Epic Era in Uttar Pradesh: Ancient History of UP. The kingdom of Kosala, in the Mahajanapada era, was located within the regional boundaries of modern-day Uttar Pradesh. After Vedic period, two epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata were written in Uttar Pradesh, which are the sources of this era in Ancient Uttar Pradesh history.
By this time, Aryan civilisation had spread to Anga in East. It included the kingdom Kaushambi, Kosala, Kashi, Videha, Magadha and Anga. The story of Lord Rama is related to Ikshvaku Dynasty. Its writer was Maharshi Valmiki. The story of Mahabharata is related to Kuru dynasty of Hastinapur. Maharshi Ved Vyas was the writer of Mahabharata.
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According to Hindu legend, the divine king Lord Rama of the Ramayana epic reigned in Ayodhya, the capital of Kosala. Krishna, another divine Lord of Hindus, who plays a key role in the Mahabharata epic and is revered as the eighth reincarnation (Avatar) of the Hindu god Vishnu, is said to have been born in the city of Mathura, in Uttar Pradesh.
The aftermath of the Mahabharata Yudh is believed to have taken place in the area between the Upper Doab and Delhi, (in what was Kuru Mahajanapada), during the reign of the Pandava king Yudhishthira.
The kingdom of the Kurus corresponds to the Black and Red Ware and Painted Gray Ware culture and the beginning of the Iron Age in North-west India, around 1000 BC.
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