Kuru (kingdom) in the context of "Janapada"

Madra kingdom (IAST: Mādra; [maːd̪ɽɐ]) was a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. Its capital was Sagala in the Madra region. The Kuru king Pandu's (Pāṇḍu) second wife was from Madra kingdom and was called Madri (Sanskrit: माद्री; IAST: Mādrī; IPA/Sanskrit: [maːd̪ɽiː]). The Pandava twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, were her sons. Madri's brother Shalya was the king of Madra. Though affectionate to the Pandavas, he was tricked to give support to Duryodhana and fought against the Pandavas during the Kurukshetra War. He was killed by Yudhishthira, the eldest Pandava. Other than the Madra kingdom (Eastern Madra or Purva Madra) with Sagala as its capital, it is believed that there was a Western Madra (Apara Madra) and a Northern Madra (Uttara Madra).

The Coinage of India began anywhere between early 1st millennium BCE to the 6th century BCE, and consisted mainly of copper and silver coins in its initial stage. The coins of this period were Karshapanas or Pana. A variety of earliest Indian coins, however, unlike those circulated in West Asia, were stamped bars of metal, suggesting that the innovation of stamped currency was added to a pre-existing form of token currency which had already been present in the Janapadas and Mahajanapada kingdoms of the Early historic India. The kingdoms that minted their own coins included Gandhara, Kuntala, Kuru, Magadha, Panchala, Shakya, Surasena, Surashtra and Vidarbha etc.

The tradition of Indian coinage in the 2nd millennium evolved with Indo Islamic rule in India. and the British Raj in the 19th century.

Janamejaya (Sanskrit: जनमेजय) was a Kuru king who reigned during the Middle Vedic period. Along with his father and predecessor Parikshit, he played a decisive role in the consolidation of the Kuru state, the arrangement of Vedic hymns into collections, and the development of the orthodox srauta ritual, transforming the Kuru realm into the dominant political and cultural part of northern India. He also appears as a figure in later legends and traditions, the Mahabharata and the Puranas.

Brihadratha I (Sanskrit: बृहद्रथ, romanized: Bṛhadratha) was the founder of the legendary Brihadratha dynasty, the earliest ruling dynasty of Magadha featured in Hindu literature. He established Magadha on the banks of the river Ganges, transferring the centre of power from Chedi, a neighbouring kingdom, to the newly settled Magadha. During his reign and that of his son Jarasandha, Magadha became a major power of the land. He had a daughter named Shashirekha who was the second wife of Dhrishtadyumna.

Brihadratha was the eldest of the five sons of Vasu, (also known as Uparichara Vasu) the Kuru king of Chedi and his queen Girika. His father was the ruler of Chedi and Brihadratha established Magadha at the border of Chedi Kingdom. He is mentioned in the epic Mahabharata and the Puranas. The name of Brihadratha is also found in the Rigveda (I.36.18, X.49.6).