Arjun went for a 12 year old pilgrimage around India during the exile of the Pandavas. The three kingdoms of Anga, Vanga and Kalinga were mentioned as territories crossed by Arjuna as close kingdoms in Bharata. The regions were mentioned as the land of sacred waters and holy palaces. Arjun is said to have mentioned all these places. The founders of five eastern kingdoms, which included: Anga, Vanga, Kalinga, Pundra and Suhma shared a common ancestry. They were all adopted sons of a king named Vali (Bali), born by a sage named Gautama Dirghatamas, who lived in Magadha close to the city of Girivraja. Arjuna defeated the countries of the Vanga, the Pundra, and the Kosala in his military campaign after Kurukshetra War.
Vanga army was skilled in handling war elephants. They sided with the Kauravas. Vangas sided with Duryodhana in the Kurukshetra War along with the Kalingas. Many foremost of combatants skilled in elephant-fight, belonging to the Easterners, the Southerners, the Angas, the Vangas, the Pundras, the Magadhas, the Tamraliptakas, the Mekalas, the Koshalas, the Madras, the Dasharnas, the Nishadas united with the Kalingas.
Bhagadatta was mentioned as the ruler of the Vanga kingdom that took part in the Kurukshetra War. He sided with Duryodhana with his elephant army and died at the hands of Ghatotkacha, the son of Bhima.
In other passages in Mahabharata, we find mention of some other rulers of Vanga. We find that Bhagadatta (sided with Duryodhana; killed by Ghatotkacha) was the ruler of Pragjyotisha Kingdom to the north of Vanga, Paundraka Vasudeva (killed by Vasudev Krishna) ruled Pundra Kingdom to the east of Vanga and Karna (sided with Duryodhana; killed by Arjuna) ruled Anga Kingdom to the west of Vanga.
From the very beginning (3000 BCE), we see that Bangali sided with the villains, the losers and the defeated - be it Bhagadatta, Paundraka or Karna. These defeats play a very important role in the further development of the psychology of the race.
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