Kurukshetra
Kurukshetra is a district in the modern state of Haryana, India.
In the Mahabharata, which is part of Indian mythology, Kurukshetra, literally Land of the Kurus, was the battleground on which a war, also known as the Kurukshetra war, was fought between two clans of the Kuru dynasty.
The two sides to the war were the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Earlier during the Mahabharata, the Kauravas cheated the Pandavas at a dice game, forcing their Pandava cousins to go into exile for thirteen years, including twelve years of forest exile, and one year of anonymous exile. If the Pandavas were caught during the year of anonymity, they would have to go to twelve years of exile again. After the exile, the eldest of the Kaurava brothers, Duryodhana, refused to return the kingdom to the Pandavas. In order to regain the kingdom, the Pandavas fought the war.
Introduction
The Pandava Army
- The Pandava Brothers:
- Prince Yudishtra, Eldest son of Pandu
- Prince Bhima, Second son of Pandu
- Prince Arjuna, Third son of Pandu
- Twin Princes Nakula and Dhrupad, Father-in-Law of the Pandavas
- Prince Shikhandi, Elder son of Dhrupad
- Prince Virata, Friend of the Pandavas
- Prince Uttara, Son of King Virata
- The Kingdom of Satyaki
- Prince Krishna (Served as Charioteer to Arjuna - vowed not to lift weapons during the war)
- Others
- Demon Ghatotkacha, Son of Bhima through the demoness Hidimba
- Prince Abhimanyu, Son of Arjuna through Princess Subhadra of Dwaraka
- Prince Dhritrashtra
- Prince Bhishma, Grand-uncle to Pandavas and Kauravas, forced to side with Kauravas due to loyalty to King Dhritrashtra
- Drona, Teacher to Pandavas and Kauravas, forced to side with Kauravas due to loyalty to King Dhritrashtra
- Ashwatthama, Son of Drona
- Shakuni, Maternal uncle to the Kauravas
- Karna, illegitimate and abandoned elder brother of Pandavas, believed by most at the time to be son of a charioteer, but actually the son of Kunti
- The Kingdom of Madra
- King Shalya, Maternal uncle to the Pandavas, tricked into giving a promise to fight for the Kauravas by Duryodhana and Shakuni
- The Tribe of Trigartha
- The Kingdom of Dwaraka
- Kritaverma, General of the Dwaraka Army
- The Kingdom of Sindh
