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'{{Short description|Ancient dynasty of the Indian subcontinent}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}} {{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}} {{Infobox former country | common_name = Pauravas | conventional_long_name = Pauravas | image_map= {{South Asia in 150 BCE|center|Location on the Pauravas and contemporary South Asian polities circa 150 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=145, map XIV.1 (d)|isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=182}}</ref>|{{Annotation|133|77|[[File:Long Rectangle (plain).png|35px]]}}||none}} | image_map2=Indian tribes between the Indus and the Ganges.jpg | map_caption2 =Location of the Pauravas relative to other groups: the [[Audumbaras]], the [[Kuninda]]s, the [[Vemaka]]s, the [[Vrishni]]s, and the [[Yaudheya]]s. | year_start = 250 BCE | year_end = 100 BCE | government_type = monarchy | capital = | p1 = | today = [[Pakistan]]<br>[[India]] |s1 = |flag_s1 = }} The '''Pauravas''' were an [[ancient India|ancient]] tribe in the [[Indus River|Indus valley]], to which [[King Porus Saini]] may have belonged. ==Porus and the Pauravas== The origins of the Pauravas are still disputed. The Pauravas may be related to the [[Puru (Vedic tribe)|Puru tribe]], due to the closeness of the names. However, the Pauravas referred to in Indic literature are a much older kingdom, and in a different region geographically.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zQxuAAAAMAAJ|title=Indian History: Ancient and medieval|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica / Popular Prakashan|year=2003|isbn=978-81-7991-067-2|editor=Nonica Datta|page=222|quote=Not known in Indian sources, the name Porus has been conjecturally interpreted as standing for Paurava, that is, the domain of the Purus, a clan known in that region from ancient Vedic times.}}</ref> At the time of Alexander's invasion, the Pauravas were apparently situated on or near the [[Jhelum River]], with territory extending to the [[Chenab]] River. This was not only the extant of Porus's kingdom, but also became the eastern limit of the Macedonian Empire.<ref name="Phillips2012" /> The Indus River was [[Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley|incorporated]] into the [[Achaemenid Empire]] by [[Cyrus the Great]] in 535 BCE. In 518 BCE, [[Darius the Great]] invaded [[Punjab]] and conquered the Jhelum River region, designating it the [[Hindush]] [[satrap]]y. Records suggest that the Indus was under Achaemenid control at least until 338 BCE, which is less than ten years before the campaigns of Alexander. This would make Porus a king or chieftain of the recently independent Pauravas at the time of their confrontation with Alexander. The extent of Achaemenid territories is also affirmed by [[Strabo]] in his "Geography" (Book XV), describing the Persian holdings along the Indus: <blockquote>The geographical position of the tribes is as follows: along the Indus are the [[Paropamisadae]], above whom lies the [[Hindu Kush|Paropamisus mountain]]: then, towards the south, the [[Arachosia|Arachoti]]: then next, towards the south, the [[Gedrosia|Gedroseni]], with the other tribes that occupy the seaboard; and the Indus lies, latitudinally, alongside all these places; and of these places, in part, some that lie along the Indus are held by Indians, although they formerly belonged to the Persians. — The Geography of Strabo, Book XV, Chapter 2, 9<ref>{{cite web|title=Strabo Geography, Book XV, Chapter 2, 9|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/15B*.html|website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref></blockquote> Alexander and Porus fought each other at the [[Battle of the Hydaspes]]. Alexander was initially set on venturing into India, but the battle against Porus curbed his aspirations. His army mutinied when faced with opposing the [[Nanda Empire]] and their subordinate [[Gangaridai]]. According to the Greek historian [[Plutarch]], the previous, costly conflict against Porus's much smaller army contributed significantly to their unease. {{Quote|text=As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Hydaspes also, the width of which, as they learned, was thirty-two furlongs, its depth a hundred fathoms, while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of men-at-arms and horsemen and elephants. For they were told that the kings of the Ganderites and Praesii were awaiting them with eighty thousand horsemen, two hundred thousand footmen, eight thousand chariots, and six thousand fighting elephants.|sign=[[Plutarch]]|source=[[Plutarch's Lives]], Plutarch, Alexander, 62|title=}} Alexander died on his way back from India.<ref name="Phillips2012">{{cite book|author=Graham Phillips|title=Alexander The Great|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6EwrwOjz7-8C&pg=PA129|date=31 March 2012|publisher=Ebury Publishing|isbn=978-0-7535-3582-0|pages=129–131}}</ref> The instability that ensued after Alexander's death resulted in a power struggle and dramatic changes in governance. Porus was soon assassinated by the Macedonia general [[Eudemus (general)|Eudemus.]] By 316 BCE, the Macedonian lands were conquered by [[Chandragupta Maurya]], a young adventurer. After engaging in and winning the [[Seleucid–Mauryan war]] for supremacy over the Indus Valley, Chandragupta gained control of modern-day Punjab and Afghanistan. This was the foundation of the [[Maurya Empire]], which would become the largest empire in the Indian subcontinent.<ref name="MacDonell2014">{{cite book|author=Arthur A. MacDonell|title=A History of Sanskrit Literature (Illustrated)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RL5UCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT331|date=28 March 2014|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-304-98862-1|page=331}}</ref> ===Post-Mauryan Empire=== It appears that the Pauravas were annexed by the militant [[Yaudheya|Yaudheya Republic]].<ref name="auto"/> Following the disintegration of the Mauryan Empire, many regional entities emerged. The Taleshwar [[Indian copper plate inscriptions|copper plates]], found in [[Almora]], stated that Brahmapura Kingdom rulers belonged to the royal lineage of the Pauravas.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tK5y4iPArKQC&q=pauravas&pg=PA53|title=Ancient Communities of the Himalaya|last=Saklani|first=Dinesh Prasad|date=1998|publisher=Indus Publishing|isbn=9788173870903|language=en}}</ref> The reinstated Paurava dynasty of Brahmapur was founded by Vishnuverman and flourished in the 7th century AD. It is stated that these kings were brahminical in habit and practices.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GEOwDwAAQBAJ&q=brahmapur+pauravas&pg=PT25|title=A Comprehensive Study of UTTARAKHAND|date=18 September 2019|isbn=9781646506057}}</ref> ==See also== *[[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great]] *[[Shurasena]] *[[Yadu]] ==References== {{reflist}} {{Uttarakhand}} [[Category:Kingdoms in the Mahabharata]]'