King Porus

Porus or Poros (Ancient Greek: Πῶρος Pôros; fl. 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).[2] 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).[3][4] Porus reportedly died sometime between 321 and 315 BC.[5] Purus Michael Witzel conjectures Porus to have been a king of the Pūrus, who existed as a marginal power in Punjab since their defeat in the Battle of the Ten Kings notwithstanding (probable) political realignment with the Bharatas.[8][9][10] Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri had largely agreed with this identification.[7] Sourasenis Multiple histories — Indica by Arrian, Geographica by Strabo, and Bibliotheca historica by Diodorus Siculus — mention Megasthenes[a] to have described an Indian tribe called Sourasenoi: they worshiped one "Herakles" and originated from a land having the city of Mathura and the river of Yamuna.[11][12] The Greeks often chronicled foreign gods in terms of their own divinities; thus multiple scholars have understood "Herakles" to mean "Hari-Krishna".[11][12] That Quintus Curtius Rufus mentions Porus' vanguard soldiers to have carried a banner of "Heracles" during the face-off with Alexander,[11] Ishwari Prasad argues Porus to be a Shurasena.[13][b] However, the identification with "Hari-Krishna" is not well-settled; there is no evidence of Krishna worship as early as 4th century BC.[12] Modern scholars increasingly equate "Herakles" to Indra but even this identification is not widely accepted.[12] Miscellaneous H. C. Seth had identified Porus with Parvataka, a king mentioned in the Sanskrit play Mudrarakshasa, the Jain text Parishishtaparvan, and some other sources including royal genealogies of Nepal.[7] However, there is little evidence in support: Parishishtaparvan assigns him the territory of Himavatkuta while Greek sources have Porus rule in the present-day Punjab region, and Mudrarakshasa attributes his death to poisoning planned by Chanakya while Greek sources state that Porus was killed by Eudemus (or Alexander, himself).[7] Rule Background Porus used to rule over the tracts between rivers Hydaspes (Jhelum) and Acesines (Chenab); Strabo had held the territory to contain almost 300 cities.[15] He (alongside one Abisares) had a hostile relationship with the Kingdom of Taxila which was ruled by his extended family; Porus is noted to have had assassinated Ambhiraj, his maternal uncle and the erstwhile ruler of Taxila.[15] When the armies of Alexander crossed Indus in its eastward migration, probably in Udabhandapura, he was greeted by the-then ruler of Taxila, Omphis/Ambhi, son of Ambhiraj.[15] Omphis had sent emissaries to Alexander long-back and was considered a friendly — in return, his rule was confirmed but under a Macedonian satrap and gifts were lavished.[15] Omphis had hoped to force both Porus and Abisares into submission leveraging the might of Alexander's forces and diplomatic missions were mounted.[15] But while Abisares offered a token submission, Porus refused.[15] This led Alexander to seek for a face-off with Porus.[15] Despite being attracted to the exoticism of Taxila and Brahminic practices, he had to migrate for the bank of Jhelum, on the other bank of which, Porus had set up his main line of defense.[15] Thus began the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC; the exact site remains unknown.[15] Battle of the Hydaspes Main article: Battle of the Hydaspes A painting by Charles Le Brun depicting Alexander and Porus during the Battle of the Hydaspes Alexander dismantled and reused the same vessels which were used for crossing the Sind, some 300 km away.[15] Small scale intrusion-attempts were frequently mounted and even before the battle had started, there were skirmishes in river-islands with Porus' army who maintained guard.[15] The exact strength of the armies might be never known, due to major discrepancies in sources.[15] After some days, Alexander decided on crossing via the headlands which were forested and provided cover for transit; the base camp with cavalry and infantry was left under Craterus and Alexander accompanied the striking force.[15] They were tasked with this crossing whilst mercenaries were distributed along the length of the river under three phalanx officers to distract Porus's forces.[15] The strategy was successful and they crossed almost unobstructed, in a stormy night.[15] After reaching the bank, Alexander's cavalry unit routed a band of advancing horsemen led by Porus' son (and even captured chariots) in what marked the commencement of the battle.[15] Thereafter, Porus became primarily concerned with tackling Alexander's forces who have already crossed, rather than prevent passage of the remaining.[15] Porus chose a sandy plain to take a defensive position — infantry units interspersed with elephants.[15][c] Cavalry and chariots were stationed in the wings.[15][16] Encircled from all sides and trampled by their mahout-less elephants, Porus' army was easy fodder for Alexander's forces.[15] A fraction of infantry escaped while most of the elephants were captured and the cavalry exterminated.[15] Porus refused to surrender and wandered about atop an elephant, until he was wounded and his force routed.[15] In the meanwhile, Craterus crossed along with the mercenaries and pursued the escapees to death.[15] Result The battle resulted in a decisive Greek victory; however, A. B. Bosworth warns against an uncritical reading of Greek sources who were obviously exaggerative.[15] Alexander held athletic and gymnastic games at the site, and even commissioned two cities—Nicaea at the site of victory and Bucephalous at the battle-ground (in memory of his horse)—in commemoration.[15][d] Later, tetradrachms would be minted by the Babylonian mint depicting Alexander on horseback, armed with a sarissa and attacking a pair of Indians on an elephant.[15][17] Surrender of Porus to Alexander, 1865 engraving by Alonzo Chappel. Aftermath Despite the apparently one-sided results, Alexander was impressed by Porus and chose to not depose him.[18][19] Not only was his territory reinstated but also expanded with Alexander's forces annexing the territories of Glausaes, who ruled to the northeast of Porus' kingdom.[18] Further, Omphis was reconciled with Porus and sent back to Taxila; Bosworth argues that he wouldn't have been particularly happy with Porus having displaced him as the main beneficiary of Alexander's campaigns.[18] A joint expedition was then mounted against a territory east of Chenab, which was ruled by an enemy-cousin of Porus; he had earlier submitted to Alexander but suspicious of Porus' rise in ranks, chose to flee with his army.[18] The date of this battle remains disputed; Alexander's forces overran his lands before meeting stiff resistance at a walled Sangala on the other side of Ravi.[18] Siege warfare was executed to brilliant effect and the full-fledged attack began, once Porus had joined with his elephants.[18] As Sangala and allying cities were razed, Porus was allowed to station his garrisons.[18] Thereafter, Alexander proceeded unopposed to Beas and even intended to cross it towards mainland India; however, the monsoon was in its peak and the much-weary troops remained stubborn despite a variety of cajoling and threats.[18] An unwilling Alexander had to renounce his plans and turn back.[18] Porus was thus ratified as the de facto ruler of the entire territory east of Jhelum — he was given no European satrap to co-rule with, unlike Ambhi and Abisares.[18] The crossing-back of Jhelum was a prolonged affair; filled with festivities, it attracted thousands.[18] Death After Alexander's death in 323 BCE, Perdiccas became the regent of his empire, and after Perdiccas's murder in 321 BCE, Antipater became the new regent.[20] According to Diodorus, Antipater recognized Porus's authority over the territories along the Indus River. However, Eudemus, who had served as Alexander's satrap in the Punjab region, treacherously killed Porus.[21]