How many akshauhinis did the Kauravas field in the Kurukshetra war? The answer is 11.
The Kaurava coalition assembled eleven akshauhinis for the Kurukshetra War, while the Pandavas had seven. An akshauhini was a traditional epic army formation with a fixed structure of chariots, elephants, cavalry and infantry.
According to the Mahabharata’s conventional reckoning, one akshauhini contained 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 65,610 horses and 109,350 infantry. That totals 218,700 warriors when the charioteers are counted separately according to the usual presentation. Eleven such formations therefore represent an enormous epic force.
The Kaurava army was not made up only of troops from Hastinapura. It included forces supplied by powerful allies such as Shalya of Madra, Bhagadatta of Pragjyotisha, Jayadratha of Sindhu and Kritavarma’s Narayani army. The number 18 is a common error because the combined forces of both sides totaled eighteen akshauhinis: seven Pandava and eleven Kaurava.