Pulindas


The Pulindas were an ancient tribe of India, likely resident in the environs of the Vindhya Range of Central India. The Rock Edicts of Ashoka mention the Pulindas, their capital Pulinda-nagara, and their neighboring tribes, based on which their capital is sometimes located in present-day Jabalpur District of Madhya Pradesh state. Basak identifies them with the hill tribes of the Vindhya and Satpura ranges, more specifically the Bhils.
Though clearly associated with the Vindhyan region, the Pulindas are sometimes believed to have had multiple tribal branches that ranged up to the Himalayan region and Assam. In the Himalayan region, ancient Indian literature often mentions them in conjunction with the Kiratas.
In addition to the Pulindas of Vindhya, the Asokan inscriptions might have also labelled a South Indian people called Paladas as "Pulindas". Historian Sathianathaier has postulated that the name of Pallavas was derived from Paladas.