Tushara Kingdom

The Tusharas, also known as the Tukharas or Tócharoi, were a tribe of ancient India, with a kingdom located in the north west of India, according to the epic Mahabharata. An account in Mbh 1:85 depicts the Tusharas as Mlechchas and the descendants of Anu, one of the cursed sons of king Yayati. Yayati's eldest son Yadu, gave rise to the Yadavas and youngest son Puru to the Pauravas that includes the Kurus and Panchalas. Only the fifth son of Puru's line was considered to be the successors of Yayati's throne, as he cursed the other four sons and denied them kingship. Pauravas inherited the Yayati's original empire and stayed in the Gangetic plain who later created the Kuru and Panchala Kingdoms. They were followers of the Vedic culture. The Yadavas made central and western India their stronghold. The descendants of Anu, known as the Anavas, are said to have migrated to Iran.

Historical references

The Tusharas have been identified with the Tokhars (Tochars or Tukhars) of Bactria. They may therefore also be synonymous with an Eastern Iranian people known in Ancient Chinese historiography as the Yuezhi, who migrated from western Gansu to Bactria in the 2nd century BCE. The Tokhars founded the Kushan Empire and may be the ancestors of the modern Thakurs of India (also known as Tukhars, Thakores, Tagores, Thakkars, Thakres, Thackerays, Tokhalavar etc.).