Matsya, Ancient Kingdoms, India

Matsya or Machcha (Sanskrit for fish), classically called the Mese ( /ˈmiːziː/), was the name of a tribe and the state of the Vedic civilization of India. It lay to south of the kingdom of Kurus and west of the Yamuna which separated it from the kingdom of Panchalas. It roughly corresponded to former state of Jaipur in Rajasthan, and included the whole of Alwar with portions of Bharatpur. The capital of Matsya was at Viratanagara (modern Bairat) which is said to have been named after its founder king Virata. In Pāli literature, the Matsya tribe is usually associated with the Surasena. The western Matsya was the hill tract on the north bank of Chambal.

In early 6th century BCE, Matsya was one the solasa (sixteen) Mahajanapadas (great kingdoms) mentioned in the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya, but its political clout had greatly dwindled and had not much of political importance left by the time of Buddha. The Mahabharata (V.74.16) refers to a King Sahaja, who ruled over both the Chedis and the Matsyas which implicates that Matsya once formed a part of the Chedi Kingdom.Meenas are considered the brothers and kinsmen of Virata, the ruler of Virat Nagar. They ruled this area (near to Virat Nagar) till 11th century CE.

Matsya Kingdom was founded by fishermen community who later attained kingship. The Sanskrit word Matsya means fish. Satyavati, the wife of Kuru king Santanu was from this community. King Virata, a Matsya king, founded the kingdom of Virata. He was the father-in-law of Abhimanyu the son of Arjuna. The epic Mahabharata relates the founder of Matsya kingdom to the ruler of Chedi, viz Uparichara Vasu.

Fishing was the main occupation of the people who lived near river Sarasvati River. After the river dried up, they migrated to river Charmanwati now known as Chambal meaning fish in Dravidian languages. Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, was son of Satyavati who belonged to this fishermen community and yet was a Vedic scholar.

Other than the Matsya kingdom to the south of Kuru Kingdom, which falls in the Alwar, Bharatpur districts of Rajasthan, the epic refers to many other (as many as, six other) Matsya kingdoms. The main Matsyas under Virata had its capital named Viratanagari which is now known as Bairat in Jaipur district of Rajasthan. Upaplavya was another famous city in this kingdom.