Ancient Pakistani Kekeya kingdom
Kekeya (also known as Kekaya, Kaikaya, Kaikeya etc.) is a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic
Mahabharata. The location of the ancient kingdom is approximately near
Toba Tek Singh in modern
Pakistan. The epic
Ramayana also mentions Kekeya as a western kingdom. One of the wives of
Dasaratha, the king of
Kosala and father of
Raghava Rama, was from Kekeya kingdom and was known as
Kaikeyi. Her son
Bharata conquered the neighbouring kingdom of
Gandhara and built the city of
Takshasila. Later the sons and descendants of Bharata ruled this region from Takshasila.
In
Mahabharata,
five Kekaya princes were mentioned, who joined the
Pandavas in
Kurukshetra War. The eldest of them was described as a king and was known as
Vrihatkshatra. These Kekaya brothers were also banished from their kingdom by their own kinsmen, like the
Pandavas who were bansished from their
Kuru Kingdom, by their cousin brothers viz the
Kauravas headed by
Duryodhana. Thus these Kekaya brothers were circumstantially inclined to ally with the
Pandavas. Besides this, the Kekaya brothers were sons of the sister of
Kunti, the mother of
Pandavas, making them cousins. In
Kurukshetra War, the Kekaya brothers fought against their own kinsmen, viz the other Kekaya brothers who sided with
Duryodhana.
This is the map I found of Kekeya
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