How many days did the battle of Mahabharata last

[paul linus]

The battle of Mahabharata lasted for 18 days. It was fought in Kurukshetra and so sometimes it is also called as the Kurukshetra War.

 

[Nil Thapliyal]

Kurukshetra means field of the Kurus. Cousins Pandavas and Kauravas fought Mahabharata for the throne of Hastinapur, which was a Kuru kingdom. Kurukshetra is a place in Punjab today.

 

[paul linus]

You know Kurukshetra is also known as Dharmakshetra, which literally means field of Dharma. In other words, it means field of righteousness. In the war, about 1.66 billion warriors died.

 

[Nil Thapliyal]

The weapons with which the Mahabharata war were fought included bow, mace, sword, lance and dart.

 

[paul linus]

There were certain rules to follow in the war. Some are as below:

Fighting to start and end with sunrise and sunset.
It should be 1 to 1 attack. It means one warrior may not be attacked by two warriors.
Surrendered warrior should not be killed or injured. However, he would become prisoner of war and later subject to protections of PoW.
Unarmed or unconscious warrior should not be killed or injured.
No warrior should kill person or animal not taking part in the war.
Woman should not be attacked.

 

[Nil Thapliyal]

Do you know after the fall of Bhisma most of the rules were broken. It started with the killing of Abhimanyu on the 13th day of the war.

 

[paul linus]

Yes, Bhisma was the commander-in-chief of the Kauravas for the first 10 days. Drona was thereafter the chief from day 11 to 15. For the next two days, Karna led the side. On 18th day Shalya was the commander.

 

[Nil Thapliyal]

At the Pandavas side Dhristadyumna was the commander-in-chief throughout the war.

Krishna was the strategist of Pandava and Shakuni played the same role on the other side.