Wars of the Yugas

Kurukshetra War

3138 BC Kurukshetra Status: ended Casualties: Eighteen akshauhinis — all but a handful of warriors slain in eighteen days

The great war of the Mahabharata. On the field, between the armies, Krishna delivered the Bhagavad Gita to a despairing Arjuna. Eighteen days of battle: Bhishma falls on a bed of arrows, Drona is slain by deceit, Karna's chariot wheel sinks in the earth, Duryodhana's thigh is broken by Bhima's mace. The age of the heroes ends; the Kali Yuga begins.

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Belligerents

Pandavas (Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva) & Krishna
Kauravas (Duryodhana) & Bhishma, Drona, Karna

Casualties

Eighteen akshauhinis — all but a handful of warriors slain in eighteen days

Key events

Bhagavad Gītā spoken on day one
Bhīṣma falls on the bed of arrows
Abhimanyu trapped in the chakravyūha
Karṇa's chariot wheel sinks
Duryodhana's thigh broken at sunset

Aftermath

Start of the Kali Yuga — 3102 BC by Aryabhatta's reckoning, 36 years after the war. Yudhiṣṭhira ruled 36 years before retiring with his brothers and Draupadī.

Sources

Mahabharata, Bhīṣma–Strī Parvas
Bhagavad Gītā
Aryabhatīya 3.10

From World at War, an interactive atlas by Jairus Pereira. Figures are approximate, drawn from Wikipedia, UCDP, ACLED and academic sources — a design artefact, not an authoritative register. Contact.