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{{short description|Ruler of Hydaspes}}
{{other uses|Porus (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image = File:Porus alexander coin.png
| name = Porus
| caption = King Porus (on elephant) fighting [[Alexander the Great]], on a "victory coin" of Alexander (minted c. 324–322 BC)<ref>See Keyne Cheshire, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2-4R0sLEBPgC&pg=PA139#v=onepage&q&f=false ''Alexander the Great''] (Cambridge University Press, 2009), p.139: "Alexander charges Porus, who hurls a javelin from atop his elephant"</ref>
| reign = before 326 – {{circa}} 317 BC
| birth_name = Purushottam
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Punjab region]]
| death_date = {{circa|321|315 BC}}
| death_place = [[Punjab region]], [[Indian subcontinent]]
| father =
| mother =
}}

'''Porus''' or '''Poros''' ({{lang-grc-gre|Πῶρος}} ''Pôros''; {{fl}} 326–321 BC) was an ancient [[Ancient India|India]]n 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).<ref name="Fuller pg 198">Fuller, pg 198 <br>{{blockquote|"While the battle raged, Craterus forced his way over the Haranpur ford. When he saw that Alexander was winning a brilliant victory he pressed on and, as his men were fresh, took over the pursuit."}}</ref> 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 River|Beas]]).<ref name="ReferenceA">p. xl, Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Warfare, J, Woronoff & I. Spence</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">Arrian Anabasis of Alexander, V.29.2</ref> Porus reportedly died sometime between 321 and 315 BC.<ref name="eb">{{citation |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |title=Porus |url=http://www.britannica.com/biography/Porus |access-date=8 September 2015}}</ref>

==Sources==
The only contemporary information available on Porus and his kingdom is from Greek sources, whereas [[India]]n sources do not mention him.<ref>{{cite book |author=Asoke Kumar Majumdar |title=Concise History of Ancient India: Political history |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3VDAAAAYAAJ |year=1977 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers |page=136 |quote=Nothing is known of Porus from Indian sources}}</ref> These Greek sources differ considerably among themselves.<ref name=":1">{{cite book|author=H. C. Raychaudhuri|title=Age of the Nandas and Mauryas|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=1988|isbn=978-81-208-0466-1|editor=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri|editor-link=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri|edition=Second|location=Delhi|page=147|chapter=India in the Age of the Nandas|author-link=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri|orig-year=1967|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoAwor58utYC&pg=PA11}}</ref>

== Identification ==

=== 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.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Witzel|first=Michael|date=1997|title=The development of the Vedic canon and its schools: the social and political milieu|url=http://crossasia-repository.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/110/|url-status=live|pages=263, 267, 320|doi=10.11588/xarep.00000110|access-date=2021-04-15|website=crossasia-repository.ub.uni-heidelberg.de}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Witzel|first=Michael|url=|title=The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity|publisher=De Gruyter|year=1995|isbn=978-3-11-081643-3|editor-last=Erdosy|editor-first=George|series=Indian Philology and South Asian Studies|location=|pages=85–125|language=en|chapter=4. Early Indian history: Linguistic and textual parametres|doi=10.1515/9783110816433-009|s2cid=238465491|chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110816433-009/html}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=9780199370184|editor-last=Brereton|editor-first=Joel P.|volume=I|pages=880, 902–905, 923–925, 1015–1016|editor-last2=Jamison|editor-first2=Stephanie W.}}</ref> [[Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri]] had largely agreed with this identification.<ref name=":1" />

=== Sourasenis ===
Multiple histories — [[Indica (Arrian)|Indica]] by [[Arrian]], [[Geographica]] by [[Strabo]], and [[Bibliotheca historica#Book II: Asia|Bibliotheca historica]] by [[Diodorus Siculus]] — mention [[Megasthenes]]{{efn|He had traveled to India, after Porus had been already supplanted by [[Chandragupta Maurya]].}} 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]].<ref name=":2">Krishna: a sourcebook, pp 5, Edwin Francis Bryant, Oxford University Press US, 2007</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Puskás|first=Ildikó|date=1990|title=Magasthenes and the "Indian Gods" Herakles and Dionysos|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41163978|journal=Mediterranean Studies|volume=2|pages=39–47|jstor=41163978|issn=1074-164X}}</ref> The Greeks often chronicled foreign gods in terms of their [[Heracles|own divinities]]; thus multiple scholars have understood "Herakles" to mean "Hari-Krishna".<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" /> That [[Quintus Curtius Rufus]] mentions Porus' vanguard soldiers to have carried a banner of "Heracles" during the face-off with Alexander,<ref name=":2" /> [[Ishwari Prasad]] argues Porus to be a [[Shurasena]].<ref>A Comprehensive History of India: The Mauryas & Satavahanas, pp 383, edited by K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri, Bharatiya Itihas Parishad, Published by Orient Longmans, 1992, Original from the University of California</ref>{{efn|Iswhari Prashad and others, following his lead, found further support of this conclusion in the fact that a section of [[Shurasena]]s were supposed to have migrated westwards to Punjab and modern [[Afghanistan]] from Mathura and [[Dvārakā]], after Krishna walked to heaven and had established new kingdoms there.<ref>"Actually , the legend reports a westward march of the Yadus (MBh. 1.13.49, 65) from Mathura, while the route from Mathura to Dvaraka southward through a desert. This part of the Krsna legend could be brought to earth by digging at Dvaraka, but also digging at Darwaz in Afghanistan, whose name means the same thing and which is the more probable destination of refugees from Mathura..." Introduction to the study of Indian history, pp 125, D D Kosambi, Publisher: [S.l.] : Popular Prakashan, 1999</ref>}}

However, the identification with "Hari-Krishna" is not well-settled; there is no evidence of Krishna worship as early as 4th century BC.<ref name=":5" /> Modern scholars increasingly equate "Herakles" to Indra but even this identification is not widely accepted.<ref name=":5" />

=== 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.<ref name=":1" /> 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 (general)|Eudemus]] (or Alexander, himself).<ref name=":1" />

== 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.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=Bosworth|first=Albert Brian|title=Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1993|pages=125–130|chapter=The campaign of the Hydaspes}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":6" />

When the armies of Alexander crossed Indus in its eastward migration, prob. in [[Udabhandapura]], he was greeted by the-then ruler of Taxila, [[Taxiles|Omphis]]/Ambhi, son of Ambhiraj.<ref name=":6" /> 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.<ref name=":6" /> Omphis had hoped to force both Porus and Abisares into submission leveraging the might of Alexander's forces and diplomatic missions were mounted.<ref name=":6" /> But while Abisares offered a token submission, Porus refused.<ref name=":6" />

This led Alexander to seek for a face-off with Porus.<ref name=":6" /> 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.<ref name=":6" /> Thus began the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC; the exact site remains unknown.<ref name=":6" />

=== Battle of the Hydaspes ===
{{main| Battle of the Hydaspes}}
[[File:Le Brun, Alexander and Porus.jpg|thumb|400px|right|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.<ref name=":6" /> 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.<ref name=":6" /> The exact strength of the armies might be never known, due to major discrepancies in sources.<ref name=":6" />

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.<ref name=":6" /> 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.<ref name=":6" /> The strategy was successful and they crossed almost unobstructed, in a stormy night.<ref name=":6" /> 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.<ref name=":6" />

Thereafter, Porus became primarily concerned with tackling Alexander's forces who have already crossed, rather than prevent passage of the remaining.<ref name=":6" /> Porus chose a sandy plain to take a defensive position — infantry units interspersed with elephants.<ref name=":6" />{{Efn|Porus had expected the elephant units to negate charges by Alexander's well-trained cavalry.}} Cavalry and chariots were stationed in the wings.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hamilton|first=J. R.|date=1956|title=The Cavalry Battle at the Hydaspes|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/629551|journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies|volume=76|pages=26–31|doi=10.2307/629551|jstor=629551|issn=0075-4269}}</ref>

Encircled from all sides and trampled by their ''mahout''-less elephants, Porus' army was easy fodder for Alexander's forces.<ref name=":6" /> A fraction of infantry escaped while most of the elephants were captured and the cavalry exterminated.<ref name=":6" /> Porus refused to surrender and wandered about atop an elephant, until he was wounded and his force routed.<ref name=":6" /> In the meanwhile, Craterus crossed along with the mercenaries and pursued the escapees to death.<ref name=":6" />

==== Result ====

The battle resulted in a decisive [[Greeks|Greek]] victory; however, A. B. Bosworth warns against an uncritical reading of Greek sources who were obviously exaggerative.<ref name=":6" /> Alexander held athletic and gymnastic games at the site, and even commissioned two cities—''[[Nicaea, Punjab|Nicaea]]'' at the site of victory and [[Alexandria Bucephalous|''Bucephalous'']] at the battle-ground (in memory of [[Bucephalus|his horse]])—in commemoration.<ref name=":6" />{{Efn|Craterus supervised the construction. These cities are yet to be identified.}} Later, [[tetradrachm]]s would be minted by the Babylonian mint depicting Alexander on horseback, armed with a ''sarissa'' and attacking a pair of Indians on an elephant.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Holt|first=Frank Lee|title=Alexander the Great and the mystery of the elephant medallions|publisher=University of California Press|year=2003}}</ref>[[File:Surrender of Porus to the Emperor Alexander.jpg|Surrender of Porus to Alexander, 1865 engraving by [[Alonzo Chappel]].|thumb]]

===Aftermath===
Despite the apparently one-sided results, Alexander was impressed by Porus and chose to not depose him.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last=Bosworth|first=Albert Brian|title=Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1993|chapter=From the Hydaspes to the Southern Ocean}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Anson|first=Edward M.|title=Alexander the Great: Themes and Issues|publisher=Bloomsbury|year=2013|isbn=9781441193797|pages=151}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":7" /> Further, Omphis was reconciled with Porus and sent back to Taxila; Bosworth argues that he won't have been particularly happy with Porus having displaced him as the main beneficiary of Alexander's campaigns.<ref name=":7" />

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.<ref name=":7" /> 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.<ref name=":7" /> Siege warfare was executed to brilliant effect and the full-fledged attack began, once Porus had joined with his elephants.<ref name=":7" /> As Sangala and allying cities were razed, Porus was allowed to station his garrisons.<ref name=":7" />

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.<ref name=":7" /> An unwilling Alexander had to renounce his plans and turn back.<ref name=":7" /> 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.<ref name=":7" /> The crossing-back of Jhelum was a prolonged affair; filled with festivities, it attracted thousands.<ref name=":7" />

===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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Heckel|first=Waldemar|title=Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire|publisher=Wiley|year=2006|isbn=9781405112109}}</ref> According to [[Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus]], Antipater recognized Porus's authority over the territories along the [[Indus River]]. However, [[Eudemus (general)|Eudemus]], who had served as Alexander's [[satrap]] in the Punjab region, treacherously killed Porus.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Irfan Habib |author1-link=Irfan Habib |author2=Vivekanand Jha |title=Mauryan India |series=A People's History of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nUvGQgAACAAJ |year=2004 |publisher=Aligarh Historians Society / [[Tulika Books]] |isbn=978-81-85229-92-8 |page=16 }}</ref>

==In popular culture==
*[[Sohrab Modi]] portrayed as Porus in [[Sikandar (1941 film)|Sikandar]] movie in 1941
*[[Prithviraj Kapoor]] portrayed as Porus in movie [[Sikandar-e-Azam]] in 1965.
* Porus is played by [[Arun Bali]] in the 1991 [[Chanakya (TV series)|''Chanakya'']].<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjOuN-tUKRU&list=PL96GW8XIIETXFhLcvfKgeihjmLEdiY0jQ&index=12 |url-status=dead|title=Chanakya Episode 12|date=6 August 2020|author=DD National}}</ref>
* Porus appears in the 1999 animated series [[Reign: The Conqueror]]{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}
* Porus is portrayed by the Thai actor, [[Bin Bunluerit]], in ''[[Alexander (2004 film)|Alexander]]'' (2004){{citation needed|date=May 2016}}
* Porus appears in the 2011 ''[[Chandragupta Maurya (2011 TV series)|Chandragupta Maurya]]''.<ref>{{cite video|url=https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5u2xef|title=Chandragupta Maurya Episode 1|date=19 July 2017|author=Old Serials Archive}}</ref>
* [[Sony Entertainment Television (India)|SET]] launched [[Siddharth Kumar Tewary]]'s serial titled ''[[Porus (TV series)|Porus]]'' on the [[Battle of the Hydaspes|Battle of Hydaspes]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/hindi/Siddharth-Kumar-Tewarys-next-on-Porus-for-Sony-Entertainment-Television/articleshow/54607760.cms|title=Siddharth Kumar Tewary's next on Porus for Sony Entertainment Television|publisher=[[Times of India]]|access-date=July 23, 2017}}</ref> in Nov 2017, in which Porus is portrayed by [[Laksh Lalwani]].
*Porus appears in the Historical Battle campaign of [[Rome: Total War: Alexander|''Rome: Total War:'' Alexander]].
*Porus appears in the video game Ancient Battle: Alexander, in which he is a playable character, as well as an enemy.

==See also==
* [[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great]]
* [[Taxiles]]
* [[Abisares]]
* [[Cleophis]]
* [[Pauravas]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
* {{citation |last=Mookerji |first=Radha Kumud |author-link=Radha Kumud Mukherjee |title=Chandragupta Maurya and his times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C |edition=4th |year=1966 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=81-208-0433-3 }}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Porus |volume= 22 }}
* Lendring, Jona. ''Alexander de Grote - De ondergang van het Perzische rijk'' (Alexander the Great. The demise of the Persian empire), Amsterdam: Athenaeum - Polak & Van Gennep, 2004. {{ISBN|90-253-3144-0}}
* Holt, Frank L. ''Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions'', California: University of California Press, 2003, 217pgs. {{ISBN|0-520-24483-4}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Hellenistic satraps}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porus}}
[[Category:317 BC deaths]]
[[Category:Satraps of the Alexandrian Empire]]
[[Category:History of Punjab]]
[[Category:4th-century BC Indian monarchs]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Yadava kingdoms]]

Porus - Revision history

Dr. Katy Jane: refined content

ImportMaster at 18:54, 19 May 2022