A History of Agriculture in India v1.c26.s2.2

v1.c26.s2.2

The *Mahabharata* war was fought at Kurukshetra in Haryana. Basham’s guess that it took place in the beginning of the ninth century B.C. seems to be reasonable. It was a war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, both of them belonging to the Kuru tribe. The five Pandava brothers, Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva, sons of Pandu, had their capital at Indraprastha. The Purana Qila of New Delhi was later on built on this site. The Kurus headed by Duryodhana had their capital at Hastinapur, an Iron Age site in the Meerut District of Uttar Pradesh. The weapons used by the contestants were probably bows, iron-tipped arrows, spears and swords. Chariots drawn by two or more horses were their war vehicles. Each chariot carried two warriors armed with bows and arrows. The Pandavas won the war, and Yudhishthira became the king of the Kurus and reigned at Hastinapur.