As A Bahlika Country

Madra As A Bahlika Country

Bahlika or western countries were cold countries and people used blankets. They also reared sheep and drank sheep milk. They had good knowledge of camels. They had horses of excellent quality. Their horses and even horsemen were used in the wars between kings of Aryavarta (North Indian kingdoms where Vedic culture of the norm, prevailed).

Their soldiers used to aid both the parties engaged in a battle on a payment basis. Probably this was the reason why Shalya, the Madra king, has to side with Duryodhana in the Kurukshetra War, since he was tricked to accept the payment for siding with Duryodhana.

Another collective name denoting the western kingdoms is Arashtra or Aratta, meaning a kingless country. This raises the doubt, whether these countries were a republic ruled by elected chiefs, if we take the positive sense of the word. In a negative sense the word Arashtra can mean a kingdom with no control or with utter disorder.