Haihayas
The Haihayas (Sanskrit: हैहय) were an ancient confederacy of five ganas (clans), who claimed their common ancestry from Yadu. According to the Harivamsha Purana (34.1898) Haihaya was the great grandson of Yadu and grandson of Sahasrajit. In the Vishnu Purana (IV.11), all the five Haihaya clans are mentioned together as the Talajanghas. The five Haihaya clans were Vitihotra, Sharyata (mentioned elsewhere in the Puranas as the descendants of Sharyati, a son of Vaivasvata Manu), Bhoja, Avanti and Tundikera. The Haihayas migrated from the west to the present-day Malwa region of Western Madhya Pradesh). The Puranas style the Haihayas as the first ruling dynasty of Avanti.
Foundation of Mahishmati
In the Harivamsha (33.1847), the honour of founding their future capital city of Mahishmati (in present-day Madhya Pradesh) was attributed to the Haihaya king Mahishmant, son of Sahanja. But according to the Padma Purana (VI.115), the city was actually founded by a certain Mahisha.
