A song in the Rg Veda
(10.108), the earliest Hindu sacred literature, mentions a tribe of northern
Indian people.
This reference paints a negative picture of this tribe,
portraying them as livestock thieves.
The song is delivered in the form of a conversation between
the Panis and Sarama, the heavenly dog who is Indra's servant and has been sent
by Indra to recapture the livestock that the Panis have stolen.
It's hard to establish whether or whether this song refers
to a real event or a real group of individuals.
The Vedas were not written as a precise historical record,
and reading them as such is dangerous.
At the same time, being the oldest literary documents, they
maintain cultural and historical allusions that are not found anywhere else.
