Matsya (Pali: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of central India whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The members of the Matsya tribe were called the MÃÂtsyeyas and were organised into a kingdom called the Matsya kingdom.
in PÃÂli and in Sanskrit mean "fish".
The kingdom of the MÃÂtsyeyas covered an extensive territory, with the Sarasvatë river and the forests skirting it as its western border, and its southern boundaries being the hills near the Chambal River. Most of the kingdom comprised parts of present-day North-eastern Rajasthan. The neighbours of the Matsya state were Kuru in the north, and Sà «rasena in the east.
The capital of Matsya was VirÃÂá¹Âanagara, which corresponds to the modern-day BairÃÂá¹ in Jaipur district of Rajasthan.
The Matsya tribe was first mentioned in the , where they appear as one of the opponents of SudÃÂs during the Battle of the Ten Kings.
According to the , the MÃÂtsyeya king Dhvasan Dvaitavana performed an sacrifice near the Sarasvatë river. A forest on the banks of the Sarasvatë and a lake were both named after the king Dvaitavana.
Vedic texts such as the mention the MÃÂtsyeyas along with the à ÂÃÂlva tribe, and the connects them with the Kuru-PañcÃÂlas. Later Puranic texts such as the connects them with the Trigartas and the Caidyas, and the lists the countries of the MÃÂtsyeyas, the à Âà «rasenakas, the PañcÃÂlas, and of Kuru-ká¹£etra, as forming the (the holy enclave of the sages).
The later history of Matsya is not known, although the Buddhist included it among the sixteen s ("great realms"), which were the most powerful states of India immediately before the birth of the Buddha. The Matsya state in the period archaeologically corresponds to the Northern Black Polished Ware archaeological culture which in the western part of the Gaá¹ gÃÂ-YamunàDoab region succeeded the earlier Painted Grey Ware culture, and is associated with the Kuru, PañcÃÂla, Matsya, Surasena and Vatsa s.
Unlike other states of central India who abandoned the kingdom form for a (aristocratic republic) mode of government during the late Iron Age, Matsya maintained a monarchical system.
Matsya was eventually conquered by the empire of Magadha.
After the Indian independence in 1947, the princely states of Bharatpur, Dholpur, Alwar and Karauli were temporarily put together from 1947 to 1949 as the â³United States of Matsyaâ³, and later in March 1949 after these princely states signed the Instrument of Accession they were merged with the present state of Rajasthan.
The Matsya Festival is held in Alwar every year in the last week of November to celebrate culture and adventure.