land of the rsi, or sages. Historically, the Sanskrit term was used to describe the second region of Indo-European occupation in India—the area eastward from Sirhind, including the tract between the Yamuna (Jumna) (Yamuna River) and Ganges (Ganga) (Ganges River) rivers as far south as Mathura. It included Indraprastha ( Delhi), the capital of the Pandavas, and Kuruksetra, the legendary battlefield of the Kurus and the Pandavas, whose struggle is the main theme of the Hindu epic the Mahabharata. This region is to be distinguished from the Brahmavarta, or Holy Land, which covered the seven rivers from the Indus to the Sarasvati and the town of Sirhind.

Brahmarshi-desha was occupied before 1000 BCE. It is associated with the Vedic commentaries of the Brahmanas (Brāhmaṇa) and the divinely revealed treatises of the Upanishads (Upanishad).