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Hunas were a Chinese tribe close to Himalayas so that they had limited interaction with Indian kingdoms. Thus they got mentioned in the epic Mahabharata.They belonged to the Xingjiang province of China, east of Jammu-Kashmir. However they were nomadic people who changed their settlements time to time.
References in Mahabharata
Huna mentioned as a kingdom of Ancient India (Bharata Varsha)
Among the tribes of the north are the Mlecchas, and the Kruras, the Yavanas, the Chinas, the Kamvojas, the Darunas, and many Mleccha tribes; the Sukritvahas, the Kulatthas, the Hunas, and the Parasikas; the Ramanas, and the Dasamalikas. (6,9)
The origin myth of Huna tribe
Mahabharata links the origin of Dravidas with sage Vasishta. Viswamitra, a king in the Ikshwaku clan, attacked the cow of Vasishta. Then many armies emerged for the protection of that cow and they attacked the armies of Viswamitra. Cow symbolizes land, in ancient Indian scriptures. Thus thus this war was fought with the tribes allied with Vasishta for their own land. Other tribes that were mentioned along with the Dravidas in this incident were Sakas, Yavanas, Savaras, Kanchis, Savaras, Paundras and Kiratas, [Yavana Kingdom | Yavanas]]] and Sinhalas, and the barbarous tribes of Khasas, Chivukas, Pulindas, Chinas and Hunas with Keralas, and numerous other Mlechchhas. (1,177)
From the list it seems that it is a compiled list of tribes formerly unknown to the Vedic Kingdoms
Role in Kurukshetra War
Yudhishthira, followed by the Patachcharas, the Hunas, the Pauravakas and the Nishadas, the Pisachas, with the Kundavishas, and the Mandakas, the Ladakas (Ladakh in Jammu-Kashmir), the Tanganas, and the Uddras, the Saravas, the Tumbhumas, the Vatsas, and the Nakulas. stood in the two wings of the battle-array named Krauncharuma, formed by the Pandava generalissimo, Dhristadyumna, on the second day of the Kurukshetra War. (6,50)
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Created by Jijith Nadumuri at 13 Jan 2010 13:09 and updated at 16 Jun 2010 15:46