Puru
Puru may mean:
Puru (artist)
Puru (August 30, 1896 - November 18, 1963), also known as Pu Xinyu with Xinyu as his courtesy name, was a traditional Chinese painter and calligrapher. He was a member of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, the ruling house of the Qing dynasty. He was a cousin to Puyi, the final ruler of the Qing dynasty and the last Emperor of China. It was speculated that Puru would have succeeded to the Chinese throne if Puyi and the Qing government were not overthrown after the 1911 Xinhai Revolution. Puru was reputed to be as talented as the famous southern artist Chang Dai-chien. Together, they became known as "P'u of the North and Chang of the South.".
Life
Puru was born in the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan as the second son of Zaiying (載瀅), a son of Yixin (Prince Gong). His mother was Lady Xiang (項氏), a secondary spouse of Zaiying.
Puru was once selected as a potential candidate to succeed the Guangxu Emperor, but his cousin Puyi was the chosen one. He was a student at the University of Berlin. After he returned from Europe, he retreated into the Western Mountains, where he spent many years in Jietai Monastery to concentrate on his studies. After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, he changed his family name to "Pu".
Puru (Vedic tribe)
The Purus were a clan, or a confederation of clans, mentioned many times in the Rigveda, formed around 3180 BCE. RV 7.96.2 locates them at the banks of the Sarasvati River. There were several factions of Purus, one being the Bharatas. Purus rallied many other groups against King Sudas of the Bharata, but were defeated in the Battle of the Ten Kings (RV 7.18, etc.,).
Early History
India's name Bharat or Bharat-Varsh is named after a descendant of the Puru dynasty King Bharat . There were two main Vedic cultures in ancient India. The first was a northern kingdom centered on the Sarasvati-Drishadvati river region dominated by the Purus and the Ikshvakus. The second was a southern culture along the coast of the Arabian Sea and into the Vindhya Mountains, dominated by the Turvashas and Yadus and extending into groups yet further south. These northern and southern groups vied for supremacy and influenced each other in various ways as the Vedas and Puranas indicate. The northern or Bharata culture ultimately prevailed, making India the land of Bharata or Bharatavarsha and its main ancient literary record the Vedas, though militarily the Yadus remained strong throughout history.
