Key Facts
- Period
- Vedic period (~1500–1100 BC)
- Region
- Northern Gujarat, India
- Capital
- Kusasthali / Dvaraka
- Primary source
- Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana
- Ruling clan
- Yadavas under King Ugrasena
Imperial Zenith Metrics
Historical Trajectory
Phase I: Rise
According to the Mahabharata, the Anarta Kingdom was founded by a figure named Anarta, father of Vaivasvata Manu and Yama, who established a fortress at Kusasthali, later known as Dvaraka. The kingdom occupied the region roughly corresponding to modern northern Gujarat. The original settlement was eventually submerged by floods attributed to the god Varuna, leaving the land uninhabited for a period.
Phase II: Zenith
The kingdom gained renewed prominence when Krishna and the Yadavas, fleeing repeated attacks by Jarasandha of Magadha on their homeland of Mathura in the Surasena Kingdom, resettled at Dvaraka and rebuilt it as their capital. Under the nominal kingship of Ugrasena, Yadava chiefs including Vasudeva Krishna, Balarama, Kritavarma, and Satyaki governed the realm, which featured in the epic narratives of the Mahabharata.
Phase III: Decline
The Anarta Kingdom's distinct identity became contested in later literature: while the Mahabharata identifies Dvaraka as its capital, texts such as the Mahabhagavata treat Dvaraka and Anarta as separate independent kingdoms. The Yadava presence at Dvaraka is mythologically concluded with the city's submersion into the sea following Krishna's death, ending Yadava political dominance in the region.
Notable Imperial Reigns
Selected rulers mapping the empire’s trajectory