Pauravas

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The Pauravas (Sanskrit: पौरव) was the name given to the many petty kingdoms and tribes of ancient northwestern India (including modern Pakistan) in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. The Pauravas had also existed before then in the Vedic Ages led by King Sudas, who fought off the Iranian invaders at the Battle of the Ten Kings. The Pauravas were all situated on or near the Indus river where their monarchs grew rich and prosperous through trade. The Persian kings Darius and Xerxes claimed suzerainty over many of the Pauravas, but this claim was loose at best. The most powerful tribes, led by Ambhi and Porus, were conquered by the powerful Macedonian Emperor Alexander the Great in 326 BCE. Porus fought a fierce last stand against Alexander at the Battle of the Hydaspes River. Alexander was not able to conquer the entire area due to his army refusing to fight the powerful Nanda Empire further east. By 322 BCE, the region was eventually conquered by Chandragupta Maurya, a young teenage adventurer from Magadha, who later went on to conquer the Nanda Empire, and founded his own Maurya Empire.