Re: Western tribes of Mahabharata
Bahlikas were not the original Gandharas or Punjabis.
Some hymns of Atharvaveda invoke the fever to go to the Gandharis, Mahavrsas (a tribe of Punjab), Mujavants and, further off, to the Bahlikas. Since Mujavant is the name of a hill (and a people) located in Hindukush/Pamir,[SUP][2]](Bahlikas - Wikipedia)[/SUP] therefore, the Bahlikas must lie beyond the Hindukush ranges.
The fact that Puranic evidence locates the Bahlikas in Uttarapatha and further the close association of the Bahlikas with the Kambojas as well as with Tusharas, Sakas and Yavanas in the Atharvaveda Parisista and in some other ancient sources suggests that the Bahlikas were located as a close neighbor to the Tusharas, Sakas, Yavanas and the Kambojas etc. Since the Kambojas were located in Badakshan and Pamirs, the Tusharas on the north of Pamirs and the Sakas on the river Jaxartes and beyond, the Bahlikas or Bahlams, as neighbors to these people should be placed in Bactria.
The Brahmanda Purana attests that river Chaksu (Oxus or Amu Darya) flowed through the land of Bahlavas (Bahlikas).
So Bahlikas were original inhabitants of Bactria.
Bahlikas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is possible that some bactrians migrated to form settlements in Punjab region during the time of the Mahabharata. They assimilated to an extent but did not completely adopt the vedic culture, so though they were political and marital alliances, they retained part of their non vedic culture. They were ridiculed because of that.
According to Jean Przylusky, the Bahlika (Balkh) was an Iranian settlement of the Madras who were known as Bahlika-Uttaramadras.
They intermarried with the other vedic people since the ancestors of the Kauravas and Pandavas were Bahlikas (Kuru dynasty with origins in Uttarakuru). But the Kauravas and Pandavas did not consider themselves as Bahlikas any more despite the Pandavas mother being a Bahlika princess.
Other Info:
Ramayana testifies that the original home of the Kurus was in Bahli country. Ila, son of Parajapati Karddama was a king of Bahli, where Bahli represents Sanskrit Bahlika (Bactria). Also the kings from Aila lineage have been called Karddameyas. The Aila is also stated to be the lineage of the Kurus themselves.[SUP][7]](Uttarakuru - Wikipedia)[/SUP] The Karddamas obtained their name from river Karddama in Persia/ancient Iran. Moreover, Sathapatha Brahmana attests a king named Bahlika Pratipeya as of the Kauravya lineage. Bahlika Pratipeya, as the name implies, was a prince of Bahlika (Bactria). Thus, the Bahli, Bahlika was the original home of the Kurus. Thus, Bahlika or Bactria may have constituted the Uttarakuru. Mahabharata and Sumangalavilasini also note that the people of Kuru had originally migrated from Uttarakutru. Bactria is evidently beyond the Hindukush i.e. Himalaya. In ancient literature, Himalaya is said to be extending from eastern occean to western occean and even today is not separated from it.[SUP][8]](Uttarakuru - Wikipedia)
[/SUP]V. S. Aggarwala thinks that the Uttarakuru was located to north of Pamirs in Central Asia and was also famous for its horses of Tittirakalamasha variety.[SUP][11]](Uttarakuru - Wikipedia)[/SUP] Thus it probably comprised parts of Kirgizstan and Tian-Shan. Incidentally, the reference to horses from Uttarakuru rules out any possibility of locating Uttarakurus in Kashmir and Uttarakhand Pradesh since these regions have never been noted for their horses.
Ptolemy mentions Uttarkuru as Ottorokoroi[SUP].
[/SUP]
Christian Lassen suggests that the Ottorokoroi of Ptolemy should be located in the east of Kashgar i.e. in Tarim Basin.[SUP][17]](Uttarakuru - Wikipedia)
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Uttarakuru - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
