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Mahabharata war

Kurukshetra War
The Pandava and Kaurava armies face each other.JPG
c. 1700 watercolour from Mewar depicts the Pandava and Kaurava armies arrayed against each other.
Date unknown, but lasted 18 days
Location Kurukshetra, modern-day Haryana, India
Result
Territorial
changes
  • Reunification of the Kuru states of Hastinapura and Indraprastha under the Pandavas
  • Return of Panchal lands held by Drona to the original Panchala state
  • Truce and status quo ante bellum in elsewhere
Belligerents
Territory-less Pandavas of the Kurus with the support of the Panchala tribe and others. Kauravas (Kuru tribe) with capital at Hastinapura and their allies
Commanders and leaders
Overlord
Yudhishthira
Commanders-in-chief
Dhrishtadyumna (day 1-18) 
Strategists
Krishna
Overlord
Duryodhana 
Commanders-in-chief
Bhishma (day 1-10) 
Drona (day 11-15) 
Karna (day 16-17) 
Shalya (day 18) 
Ashwatthama (night raid)
Strategists
Shakuni 
Strength
7 Akshauhinis
153,090 chariots and chariot-riders
153,090 elephants and elephant-riders
459,270 horses and horse-riders
765,450 infantry
(total 1,530,900 soldiers)
11 Akshauhinis
240,570 chariots and chariot-riders
240,570 elephants and elephant-riders
721,710 horses and horse-riders
1,202,850 infantry
(total 2,405,700 soldiers)
Casualties and losses

Almost total (1,530,900 soldiers)
8 named survivors:

  • the five Pandavas
  • Krishna
  • Satyaki
  • Yuyutsu

Almost total (2,405,700 soldiers)
4 named survivors:

  • Ashwatthama
  • Sage Kripa
  • Kritavarma
  • Vrishakethu (son of Karna).

Almost total (1,530,900 soldiers)
8 named survivors:

Almost total (2,405,700 soldiers)
4 named survivors:

The Kurukshetra War, also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Indian epic Mahabharata. The conflict arose from a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura in an Indian kingdom called Kuru. It involved a number of ancient kingdoms participating as allies of the rival groups.

The location of the battle is described as having occurred in Kurukshetra in the modern state of Haryana. Despite only referring to these eighteen days, the war narrative forms more than a quarter of the book, suggesting its relative importance within the epic, which overall spans decades of the warring families. The narrative describes individual battles and deaths of various heroes of both sides, military formations, war diplomacy, meetings and discussions among the characters, and the weapons used. The chapters (parvas) dealing with the war (from chapter six to ten) are considered amongst the oldest in the entire Mahabharata.

The historicity of the war remains subject to scholarly discussions. Attempts have been made to assign a historical date to the Kurukshetra War. Popular tradition holds that the war marks the transition to Kaliyuga and thus dates it to 3102 BCE.

Mahabharata, one of the most important Hindu epics, is an account of the life and deeds of several generations of a ruling dynasty called the Kuru clan. Central to the epic is an account of a war that took place between two rival families belonging to this clan. Kurukshetra (literally "field of the Kurus"), was the battleground on which this war, known as the Kurukshetra War, was fought. Kurukshetra was also known as "Dharmakshetra" (the "field of Dharma"), or field of righteousness. Mahabharata tells that this site was chosen because a sin committed on this land was forgiven on account of the sanctity of this land.

The Kuru territories were divided into two and were ruled by Dhritarashtra (with his capital at Hastinapura) and Yudhishthira of the Pandavas (with his capital at Indraprastha). The immediate dispute between the Kauravas (sons of Dhritarashtra) and the Pandavas arose from a game of dice, which Duryodhana won by deceit, forcing his Pandava cousins to transfer their entire territories to the Kauravas (to Hastinapura) and to "go into exile" for thirteen years. The dispute escalated into a full-scale war when Duryodhana, driven by jealousy, refused to restore to the Pandavas their territories after the exile as earlier decided, because Duryodhana objected that they were discovered while in exile, and that no return of their kingdom had been agreed upon.


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