Harahuna

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Harahuna (हारहूण) was an ancient Chinese kingdom and inhabited by the Hara Hunas tribe close to the Himalayas who had limited interaction with the Indian kingdoms, thus they were identified in the epic Mahabharata. They lived in the Xinjiang province of China, east of Kashmir. However they were nomadic people who changed their settlements time to time.

Variants

• Hara-Huna (हारहूण), पाठांतर = Harahura/Hara Hura (हारहूर) (AS, p.1019)
• Arangadabina (अरगंदाबीन) दे. Harahuna (हारहूण) (AS,p.37)

History

The Pandava hero Nakula visited Harahuna kingdom during his western military campaign for collecting tribute for Yudhishthira's Rajasuya sacrifice. This could be a branch of Hara-Hunas migrated to the west of Ancient India.

हारहूण

विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर ने लेख किया है ...हारहूण (पाठांतर 'हारहूर') (AS, p.1019) एक प्राचीन जनपद, जिसका उल्लेख महाभारत सभापर्व में हुआ है। महाभारत सभापर्व 32, 12 के अनुसार इस जनपद को पाण्डव नकुल ने पश्चिम दिशा की दिग्विजय में विजित किया था- 'द्वारपालं च तरसा वशे चक्रे महाद्युतिः, रामठान् हारहूणांश्च प्रतीच्याश्चैव ये नृपाः।'

उपरोक्त उल्लेख में द्वारपाल सम्भवत: 'ख़ैबर' और रमठ 'ग़ज़नी' (अफ़ग़ानिस्तान) है। 'हारहूण' या 'हारहूर' को वासुदेव शरण अग्रवाल ने अफ़ग़ानिस्तान की नदी 'अरगंदाबीन' माना है, जो इस देश के दक्षिण-पश्चिम भाग में बहती है। यदि यह अभिज्ञान ठीक है तो इस प्रसंग में हारहूण को इस नदी का तटवर्ती प्रदेश समझा जा सकता है। (बृहत्संहिता 14, 33) यह भी संभव हो सकता है कि इस स्थान से हूणों का सम्बन्ध हो।

In Mahabharata

Harahuna (हारहूण) is mentioned in Mahabharata (II.29.11), (II.47.19),(III.48.21),

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Nakula's conquests: Sabha Parva, Mahabharata/Book II Chapter 29 mentions the Countries subjugated by Nakula in West. Harahuna (हारहूण) is mentioned in Mahabharata (II.29.11).....Nakula, after defeating the mighty Gramaniya that dwelt on the shore of the sea, and the Sudras and the Abhiras that dwelt on the banks of the Sarasvati River, and all those tribes that lived upon fisheries, and those also that dwelt on the mountains, and the whole of the country called after the five rivers (Punjab), and the mountains called Amaraparvata, and the country called Uttarayotisha and the city of Divyakutta and the tribe called Dwarapala, by sheer force, reduced to subjection the Ramathas, the Harahunas, and various kings of the west.

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Presence in Yudhishthira's Rajasuya sacrifice: Sabha Parva, Mahabharata/Book II Chapter 47 mentions the Kings who brought tributes to Yudhishthira. Harahuna (हारहूण) is mentioned in Mahabharata (II.47.19). ... Numberless Chinas and Sakas and Uddras and many barbarous tribes living in the woods, and many Vrishnis and Harahunas, and dusky tribes of the Himavat, and many Nipas and people residing in regions on the sea-coast came to the Rajasuya sacrifice performed by Pandava king Yudhishthira. The Vangas and Angas and Paundras and Odras and Cholas and Dravidas and Andhakas, and the chiefs of many islands and countries on the seaboard as also of frontier states, including the rulers of the Sinhalas, the barbarous mlecchas, the natives of Lanka, and all the kings of the West by hundreds, and all the chiefs of the sea-coast, and the kings of the Pahlavas and the Daradas and the various tribes of the Kiratas and Yavanas and Sakras and the Harahunas and Chinas and Tukharas and the Sindhavas and the Jagudas and the Ramathas and the Mundas and the inhabitants of the kingdom of women and the Tanganas and the Kekayas and the Malavas and the inhabitants of Kasmira, waited upon Yudhishthira, performing various offices in his palace.

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Vana Parva, Mahabharata/Book III Chapter 48 describes Rajasuya sacrifice of Yudhisthira attended by the chiefs of many islands and countries. Harahuna (हारहूण) is mentioned in Mahabharata (III.48.21). ...and the kings of the Pahlavas and the Daradas and the various tribes of the Kiratas and Yavanas and Sakras and the Harahunas and Chinas and Tukharas and the Saindhavas and the Jagudas and the Ramathas and the Mundas and the inhabitants of the kingdom of women (Strirajya) and the Tanganas and the Kekayas and the Malavas and the inhabitants of Kasmira,...