king porus (Puru)

MOHIYAL_BRAHMIN_KING

RAJA_PORUS

King_Porus_History

King Porus was a famous Indian king, his real name was #Purushotama. He belonged to PURU tribe mentioned in #RIG_VEDA, the Ancient books of India. Porus ruled the Punjab region and expanded his kingdom between the Jhelum River and Chenab River in the Indian Subcontinent. He was a legendary warrior and more war skills. He made the army most powerful with war skills. Even Alexander had also made difficulty to defeat Porus. His parents name didn’t know clearly. However, his son name also Porus.There are no known Hindu textual sources regarding Porus indicating the tribe or ethnic group he belonged to. Although Several ethnic groups in the Indian subcontinent have tried to claim him as their own ancestor, the Word of Mouth Oral tradition in #Mohyal_Brahmin families since ancient times has kept the Great Saga of their Great Elder known to them as Maharaja “ #Puru” alive. 

When #Alexander the Great invaded India in 326 BC he was challenged near Taxila by a mere chieftain of the Area. He was King #Porus, a #Vaid_Mohyal. After his encounter with Porus, Alexander met with more resistance near Multan where the forces were predominantly #Mohyal. 

Multan [Mool Sthan ] City situated on the banks of Chandrabhaga river [Chenab] of the Puranic fame, where the GREAT #VISHNU_AVATAR ‘’#NARSIMHA’’ appeared from the Pillar to save the life of Bhakt #Prahlada, in those days of Alexander was the capital of Mohyal clan “#Bali“rulers, and according to ancient Puranic records, it was a great pilgrimage center for all Hindus being the western most temple in India of the Sun God depicted as “Mitra”, as this town was known in ancient times as Prahladpuri having the famous “Vishnu” temple where he appeared as the puranic famous “Narshimha Avatar”. The Bali rulers of Multan fiercely engaged with Alexander's army in skirmishes in which many senior Generals died. Later during the long and bitter fighting in #Multan, Alexander got hurt by an arrow which pierced his chest , which made him call off his dream of conquering India and thus ordered a retreat. Because of the wound thus suffered in Multan he few months later died in Babylon.

According to the greek historians Arrian, Diodorus, Strabo, and Megasthenes about the account of King Porus and his army, they described them as belonging to an Indian tribe called Sourasenoi, who especially worshipped Herakles [Hercules]in their land, and this land had two great cities, named Methora and Kleisobora, and a navigable river, named the Jobares. 

As was common in the ancient period, the Greeks sometimes described foreign gods in terms of their own divinities which they worshiped as Gods and Godesses, and there is a little doubt that the Sourasenoi refers to the Shurasenas, the Valiant Saraswat Mohyal Warriors , Herakles, Hēraklēs is a greek word, from Hēra, "Hera", and kleos, "glory [The Mohyal warriors carried the picture of their Great Warrior Elder “#PARSHURAMA” on their Flags as their war emblem, which resembled the great greek god Herakles also known as the mighty Herclues of greeks, which Alexander depicted on his coins], and at that time of History many Mohyals lived in the land of Mehtora [Mathura], where Krishna was born; Kleisobora refers to Krishnapura, meaning "the city of Krishna"; and the Jobares to the Yamuna, the famous river in the Krishna story. 

The Historian Quintus Curtius also mentions that when Alexander the Great confronted Porus, Porus's soldiers were carrying an image of Herakles in their vanguard. King Porus probably a greek slang of Sanskrit Purushottama or Parvattaka was the King of Paurava, an ancient state within the territory of modern day Punjab located between the Jhelum and the Chenab (in Greek, the Hydaspes and the Acesines) rivers, and later of dominions extending to the Beas (in Greek, the Hyphasis). 

Porus fought Alexander the Great in the Battle of the Hydaspes River in 326 BC. Alexander's tactics to cross the monsoon-swollen river despite close Indian surveillance to catch Porus' army in the flank has been referred as one of his "masterpieces". Although victorious, it was also the most costly battle fought by the Macedonians. The resistance put up by King Porus and his men won the respect of Alexander who returned Porus his kingdom. The battle took place on the east bank of the Hydaspes River (now called the river Jhelum, a tributary of the river Indus) in what is now the Punjab province of Pakistan. Later, Alexander founded a city on the site of the battle, which he called Nicaea; as long as this city has not been discovered, any attempt to find the ancient battle site is doomed, because the landscape has changed considerably. For the moment, the most plausible location is just south of the Current City of Jhelum in Pakistan, where the ancient main road crossed the river, and where an Ancient Buddhist source indeed mentions a city that may be Nicaea

The Macedonian army refused to continue its march after an escape to victory from a small Punjabi kingdom and also getting the news of inner Indian kingdoms of Gujarat,Punjab, and Modern day Harayana were preparing for war. The battle between Porus and Alexander is historically significant for opening up India for Greek political (Seleucid Empire, Indo-Greeks) and cultural influence (Greco-Buddhist art) which was to continue for many centuries in Northern India.

Unlike his neighbor, Raja Ambhi (in Greek: Omphius), the then King of Taxila who surrendered to Alexanders Army without a fight, Maharaja Porus chose to fight Alexander the Great in order to defend his kingdom and people.

According to the greek records Porus fought the battle of the Hydaspes River [Jehlum]with Alexander in 326 BC. After he was defeated by Alexander, in a famous meeting with Porus - who had suffered many arrow wounds in the battle and had lost his sons, who all chose death in battle rather than surrender - Alexander reportedly asked him, "How he should treat him". Porus replied, "The way one king treats another". Alexander the Great was so impressed by the brave response of King Porus that he restored his captured Kingdom back to him and gave addition lands of a neighbouring area whose ruler had fled

Porus was said to be "5 cubits tall", either the implausible 7½ ft (2.3 m) assuming an 18-inch cubit, or the more likely 6 ft (1.8 m) if a 14-inch Macedonian cubit was meant. But either way Maharaja Porus was a Tall Person.

When the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great arrived in India in the spring of 326, he was welcomed by Omphis, [Raja Ambhi]the king of Taxila (Takshaçila, near modern Rawalpindi), another kingdom in the Punjab, and he was an Archenemy of Maharaja Porus. To Porus, the arrival of the ‘’YAVANAS’’ meaning the westerners was a great threat: after all, it was obvious that Omphis would use his allies in a war against the Kingdom of Paurava. However, for the time being, King Porus seemed safe, because the approaching monsoon rains would make it impossible to cross the Hydaspes. Therefore, he refused to send envoys to Taxila to offer any tokens of submission. This was a grave error, because Alexander wanted to conquer all of India. 

The Ancient Historians state that In May of 326BC, the Macedonian army started to march to the Hydaspes. Maharaja Porus was prepared for a war with this foreign invasion. So he took a position on the east bank of Jehlum river to prevent “Alexander the great army to cross “Jehlum river’. Little bit north to his position one of his elder sons was guarding the banks of Jehlum river so that Alexander army does not cross from that point to make any attempted attack from the back upon the Porus army. Porus drew up on the south bank of the Jhelum River, and was set to repel any crossings. The Jhelum River was deep and fast enough that any opposed crossing would probably doom the entire attacking force. 

Alexander as a Sharp General knew that a direct crossing had little chances of success and thus tried to find alternative fords. He moved his mounted troops up and down the river bank each night, with Porus shadowing him. Eventually, Alexander used a suitable crossing, about 27 km (17 mi) upstream of his camp. His plan was a classic pincer maneuver. He left his General Craterus behind with most of the army, while he crossed the river upstream with a strong contingent, consisting of 6,000 foot and 5,000 horse according to Greek historian Arrian, although it is probable that it was larger than that. According to this Plan Craterus was to ford the river and attack if Porus faced Alexander with all his Mighty troops, but to hold his position, if Porus faced Alexander with only a part of his army.

Alexander quietly moved his part of the army upstream and then traversed the river in utmost secrecy through manufacturing ‘skin floats filled with hay’ as well as ‘smaller vessels cut in half, the thirty oared galleys into three parts. Furthermore Craterus engaged in frequent feints that he may cross the river thus Confused Maharaja Porus, and Porus thus no longer expecting a sudden attempt under cover of darkness, was lulled into a sense of security’. 

Alexander mistakenly landed on an island, but soon crossed to the other side. Porus perceived his opponent's maneuver and sent a small cavalry and chariot force under his son to fight off Alexander, hoping that he would be able to prevent his crossing. Alexander had already passed, and easily routed his opponent, the chariots in particular being impeded by the mud near the shore of the river, with Porus' son among the dead. 

By learning these news Maharaja Porus quickly understood that Alexander had crossed to his side of the river and hastened to face him with the best part of his army, leaving behind a small detachment to disrupt the landing of Craterus' force, should he try to cross the river., but the Alexander army had already crossed the river at that point and Porus son was no match for the Macedonian army. Thus the Macedonian army crossed Jehlum river [Hydaspes ] during a thunderstorm as the Indian war chariots were unable to properly function the rain soaked mud of the river banks. So Porus son was thus defeated and killed and Alexander army started to move forward in the direction of his father “Porus Vaid’.

When Porus reached the point where Alexander's army was arrayed, he deployed his forces and commenced the attack. The Indians were poised with cavalry on both flanks, their center comprising infantry with elephants towering among or before them in equal intervals. The elephants caused much harm to the Macedonian phalanx, but were eventually repulsed by the dense pikes of the phallangitai, wreaking much havoc upon their own lines.

The Indians were outnumbered and outclassed by the Macedonian army. However, Porus still had one dangerous weapon: the elephants, an army unit that the Macedonians had never encountered before. He placed these animals before his infantry men, knowing that the Macedonian cavalry could not attack them because horses fear elephants unless they have had a special training. On his wings, the Pauravan king Porus Vaid stationed his chariots. When the Macedonians reached the place where he was waiting for them, they deployed their phalanx and moved slowly towards their enemy. Alexander commanded the heavy cavalry and the mounted archers of the Dahae, which were on his right wing. It was during the battle against King Porus that Alexander's famous horse, Bucephalus, was killed. During the battle against Porus, Alexander's men encountered poison on the tusks of the elephants. “Military History of Ancient India’ says the tusks were tipped with poison-coated swords,

When Porus saw that his left wing chariots were outnumbered by the Macedonian cavalry and thus moved his right wing chariots to the left; at that moment, the Macedonian cavalry commander “Coenus” suddenly moved to the now undefended Indian right wing and encircled the enemy lines, attacking them in their rear. Meanwhile, the heavy cavalry in the Alexander's army were victorious against Porus' chariots, and their archers were also attacking the Porus elephants. The Macedonian archers and phalanx started to kill the elephants' drivers and the animals panicked. From this moment on, the Indians were attacked from all sides: they had to defend themselves against the phalanx and their own elephants in front of them and the Macedonian cavalry in the rear. Nearly all Indian cavalry were killed; a few infantry men managed to flee; a wounded king Porus surrendered only after the destruction of his entire army. When Alexander asked him how he wanted to be treated, he gave the famous reply 'Just as a king'. According to Greek Historian Justin, during the battle, Maharaja Porus challenged Alexander, who charged him on horseback. Alexander fell off his horse in the ensuing duel, his bodyguards carrying him off and then capturing Porus.

According to greek historian Arrian, Macedonian losses amounted to 310. However the military historian J.F.C. Fuller sees as "more realistic" the figure given by Greek historian Diodorus of about 1,000, a large number for a victor, yet not improbable, considering the partial success of the Indian war elephants. Indian losses amounted to 23,000 according to Arrian, 12,000 dead and over 9,000 men captured according to Diodorus. The last two numbers are remarkably close, if it is assumed that Arrian added any prisoners to the total Indian casualties. Historian Peter Green supports that Macedonian casualties might have mounted to 4.000 men, mainly phallangites, but his claims are not supported by the sources.

Porus had behaved like a king indeed and Alexander could appreciate this. The Indian leader accepted his defeat and for his Gallantry was reappointed as a SATRAP of his own kingdom. Omphis [Raja Ambhi] of Taxila must have been disappointed that he was forced to reconcile with his enemy because after all, he had invited Alexander to fight against his eastern neighbor. He had to accept an even more humiliating fact: Maharaja Porus Vaid received additional territories from Alexander the Great to the north of his kingdom. However, not all Indians accepted that they were now subjects of the westerner. Later a relative of Porus declared himself king of Paurava (and was consequently also called Porus) and continued the struggle in the eastern part of the country. When Alexander's army started to march against him, he fled, probably to the Patliputra in the kingdom of Magadha of the Ganges valley.

Alexander also intended to conquer Magadha, but his men refused to go any further, and the Macedonian king announced the return. This meant that Porus was to be the leader of a border SATRAPY, an exceptionally important function in Greek Controlled domain. Three years later, when Alexander was dead and the territories were divided by his successor Perdiccas, Maharaja Porus was recognized as the defender of the eastern border, under the supervision of the Satrap Peithon of the Punjab. He was still in function as a SATRAP when the Satrapies were divided for the second time after the death of Perdiccas (the settlement at Triparadisus). King Porus seems to have held the Honorable position of a Hellenistic Satrap for several years after Alexander's departure. He is first mentioned as the SATRAP of the area of the Hydaspes [Jehlum River] in the text of the Partition of Babylon on 323 BC. His position was confirmed again in 321 BC at the Partition of Triparadisus.

In 317, one of Alexander's successors, Peithon the satrap of Media (not to be confused with the former Peithon), tried to subdue the leaders of the eastern provinces. The other satraps united and offered resistance. One of them was Eudamus, the commander of the Macedonian forces in Taxila. In order to procure Porus' elephants, he had him murdered.

Indian sources record that Parvata (Porus) was killed by mistake by the magadhan chief adviser Rakshasa, who was trying to assassinate Chandragupta Maurya instead. In Visakhadutta's Sanskrit play, called Mudrarakshasa, as well as in the Jain work Parisishtaparvan, they both talks of Chandragupta Maurya's alliance with the king Parvatka, also identified with Maharaja Porus. This alliance gave Chandragupta a formidable army which included Indo-Scythians , Yavanas, Kambojas , Kiratas, Parasikas and Bahlikas.

According to Greek historian “Diodorus” records that King “Porus” was assassinated, sometime between 321 and 315 BC, by the Thracian general Eudemus (general), who had remained in charge of the Macedonian armies in the Punjab:

"From India came Eudamus, with 500 horsemen, 300 footmen, and 120 elephants. These beasts he had secured after the death of Alexander, by treacherously slaying King Porus" Diodorus Siculus XIX-14

After his assassination, his son Malayketu Vaid ascended the throne with the help of Eudemus. However, Malayketu was killed in the Battle of Gabiene in 317 BC. After the removal of a loyal ruler and his troops from the greek forces, it became possible for the king of Magadha, Sandracottus (Chandragupta Maurya), to conquer the Indus valley. Which ended the Macedonian empire in the east, in less than ten years after the invasion by “Alexander the Great”. In the 1960, an Indian scholar named Buddha Prakash argued, basing himself on the famous medieval epic named Shahnameh by the Persian poet Firdausi, that Alexander was defeated' by Porus, that the two men became friends, and that this explained why Alexander left him so much territories.

There is another great Mohyal history intermixed with episode of “Alexander the great and Maharaja “Porus vaid , which involves the great mohyal “Dutt” clan, as part of the treaty Maharaj Porus sent one of his trusted family member and a great army general who was belonged to the great “Dutt” Mohyal clan, who accompanied Alexander the Great with some soldiers on his return journey toward Macedonia, as an goodwill ambassador of Maharaja Porus. According to some greek historical records, Alexander the great is said to have taken two hindu brahmins with him, one name named Dutt and other Kalanos [Kalyan]. However, on the way, when Alexander fell seriously ill due to wound suffered at Multan and died at Babylon; The great Datt along with his followers then helped the general “Selucus” in the in fight between the generals, which took place between them to rule the territories of Alexander the great.

Selukus made “Bacteria” in Afganistan as his new capital, who looking at the bravery of Great General Dutt against his enemies made him the in charge of the western most territories of his Selukid empire which is now in modern day Arabia, and after the death of Maharaja Porus back home, the decedents of this great general “Dutt” fully settled themselves at the port city of Harya Bunder. With the passage of time, their descents grew into a large Mohyal group as a flourishing community of Dutts in Arabia and in a short time they became respected rulers of small territories under the later “Parthian kings’, who were also like them the fire worshipers, which the ancient Mohyals considered as the Vedic Agni Devta. 

The noted historian “Sishir Kumar Mitra” has written about the presence of many Hindus mostly warrior “Brahmins”in Arabia, before the rise of Islam,in page 183 of his book called 'The Vision of India' Which states the “These people observed Hindu religious customs, including the worship of Shiva and Makresha from which the name of Mecca is said to have been derived. The famous astrologer Yavanacharya was born of one such Mohyal Brahmin family. It was from these Mohyal Brahmins that the Arabs learnt the science of Mathematics, Astrology, Algebra and decimal notation which were first developed in India.

The #Bali are a clan of the #Mohyal_saraswat_community, who are found in North India, particularly the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Delhi.

Mohyals have long claimed a few royal houses of ancient and early medieval times as their own ancestors, including Raja Dahir and the #Sikh_Shahi_kings of Kabul and the Punjab. According to their oral history, the Kabul dynasty of King Spalapati that reached a glory under his son King #Samanta_Dev were of the Datt lineage, and whose ancestors in preceding centuries are said to have been displaced as rulers of a small coastal territory called Harya Bunder further towards the Middle-East. Some of the latter Hindu Shahi Kings that were defeated after successive invasions by Ghazni Sultans are claimed to have been of the Vaid clan, which according to Mohyal ballads is said to have nearly been wiped out in the process.

As per Mohyals' history, #King_Dahir of Brahmanabad in Sindh belonged to the Chhibber clan and was a forefather of Bhai #Mati_Das. Other oral and written sources talk of the #Raja_Vishav_Rai of the Lau clan having ruled over Bajwara (near modern day Hoshiarpur), and the Mohans ruling over Mamdot. Some of the other royals claimed by Mohyals as their own forefathers are also claimed by other groups, these names include #King_Porus and #Raja_Nand of Punjab.