The Poriade – Adventures of Porus

The Poriade — Adventures of Porus is a remarkable early work by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, composed between 1857 and 1858 when he was still known as Kedaranātha Datta and studying in Calcutta. Written as a classical English epic poem in the tradition of Homer and Virgil, it traces the wanderings of Porus (Puru), the Indian king who famously confronted Alexander the Great on the banks of the Hydaspes River in the pre-Christian era. Bhaktivinoda had ambitious plans to complete the work in twelve books, but only two were ever written, and of these, only the first book is currently available — preserved in the collection of the British Library. The poem stands as a striking testament to the Ṭhākura’s early command of English literature and his deep interest in both Indian history and Western classical literary forms, at a time when he was also immersed in the study of Christian theology and the writings of Emerson, Channing, and Newman.