|
Porus
Porus or Poros ( grc, Πῶρος ; 326–321 BC) was an ancient Indian king whose territory spanned the region between the Jhelum River (Hydaspes) and Chenab River (Acesines), in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. He is only mentioned in Greek sources. Credited to have been a legendary warrior with exceptional skills, Porus unsuccessfully fought against Alexander the Great in the Battle of the Hydaspes (326 BC).Fuller, pg 198 In the aftermath, an impressed Alexander not only reinstated him as his satrap but also granted him dominion over lands to the south-east extending until the Hyphasis (Beas).p. xl, Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Warfare, J, Woronoff & I. SpenceArrian Anabasis of Alexander, V.29.2 Porus reportedly died sometime between 321 and 315 BC. Sources The only contemporary information available on Porus and his kingdom is from Greek sources, whereas Indian sources do not mention him. These Greek sources differ considerably among themselves. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Hydaspes
The Battle of the Hydaspes was fought between Alexander the Great and king Porus in 326 BC. It took place on the banks of the Jhelum River (known to the ancient Greeks as Hydaspes) in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent (modern-day Punjab, Pakistan). The battle resulted in a Greek victory and the captivity of Porus. Large areas of Punjab were absorbed into the Macedonian Empire, and later Porus became reinstated by Alexander as a Satrap. Alexander's decision to cross the monsoon-swollen river—despite close Indian surveillance—in order to catch Porus's army in the flank has been referred to as one of his "masterpieces". Although victorious, it was also the most costly battle fought by the Macedonians. The fierce resistance put up by Porus and his men won the respect of Alexander who, after the battle, asked Porus to become one of his satraps. The battle is historically significant because it resulted in the exposure of ancient Greek political and cultural influ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander The Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20, and spent most of his ruling years conducting a lengthy military campaign throughout Western Asia and Egypt. By the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Greece to northwestern India. He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered to be one of history's greatest and most successful military commanders. Until the age of 16, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle. In 335 BC, shortly after his assumption of kingship over Macedon, he campaigned in the Balkans and reasserted control over Thrace and Illyria before marching on the city of Thebes, which was subsequently destroyed in battle. Alexander then led the League of Corinth, and used his authori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Punjab Region
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of eastern Pakistan and northwestern India. Punjab's capital and largest city and historical and cultural centre is Lahore. The other major cities include Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Sialkot, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, and Bahawalpur. Punjab grew out of the settlements along the five rivers, which served as an important route to the Near East as early as the ancient Indus Valley civilization, dating back to 3000 BCE, and had numerous migrations by the Indo-Aryan peoples. Agriculture has been the major economic feature of the Punjab and has therefore formed the foundation of Punjabi culture, with one's social status being determined by land ownership. The Punjab emerged as an important agricultu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chanakya
Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य; IAST: ', ; 375–283 BCE) was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭilya or Vishnugupta, who authored the ancient Indian political treatise, the '' Arthashastra'', a text dated to roughly between the fourth century BCE and the third century CE. As such, he is considered the pioneer of the field of political science and economics in India, and his work is thought of as an important precursor to classical economics.Waldauer, C., Zahka, W.J. and Pal, S. 1996Kauṭilya's Arthashastra: A neglected precursor to classical economics ''Indian Economic Review'', Vol. XXXI, No. 1, pp. 101–108. His works were lost near the end of the Gupta Empire in the sixth century CE and not rediscovered until the early 20th century. Around 321 BCE, Chanakya assisted the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta in his rise to power and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megasthenes
Megasthenes ( ; grc, Μεγασθένης, c. 350 BCE– c. 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, diplomat and Indian ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book '' Indica'', which is now lost, but has been partially reconstructed from literary fragments found in later authors that quoted his work. Megasthenes was the first person from the Western world to leave a written description of India. Biography While Megasthenes's account of India has survived in the later works, little is known about him as a person. He spent time at the court of Sibyrtius, who was a satrap of Arachosia under Antigonus I and then Seleucus I. Megasthenes was then an ambassador for Seleucid king Seleucus I Nicator and to the court of the Mauryan Emperor Chandragupta Maurya in Pataliputra (modern Patna). Dating for his journey to the Mauryan court is uncertain; Seleucus I reigned from 305–281 BCE for the loose range of years that Megasthenes' mission mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jhelum River
The Jhelum River (/dʒʰeːləm/) is a river in the northern Indian subcontinent. It originates at Verinag and flows through the Indian administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, to the Pakistani-administered territory of Kashmir, and then into the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is the westernmost of the five rivers of the Punjab region, and flows through the Kashmir Valley. It is a tributary of the Chenab River and has a total length of about . Etymology Anjum Sultan Shahbaz, a Pakistani author, recorded some stories of the name Jhelum in his book ''Tareekh-e-Jhelum'' as:''Many writers have different opinions about the name of Jhelum. One suggestion is that in ancient days Jhelumabad was known as Jalham. The word Jhelum is reportedly derived from the words Jal (pure water) and Ham (snow). The name thus refers to the waters of a river (flowing beside the city) which have their origins in the snow-capped Himalayas.''However, some writers believe that when Mughal princ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Ten Kings
The Battle of the Ten Kings ( sa, दाशराज्ञ युद्ध, translit=Dāśarājñá yuddhá) is a battle, first alluded to in the 7th Mandala of the Rigveda (RV), between a Bharata king and a confederation of tribes. It resulted in a decisive victory for the Bharatas and subsequent formation of the Kuru polity. Background In Book 3, the Bharatas are noted to have crossed Beas and Sutlej, in their progress towards Kurukshetra where they came across a nascent (and temporary) inter-tribal alliance. This led to the battle, which is described in the 18th hymn (verses 5-21) of Book 7; the exact motivations are doubtful — Michael Witzel argues that it might have been a product of intratribal resentment or intrigues of an ousted family-priest while Ranabir Chakravarti argues that the battle was probably fought for controlling the rivers, which were a lifeline for irrigation. The hymns also mention of the tribes seeking to steal cows from the Bharatas. Battle Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya (350-295 BCE) was a ruler in Ancient India who expanded a geographically-extensive kingdom based in Magadha and founded the Maurya dynasty. He reigned from 320 BCE to 298 BCE. The Maurya kingdom expanded to become an empire that reached its peak under the reign of his grandson, Asoka, from 268 BCE to 231 BCE. The nature of the political formation that existed in Chandragupta's time is not certain. The Mauryan empire was a loose-knit empire. Quote: "The geography of the Mauryan Empire resembled a spider with a small dense body and long spindly legs. The highest echelons of imperial society lived in the inner circle composed of the ruler, his immediate family, other relatives, and close allies, who formed a dynastic core. Outside the core, empire travelled stringy routes dotted with armed cities. Outside the palace, in the capital cities, the highest ranks in the imperial elite were held by military commanders whose active loyalty and success in war determi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mudrarakshasa
The Mudrarakshasa (मुद्राराक्षस, IAST: ''Mudrārākṣasa'', ) is a Sanskrit-language play by Vishakhadatta that narrates the ascent of the king Chandragupta Maurya ( BCE) to power in India. The play is an example of creative writing, but not entirely fictional. It is dated variously from the late 4th century to the 8th century CE. Characters *Chandragupta Maurya, one of the protagonists *Chanakya, one of the protagonists *Rakshasa, the main antagonist *Malayketu, the son of Parvataka and one of the henchmen * Parvatak, a greedy king who firstly supported Chandragupta but later changed his preference to Dhana Nanda * Vaidhorak * Durdhara, wife of Chandragupta Maurya *Bhadraketu *Chandandasa *Jeevsidhhi Adaptations There is a Tamil version based on the Sanskrit play and Keshavlal Dhruv translated the original into Gujarati as ''Mel ni Mudrika'' (1889). There is a Kannada version of the play ''Mudramanjusha'' written by Kempunarayana. The later epis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chenab River
The Chenab River () is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul region of Himachal Pradesh, India. The Chenab flows through the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India into the plains of Punjab, Pakistan, before ultimately flowing into the Indus River. The waters of the Chenab were allocated to Pakistan under the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty. India is allowed non-consumptive uses such as power generation. The Chenab River is extensively used in Pakistan for irrigation. Its waters are also transferred to the channel of the Ravi River via numerous link canals. Name The Chenab river was called ' ( sa, असिक्नी) in the Rigveda (VIII.20.25, X.75.5). The name meant that it was seen to have dark-coloured waters. The term Krishana is also found in the Atharvaveda. A later form of Askikni was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parishishtaparvan
The Parishishtaparvan () also known as the Sthaviravalicharitra () is a 12th-century Sanskrit mahakavya by Hemachandra which details the histories of the earliest Jain teachers. The poem comprises 3,460 verse couplets divided into 13 cantos of unequal length and is also notable for providing information on the political history of ancient India. The ''Trishashtishalakapurushacharitra'' (; ''The Lives of the Sixty-three Illustrious People''), an epic Sanskrit poem on the key figures in Jainism, was composed by Hemachandra at the request of the Chaulukya king, Kumarapala. The Sthaviravalicharitra (''The Lives of the Jain Elders'') is considered a self-contained sequel to this work and is consequently referred to as the Parishishtaparvan or ''The Appendix''. The period largely covered in the poem corresponds to and follows the growth of the kingdom of Magadha and the establishment of the Maurya Empire. According to Hemachandra, the sequence of rulers in the times of the Jains discu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dvārakā
Dvārakā, also known as ''Dvāravatī'' (Sanskrit द्वारका "the gated ity, possibly meaning having many gates, or alternatively having one or several very grand gates), is a sacred historic city in the sacred literature of Hinduism, Jainism,See Jerome H. Bauer "Hero of Wonders, Hero in Deeds"Vasudeva Krishna in Jaina Cosmohistory in and Buddhism. It is also alternatively spelled as Dvarika. The name Dvaraka is said to have been given to the place by Krishna, a major deity in Hinduism. Dvaraka is one of the Sapta Puri (seven sacred cities) of Hinduism. In the ''Mahabharata'', it was a city located in what is now Dwarka, formerly called Kushasthali, the fort of which had to be repaired by the Yadavas. In this epic, the city is described as a capital of the Anarta Kingdom. According to the ''Harivamsa'' the city was located in the region of the Sindhu Kingdom. In the Hindu epics and the Puranas, Dvaraka is called Dvaravati and is one of seven Tirtha (pilgri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
