Suhma Kingdom

Part of a series on the
History of Bengal
Ancient Bengal
Vedic Period
Ancient Bengali States Gangaridai Kingdom, Vanga Kingdom, Pundra Kingdom, Suhma Kingdom, Anga Kingdom, Harikela Kingdom
Mauryan Period
Classical Bengal
The Classical Age
Shashanka
Age of Empires Pala Empire Candra Dynasty Sena Empire
Medieval Bengal
Arrival of Islam Sultanate of Bengal Deva Kingdom Bakhtiyar Khilji, Raja Ganesha
Mughal Period Pratap Aditya, Raja Sitaram Ray Principality of Bengal Baro-Bhuyans
Modern Bengal
Company Raj Zamindari system, Bengal famine of 1770
British Indian Empire Bengal Renaissance Brahmo Samaj Swami Vivekananda, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Subhas Chandra Bose
Post-Colonial 1947 Partition of Bengal, Bangladesh Liberation War Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Jyoti Basu
See Also
Bangladesh, West Bengal

Suhma was an eastern kingdom located in regions now occupied by West Bengal, India and Bangladesh. This kingdom was mentioned in the epic Mahabharata along with its neighbouring kingdom Prasuhma, which was in the present day Bangladesh. The founders of five eastern kingdoms, which included: Angas, Vangas, Kalingas, Pundras and Suhmas shared a common ancestry.

References in Mahabharata

The founders of five eastern kingdoms, which included: Angas, Vangas, Kalingas, Pundras and Suhmas shared a common ancestry. They were all adopted sons of a king named Vali (Bali), born by a sage named Gautama Dirghatamas, who lived in Magadha close to the city of Girivraja.^[1][2]

Military expeditions to Suhma

Pandu (the father of Pandavas) after defeating the Magadhas and the Videhas of Mithila, led his army against Kasi, Suhma, and Pundra, as well as by the strength and prowess of his arms spread the fame of the Kurus.

Arjuna, that bull amongst the son of Pandu, at the head of all his troops, fiercely attacked the regions called Suhma and Sumala during his military campaign to collect tribute to Yudhisthira's Rajasuya.

Bhima vanquished in battle the Suhmas and the Prasuhmas. The Pandava Bhima subjugated in battle those strong and brave heroes of fierce prowess. The heroic and mighty Vasudeva, the king of Pundra and king Mahaujah who reigned in Kausika-Kachchha, and then attacked the king of Vanga. Having vanquished Samudrasena and king Chandrasena and Tamralipta, and also the king of the Kaivartas and the ruler of the Suhmas, as also the kings that dwelt on the sea-shore, that bull among the Bharatas then conquered all Mleccha tribes. Karna also subjugated the Pundras and Suhmas.

See also

Kingdoms of Ancient India

Notes

• Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated to English by Kisari Mohan Ganguli

References