Originally Posted by
DrRajpalSingh
On The identification of 'Kuru' and 'Uttarkuru' debate in History:
Quoting Rigveda, it has been observed that there are references to two Kauravya princes in the Rigveda, which proves that tge name Kuru was known to the composer of some hymns of the Rigveda, however, ''the fact that the tribe of the Kurus or the land called Kurukshetra is conspicous by absence in it indicate that it did not play any important part in that age. In the Rgvedic period, in the territory of the Drsadvati, sarasvati and Apaya, later known as Kurukshetra, on account of the association of the Kurus, the Bharata kings are said to have kindled the sacred fire.'' {Rigveda, III.23}. It was the home of later Vedic culture and references to this Kuruksetra region are found in Atharvaveda, Jaminiya Upanisad Brhamana, III. 7.6; VIII.7 Kausitaki Upanisad, IV.I; Gopath Brahmana, 1.2.9; Kathaka Samhita, X.6; Pancvimasa Brahmana, 1 XXV, 10. Satpatha,Brahamana IV, 1.5.1; Aitrareya Brahmana, VII, 30 et al. cited by Dr. Buddha Prakash.
However, this is not all about the Kuru region and Kuru people; as the Atterya Brahmana states that the people living beyond the snowy regions like the Uttarkurus, annoint their kings for Vairajya, who as a result, are called Viratas. At another place, AB, describes Janampati Atyarati annointed by Vasistha Satyahavya went over the whole earth and conquered it up to the oceans. At that point, Vasishtha demanded his fee to which the former said that he would confer the whole empire on him and would become a commander of his army after he would conquer the Uttarakurus. Vasishtha described Uttrakuru as Devaloka -- the Land of gods-- and hence considered it as invincible. This caused rift between the two. [Attairya Brahamana, VIII, 14; and VIII. 23]
This shows that the distance between the Kurus and Uttarakurus region was considerable. The Mahabharata also uses the name Uttarkuru in contradiction to Dakshinakuru for which numerous instances are available in the text of MBT. According to Mahabharata Uttarakuru, lying to the north of the Himalayas, was a land of Idylic pleasure and bucolic beauty. It represents the region located to the north of Himaalyas watered by the Tarim and its tributaries. Chinese travellers and pilgrims have testified to the prosperity and richness of these regions
Puraana Texts also state that there existed separate regions named Uttarakuru and Dakshinakuru as quoted by several researchers.
Thanks
N.B: On the location of the regions occupied by 'Kurus' and 'Uttarkuru' kindly see two very interesting articles on the issue. They are: Buddha Parkash, 'Uttarkuru', Bulletin of Tibetology, Vol. II, No. 1 (March, 1965), pp. 27-34; and, N.C. Sinha, 'Uttrakuru in Tibetan Tradition', Bulletin of Tibetology, Vol. II, No. I (March, 1965), pp. 35-38.