Ābhīra

The Abhiras lived in scattered settlements in various parts of western and central India as far as the Deccan. Most of these tribes claimed descent from the ancient lineages of the Puranas, and some of them were later connected with the rise of Rajput dynasties.

…to be identical with the Ābhīras of Sanskrit literature, who are mentioned repeatedly in the great epic the Mahābhārata. Some scholars contend that these cattlemen, scattered over southern Rājasthān and Sind (now part of Pakistan), played a role of importance in the early development of the god Krishna as the…