MAHARAJA PORUS OUTSMARTS HIS RIVALS

        MAHARAJA PORUS OUTSMARTS HIS RIVALS

                                  It was Greek philosopher Plato (421-348 B.C) who said that either philosophers should be kings or kings should be philosophers. It is   a remarkable statement which in simple terms means that a king should be an intelligent person having the same wisdom which is expected of a philosopher.

                                    The Indian philosopher Kautilya whom we have mentioned earlier at many a place also has his own concept of a king. Where he differs from Porus is that he also believes in the divine origin of the king.  As such the  king cannot be defied or disrespected. His order is God’s order.  However, his foremost duty is to protect his people from all sorts of calamities including war

                                    It is a fact of Indian history both ancient and thereafter that the Indian kings did not fight a foreign invader unitedly.  Each king was exclusively concerned with the protection of his own people and territory.  This trait also generated hostility and rivalry among them. Some of them aligned themselves with the foreign invader against the naïve rulers and thus did not fulfil the duty of a protector which was mandatory rather then optional.  We find this tendency of the so-called Rajas and Maharajas  even in the  Mughal and the  British period of history in India.

                                    When Alexander attacked India Maharaja Porus had to face the manoeuvres of more than a couple of rivals.  The first one was his own nephew who was his namesake and to differentiate him from the Maharaja was called Junior Porus.  According to the Greek historian Diodoros, Siculus

Porus had conquered the territory between the Chenab and the Ravi rivers and appointed his nephew its governor. However, this nephew turned to be rebellious and endeavoured to become an independent ruler, though he could not cause any notable harm to the position of his warrior uncle.

                                    The second rival was quite formidable.  He was Ambhi Kumar, King of Gandhara. His territory lay between the northern banks of the Jhelum and Kandhar of Afghanistan.  Gandhar was a prosperous kingdom and was in those days also famous for the unparallel University of Takshashila or Taxila for education and other related purposes.   It is said that Gandhar had a vast network of roads which connected India with international trade routes or the Silk Road.

                                    King Ambhi Kumar was a hostile rival of Maharaja Porus.  When Alexander attacked India, he did not join hands with Maharaja Porus to encounter Alexander as joint defenders of Indian territory and being treacherous enough in his own selfish interest,  he unethically offered him logistic help as well as honoured him with precious gifts in the form elephants, horses, sheep and even golden currency of his kingdom.

                                    Alexander welcomed the support offered by this unpatriotic and cowardly king because it benefitted him.  But later on we learn in certain accounts that Alexander found the moves of Ambhi unfriendly and called him a traitor.  Students of history both agree and disagree with this allegation.  However, one cannot refute the fact that Porus watched all such movements of his potent as well as impotent rivals, showed adequate patience and continued to make his own plans of engaging Alexander single-handedly like a true Indian patriot and a brave king for whom the freedom of the motherland was more important than any profitable selfish end.

                        So ultimately none of the neighbouring kings of the time was able to match the kingly qualities, the patriotic intentions and the matchless war skills of Maharaja Porus.  He fought the battle of the Punjab alone with his full might and main and earned for himself the title of King of Kings in world history.

                        It is controversial whether Maharaja Porus defeated Alexander or Alexander defeated Maharaja Porus .  This we shall examine in another chapter and will prefer to go by the majority view of historians rather than any solitary standpoint .

                        One fact however is certainly undeniable and that is when Maharaja Porus stood before Alexander after the military encounter was over, he was every inch a brave king.  This by itself was a form of victory over his enemy.