Rigvedic Puru Tribe Lineage
According to Puranic legend the Chandravanshi lineage is:
Brahma -> Atri -> Chandra -> Budha (married to Manu's daughter Ila) -> Pururava -> Ayu -> Nahusha -> Yayati -> Puru and Yadu
Puru started the Puruvansh and Yadu started the Yaduvansh.
King Yayati's elder son Yadu had officially lost the title to govern by his father's command since he had refused to exchange his youth with his father. Thereby, he could not have carried on the same dynasty, called Somvanshi. Consequently, the generations of King Puru, Paurav or Puruvanshi were the only ones to be known as Somvanshi.
Yayati divided up his kingdom into five quarters (VP IV.10.1708). To Turvasha he gave the southeast (Bay of Bengal); to Druhya the west Gandhara; to Yadu the south (By Arabian sea); to Anu the north Punjab; and to Puru the center (Sarasvati region) as the supreme king of Earth.
The Rig Veda notes an earlier period of Turvasha-Yadu predominance, which the Purus broke in order to become the dominant people in the region.
Last of the Puru (Pandava) dynasties
- Korayvya (c. 600-550 BC), during Gautam Buddha's time.
- Dhananjaya (c. 550-500 BC), said to be a descendant of Yudhishtra Pandava (a central character in the Mahabharata)
- Ratthapala (c. 500-450 BC), embraced Buddhism, the Kuru kingdom soon became a republic.
- Por (King Porus in Greek Chronicles) (until c. 320 BC), descendant of the Pandava dynasty, ruled between the Jhelum & Chenab (Hydaspes & Acesines in Greek) Rivers (ie.near Srinagar), fought Alexander in the Battle of the Hydaspes River--the eastern terminus of Alexander the Great's empire.
- Malayketu (c. 320-316 BC), son of Rai Por (Porus), killed in the Battle of Gabiene
See also
- List of Indian monarchs
Modern day lineage
The modern Punjabi Kshatriya surname Puri may possibly originate with the Puru Vedic tribe.
Read more about this topic: Puru (Vedic Tribe)
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