Battle of the Ten Kings Battle of the Ten Kings ( " " ) is a battle alluded to in Mandala 7 of the Rigveda ( hymns 18 , 33 and 83 . 4 - 8 ) , the ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns . It is a battle between Aryan s ( Vedic Indians ) ( an " internecine war " , as the 1911 Britannica puts it , as opposed to the more frequent accounts of Aryans fighting Dasyu s ) . It took place as Puru tribes , allied with other tribes of the north west India and guided by the royal sage Vishvamitra , oppose the Trtsu ( Bharata ) king Sudas in battle , but are defeated as was celebrated in a provocative hymn of Sudas ' poet and priest Vashista ( RV 7 . 18 ) . K . F . Geldner in his 1951 translation of the Rigveda considers the hymns as " obviously based on an historical event " , even though all details save for what is preserved in the hymns have been lost . Further details have been provided in an incisive discussion of this hymn by H . P . Schmidt Belligerents . The Trtsu are the tribe led by king Sudas . Sudas himself is included in the " ten kings " , as the Trtsus are said to be " surrounded by " ten kings in 7 . 33 . 5 . But it is not made explicit how this number is supposed to be broken down : if of the tribes mentioned in 7 . 18 , the Turvasas , Yaksuss ( pun for Yadu ) , Matsyas , Bhrgus , Druhyus , Pakthas , Bhalanas , Alinas , Shivas and Visanins are counted , the full number is reached , leaving the Anava s ( 7 . 18 . 14 ) , the Aja s and Sigrus ( 7 . 18 . 19 ) and the " 21 men of both Vaikarna tribes " ( 7 . 18 . 11 ) without a king , and implying that Bheda ( 7 . 18 . 19 , also mentioned 7 . 33 . 3 and 7 . 83 . 4 , the main leader slain by Sudas ) , Shimyu ( 7 . 18 . 5 ) , and Kavasa ( 7 . 18 . 12 ) are the names of individual kings . The Bharatas are named among the enemies in 7 . 33 but not in 7 . 18 . Background . Hymns 7 . 18 and 7 . 83 are dedicated to Indra and Indra paired with Varuna , respectively . They thank the deity for helping Sudas to defeat his enemies , while hymn 7 . 33 is addressed by Vashista ' s descendants to Vashista , praising him for moving the gods to take Sudas ' side by his prayers ( Indra preferred Vashista ' s prayers over those of Pasadyumna , son of Vayata , 7 . 33 . 2 ) . They describe him as a son of Mitra and Varuna ( 7 . 33 . 11 ) . The hymn stresses the importance of the priests ( Vashista is named along with Parashara and Satayatu ) in winning Indra ' s favour ; they had invoked Indra while they had moved away from " home " ( " grhāt " , 7 . 18 . 21 ) The situation leading up to the battle is described in 7 . 18 . 6 : The Turvasas and Yaksus ( Yadu ) , together with the Matsya tribe ( punned upon by the rishi by comparing them to hungry fish ( " matsya " ) flocking together ) appear and ally themselves with the Bhrigus and the Druhyus . Their confederation was further increased by the Pakthas , the Bhalanas , the Alinas , the Shiva s and the Visanins ( 7 . 18 . 7 ) , while the Trtsus relied solely on the help of the " Arya ' s Comrade " ( " āryasya sadhamāḥ " ) , Indra . The battle . The battle itself took place on the banks of the Parusni ( Ravi ) . The warriors of Sudas are described as white - robed ( " shvityanca " ) , wearing hair - knots on the right side of their heads ( " daksinataskaparda " ) , having flying banners ( " krtádhvaj " ) ( RV 7 . 83 . 2 ) , while the ten kings do not sacrifice ( " áyajyavaḥ " ) . It appears ( 7 . 18 . 5 ) that Sudas managed to cross the Parusni safely , while his foes , trying to pursue , were scattered by a flood and either drowned or were slaughtered by Sudas ' men : Kavaṣa and the Druhyu were " overwhelmed by Indra " while still in the water ( 7 . 18 . 10 ) . The slain warriors of the Anu and Druhyus are numbered 6 , 666 ( 7 . 18 . 14 ) . In the aftermath of the battle , the Bharatas under Sudas ( 7 . 33 . 6 ) , received tribute from the Ajas , the Sigrus and the Yaksus ( = Yadu , 7 . 18 . 20 ) , and Indra destroyed the seven fortifications of the enemies , and gave the treasures of Anu to Sudas ( 7 . 18 . 13 ) . 7 . 18 . 17 stresses that this was a victory against all odds , compared to a lamb defeating a lion .