King Porus (Puru) (4th century BC), the King of Paurava in present-day Punjab, had an army of over a hundred war elephants. Porus is seen at the centre of the picture seated on his very large elephant. Around him we see Alexander the Great’s (356-323BC) archers, whom Porus is attempting to drive back.
In 326 BC, Alexander had conquered great parts of modern-day Egypt, the Middle East and western Asia and was on his way further east. Porus refused to surrender without a fight. And the battle they fought, by the River Hydaspes, the modern name for which is Jhelum, was Alexander’s last great battle in Asia.
Alexander had never before encountered an army with so many war elephants. They helped make the situation rather serious for Alexander and his forces. Alexander’s bowmen first attacked the elephants. But they soon altered their strategy and turned their attack on the elephant drivers. Porus fought bravely to the end. But the wounded elephants attacked both their masters and the enemy. The leaderless beasts fled in panic, and it was Alexander who won after a long and bloody battle.
Le Brun pinx. / B. Picart direx. / la vraye valeur est toujour invincible / Porus a bandonné des Siens blessa phisieurs de ceux qui l'environnoient, tua frere / de Taxile, et apres le dernier éfort de courage il tomba luy même accablé de Coups / de dessus son Elephant / Virtus Timoris nescia Sordidi / Porus destitutus apluribus tela in circumfusos ingerens multis enimus vulneratis / Taxilis fratrem interemit et hoc ultimo virtutis opere edito opse novem vulneribus / confessus ex Elephante dilabitur. / A Paris chez Crepy rue S.t Jacques a S.t Pierre
