73,208

0

Jan 2, 2009

3 weeks ago

626

India

United States

Pastor / Chaplain

My ministry, family, pets, friends, cycling and watching (Le Tour de France), sports, movies, dining at nice restaurants, Summer vacations to Niagara Falls, Canada, Theme Parks and visiting my families in India every few years.I enjoy reading Ancient History:See my playlist for INDIA: LAND OF KINGS. Alexander vs Porus. Battle of the Hydaspes River was fought by Alexander in 325 BC against the Indian King Porus at Kshatriya on the Hydaspes River (the Jhelum) in the Punjab region of ancient India, near Bhera now in Pakistan. The battle ended in a stalemate. King Porus held on to his kingdom while Alexander was wounded in the campaign when an arrow pierced his breastplate and his ribcage. Bucephalus, Alexander's horse was killed in the battle and buried in Jalalpur. "As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty two thousand infantry, four thousand horse, and (three hundred) elephants they violently opposed Alexander." According to the historian Plutarch, Alexander's army mutinied at the Hyphasis River (the modern Beas River) refusing to march any further frightened by the prospect of facing another formidable foe as they heard the Nanda Empire of India rallied the Kings of the Ganderites and Praesii by mobilizing two hundred thousand infantry, eighty thousand cavalry, six thousand war elephants, eight thousand chariots and archers across the Ganges river to stop the invader (from The Life of Alexander, Plutarch, The Parallel Lives). The Ganges is four miles wide and six hundred feet deep. However, the Nandas never had the opportunity to see their army up against the Macedonians. Alexander's battle weary army retreated through the Gedrosian desert to Babylon where Alexander and his boyfriend Hephaestion both died. Later In 305 BC King Chandragupta Maurya, with a huge army, defeated Alexander's successor general Seleucus I (Nicator) who had invaded NW India. Chandragupta obtained present day Afghanistan as part of the peace treaty. An alliance was made, and his Greek daughter a Seleucid princess was bethrothed to Chandragupta. Seleucus received five hundred elephants which he used in his war with Antigonus. Seleucus appointed Megasthenes as ambassador to the Mauryan court. Scholars owe much information about Mauryan India to a detailed account written by Megasthenes. Chandragupta was both opulent and totalitarian. The capital, Pataliputra (Patna), was a magnificent city, and the royal palace was, according to Megasthenes, filled with "wonders which neither Memnonian Susa in all its glory nor the magnificence of Ekbatana can hope to vie. Chandragupta succeeded in bringing together most of the Indian subcontinent. As a result, Chandragupta is considered the first unifier of India and its first genuine emperor. His grandson Ashoka was a great King. The Golden Age of India had begun. India's Great Kings: Porus, Dhana Nanda, Chandragupta Maurya, Vikramaditya, Harischandra, Ashoka the Great, Chatrapati Shivaji, Kharvela, Dileepa, Sher Shah Suri, Prithviraj Chauhan, The Mughul Emperors (Babur, Humayun, Akbar the Great, Jehangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb), Ranjit Singh, Gulab Singh, Maharana Pratap Singh, Sundara Pandian, Raja Raja Cholan, Rajendra, Karikala Chola, Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan and other Maharajahs. PROUD TO BE INDIAN.

The Nativity Story, The Gospel of John, The Robe, Ben Hur, Quo Vadis, Paul The Apostle, Where Eagles Dare, Batman, Star Trek, National Lampoon Vegas Vacation, Selena, Gandhi, Gettysburg, Eddie Murphy movies, Replacements, Left Behind movies, Deep Impact, Twister, Braveheart, The Patriot, The Passion of the Christ, Kingdom of Heaven, Troy, Slum Dog Millionaire, Journey to the Center of the Earth , Jumper, 2012 and Bollywood movies (Indian movie industry).

Contemporary Christian, Soft Rock and Hindi songs.

The Holy Bible, Comparative Religion, Counseling, History, Theology, Philosophy, Prophecy, Science Fiction, and Travel.