Abisares (or Abhisara;[1] in Greek Αβισαρης), called Embisarus (Εμβισαρος) by Diodorus,[2] was an Indian king of Abhira.[3] descent beyond the river Hydaspes, whose territory lay in the mountains, sent embassies to Alexander the Great both before and after the conquest of Porus in 326, although inclined to espouse the side of the latter.[4] Alexander not only allowed him to retain his kingdom, but increased it, and on his death in 325 appointed Abisares' son as his successor.[5][6][7][8]
Kingdom[]
Hazara (country), the Abisares of the Greeks, forms the North-western district of the Peshawar division. It was conquered by Arjuna.[9] However, Stein identifies the kingdom of Abhisara with the tract of the lower and middle hills between the Vitasta (Jhelum) and Chadrabhaga (Chenab) including the state of Rajapuri (Rajauri) in Kasmira.[10][11][12] The kingdom of Abhisara finds reference in ancient Indian texts also. In epic times and Buddhist times, it had formed integral part of Ancient KambojaMahajanapada. Old kingdom of Abhisara was basically situated in the Poonch, Rajauri and Nowshera districts of Jammu and Kashmir.[13][14][15]
^Flavius Arrianus Hist., Phil., Alexandri anabasis Book 5, chapter 20, section 5, line 4 ανδρον ἔπεμψε, χρήματά τε κομίζοντα καὶ ἐλέφαντας τεσσαράκοντα δῶρον Ἀλεξάνδρῳ.
^Waldemar Heckel: Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great. Prosopography of Alexander’s empire. Blackwell, Oxford 2006, ISBN978-1-4051-1210-9 (excerpt online).
^Strabo Geogr., Geographica Book 15, chapter 1, section 28, line 11
^Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty, 1953, p 248, Hemchandra Raychaudhuri, University of Calcutta
^The Mahābhārata, Its Genesis and Growth: A Statistical Study, 1986, p 115, M. R. Yardi, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute - Mahābhārata; Military History of India, 1980, p 38, Hemendra Chandra Kar - History
^Journal of Indian History, 1969, p 123, University of Kerala Dept. of History, University of Allahabad Dept. of Modern Indian History, University of Travancore, University of Kerala - India.
Waldemar Heckel: Who's who in the age of Alexander the Great. Prosopography of Alexander's empire. Blackwell, Oxford 2006, ISBN978-1-4051-1210-9 (excerpt online)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Abisares". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
