Shakuni is one of the antagonists of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the prince of the kingdom of Gandhara when introduced, later becoming its king after the death of his father, Subala. He was the brother of Gandhari and the maternal uncle of the Kauravas.

Gandhari is a prominent figure in the Hindu epic the Mahabharata. She was a princess of Gandhara Kingdom and the wife of Dhritrashtra, the blind king of Kuru. She is depicted with a blindfold, which she wore in order to live like her blind husband. Due to divine boons, she became the mother of a hundred sons, the Kauravas, who are the primary antagonists of the epic. She also had a daughter named Duhsala. Following the Kurukshetra War and the end of her hundred sons, Gandhari cursed the god Krishna, leading to the destruction of the legendary Yadu Dynasty.