Pauravas
Encyclopedia
The Pauravas was the name given to the many small kingdoms and tribes of ancient India
in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.
The Pauravas had also existed before then in the Vedic Ages led by King Sudas
, who fought off the Iran
ian invaders at the Battle of the Ten Kings. The Pauravas were all situated on or near the Indus river where their monarchs grew rich and prosperous through trade. The Persian kings Darius and Xerxes
claimed suzerainty over many of the Pauravas, but this claim was loose at best. The most powerful tribes, led by Ambhi and Porus
, were conquered by the Macedonian
Emperor Alexander the Great in 326 BC. Porus fought a fierce last stand against Alexander at the Battle of the Hydaspes River
. Alexander was not able to conquer the entire area due to his army refusing to fight the Nanda Empire further east. By 322 BC, the region was eventually conquered by Chandragupta Maurya
, a teenage adventurer from Magadha, who later conquered the Nanda Empire, and founded the Maurya Empire
.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.
The Pauravas had also existed before then in the Vedic Ages led by King Sudas
Sudas
Sudās was a king in the Rig Veda. His name means "worshipping well", an s-stem, either from a root dās, or with the extra s added to avoid an archaic root noun in ā, Sudā-, which would easily be mistaken for a feminine name....
, who fought off the Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian invaders at the Battle of the Ten Kings. The Pauravas were all situated on or near the Indus river where their monarchs grew rich and prosperous through trade. The Persian kings Darius and Xerxes
Xerxes
Xerxes is a male name. Most notably, it may refer to Xerxes I of Persia . It may also refer to:-People:*Xerxes II of Persia, reigned 424 BCE*Xerxes of Armenia, Armenian king, assassinated around 212 BCE...
claimed suzerainty over many of the Pauravas, but this claim was loose at best. The most powerful tribes, led by Ambhi and Porus
Porus
King Porus was the King of Paurava, an ancient state within the territory of modern day Punjab located between the Jhelum and the Chenab rivers, and later of dominions extending to the Beas...
, were conquered by the Macedonian
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
Emperor Alexander the Great in 326 BC. Porus fought a fierce last stand against Alexander at the Battle of the Hydaspes River
Battle of the Hydaspes River
The Battle of the Hydaspes River was fought by Alexander the Great in 326 BC against King Porus of the Hindu Paurava kingdom on the banks of the Hydaspes River in the Punjab near Bhera in what is now modern-day Pakistan...
. Alexander was not able to conquer the entire area due to his army refusing to fight the Nanda Empire further east. By 322 BC, the region was eventually conquered by Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya , was the founder of the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta succeeded in conquering most of the Indian subcontinent. Chandragupta is considered the first unifier of India and its first genuine emperor...
, a teenage adventurer from Magadha, who later conquered the Nanda Empire, and founded the Maurya Empire
Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC...
.
See also
- Battle of the Ten KingsBattle of the Ten KingsBattle of the Ten Kings is a battle alluded to in Mandala 7 of the Rigveda , the ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is a battle between Aryans...
- Battle of the Hydaspes RiverBattle of the Hydaspes RiverThe Battle of the Hydaspes River was fought by Alexander the Great in 326 BC against King Porus of the Hindu Paurava kingdom on the banks of the Hydaspes River in the Punjab near Bhera in what is now modern-day Pakistan...
- Pauravas a sub-clan of KambojasKambojasThe Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...
in PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...