Kuru (Sanskrit: कुरु) was the name of an Indo-Aryan kshatriya tribe[1] and their kingdom in the Vedic period of India, and later arepublican Mahajanapada state. Their kingdom was located in the area of modern Haryana and Delhi. They formed the first political center of the Indo-Aryans after the Rigvedic period, and after their emergence from the Punjab, and it was there that the codification and redaction of the Vedic texts began. Archaeologically, they most likely correspond to the black and red ware culture of the 12th to 9thcenturies BC. At this time, iron first appears in western India. Iron is still absent from the Rigvedic hymns, and makes its first appearance as "black metal" (śyāma ayas) in the Atharvaveda.

The Atharvaveda (XX.127) refers to Parikshit as the king of the Kurus.[2] His son Janamejaya figures in Satapatha Brahmana as well as in the Aitareya Brahmana. The Kurus in association with the Panchalas are frequently mentioned in the later Vedic literature.