King Porus was the King of Paurava, an ancient state located between the Jhelum and Chenab rivers in modern day Punjab, Pakistan, and later of dominions extending to the Beas . Porus fought Alexander the Great in the Battle of the Hydaspes River in 326 BC and was defeated. He then served Alexander as a client king. Dynastic background Theories based on etymology The Rig Veda mentions a Vedic tribe called Puru. So, there is a possibility of King Porus to be a descendent of the Puru tribe. Battle of the Ten Kings (dāśarājñá) is a battle alluded to in Mandala 7 of the Rig Veda (hymns 18, 33 and 83.4-8), the ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is a battle between Aryans (Vedic Indians) (an "internecine war", as the 1911 Britannica puts it, as opposed to the more frequent accounts of Aryans fighting Dasyus). It took place as Puru tribes, allied with other tribes of Punjab and guided by the royal sage Vishvamitra, oppose the Trtsu (Bharata) king Sudas in battle, but are defeated as was celebrated in a provocative hymn of Sudas' poet and priest Vasistha (RV 7.18). One scholar, Buddha Prakash, Professor of History and of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Director of the Institute of Indic Studies (1964); in his book Political and Social Movement in Ancient Punjab, states: Another scholar, Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi (1966) also seems to agree with this view This view has other supporters in Hermann Kulke and Naval Viyogi. Theories based on symbolism and location Ishwari Prashad and some other notable scholars of Indian History Congress believe that Porus was Shoorsaini. They argue that Porus' vanguard soldiers carried a banner of Herakles whom Megasthenes - who travelled to India after Porus had been supplanted by Chandragupta- explicitly identified with the Shoorsainis of Mathura. This Herakles of Megasthenes and Arrian has been identified by some scholars as Lord Krishna and by others as his elder brother Baldeva, who were both the ancestors and patron deities of Shoorsainis. Tod, Iswhari Prashad and others, following his lead, found further support of this conclusion in the fact that a section of Shoorsainis were supposed to have migrated westwards to Punjab and modern Afghanistan from Mathura and Dvārakā, after Krishna's demise and had established new kingdoms there. The capital of Porus is located between the rivers Jhellum and Chenab in Punjab. This location is also the home of the Punjabi Khatri or Kshatriyas in Sanskrit. A gotra or subcaste of Punjabi Khatris are called "Puri" after him. Most of Puris are Hindus or Sikhs and migrated to various parts of India after the partition in 1947. After hasty departure of Alexander from Punjab triggered by the reluctance of his troops to move forward in Punjab, King Porus was established as the sovereign for the West Punjab. Some historians blame conspiracy by Chanakya in poisoning Porus. His son reigned for a short period and was eventually succeeded by Chandragupta Maurya. Another theory however links Herakles with Shiva (See Megasthenes' Herakles). Porus and Harikulas (Yadus) opposed Alexander Puru dynasty was probably the regal abode of the Porus who opposed Alexander. Puru dynasty is generally understood to be that of the Pandavas. The Harikulas have been identified by some scholars as none other than the descendants of Yadu. Attribution: Article text available under CC-BY-SA Public domain image source in video

• published: 10 Nov 2013
• views: 0