Matsya (Pali: Macchā) was an ancient Indo-Aryantribe of central South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The members of the Matsya tribe were called the Mātsyeyas and were organised into a kingdom called the Matsya kingdom.[1]
The kingdom of the Mātsyeyas covered an extensive territory, with the Sarasvatī river and the forests skirting it as its western border, and its southern boundaries being the hills near the Chambal River. The neighbours of the Matsya state were Kuru in the north, and Sūrasena in the east.[1][5]
The capital of Matsya was Virāṭanagara, which corresponds to the modern-day Bairāṭ.[1][5]
According to the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, the Mātsyeya king Dhvasan Dvaitavana performed an aśvamedha sacrifice near the Sarasvatī river. A forest on the banks of the Sarasvatī and a lake were both named after the king Dvaitavana.[1]
The later history of Matsya is not known, although the Buddhist Aṅguttara Nikāya included it among the sixteen Mahājanapadas ("great realms"), which were the most powerful states of South Asia immediately before the birth of the Buddha.[5] The Matsya state in the Mahājanapada period archaeologically corresponds to the Northern Black Polished Ware archaeological culture which in the western part of the Gaṅgā-Yamunā Doab region succeeded the earlier Painted Grey Ware culture, and is associated with the Kuru, Pañcāla, Matsya, Surasena and VatsaMahājanapadas.[6]
Unlike other states of central South Asia who abandoned the kingdom form for a gaṇasaṅgha (aristocraticoligarchicrepublic) mode of government during the late Iron Age, Matsya maintained a monarchical system.[5]
Matsya was eventually conquered by the empire of Magadha. The region roughly corresponds to the Mewat region which was ruled by the Khanzada Rajputs. [5]
^Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996). Entry “mátsya-”. In: Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan] Volume II. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, 1996. pp. 297-298. (In German)
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