The Pauravas (Sanskrit: पौरव) was the name given to the many small kingdoms and tribes of ancient India in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.
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 Macedonian Emperor Alexander the Great in 326 BC. 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 Nanda Empire further east. By 322 BC, the region was eventually conquered by Chandragupta Maurya, a teenage adventurer from Magadha, who later conquered the Nanda Empire, and founded the Maurya Empire.
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