Kekeya (also known as Kekaya, Kaikaya, Kaikeya etc.) is a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata. The location of the ancient kingdom is approximately near Toba Tek Singh in modern Pakistan. The epic Ramayana also mentions Kekeya as a western kingdom. One of the wives of Dasharatha, the king of Kosala and father of Raghava Rama, was from Kekeya kingdom and was known as Kaikeyi. Her son Bharata conquered the neighbouring kingdom of Gandhara and built the city of Takshasila. Later the sons and descendants of Bharata ruled this region from Takshasila.
In Mahabharata, five Kekaya princes were mentioned, who joined the Pandavas in Kurukshetra War. The eldest of them was described as a king and was known as Vrihatkshatra. These Kekaya brothers were also banished from their kingdom by their own kinsmen, like the Pandavas who were bansished from their Kuru Kingdom, by their cousin brothers viz the Kauravas headed by Duryodhana. Thus these Kekaya brothers were circumstantially inclined to ally with the Pandavas. Besides this, the Kekaya brothers were sons of the sister of Kunti, the mother of Pandavas, making them cousins. In Kurukshetra War, the Kekaya brothers fought against their own kinsmen, viz the other Kekaya brothers who sided with Duryodhana.