husband's blindness. Gandhari and he had one hundred sons, called the Kauravas, and one daughter Dushala. He also had a son named Yuyutsu mothered by a maid. Reign After the incident with Rishi Kindama, Pandu retired to the forest. Hence, Dhritarashtra was offered the crown. Through the blessings of Vyasa, he and Gandhari had one hundred sons and a daughter, with his eldest son, Duryodhana, becoming his heir. Upon Duryodhana's birth, ill omens appeared; many sages and priests advised Dhritarashtra and Gandhari to abandon the baby. But they refused to do so; Duryodhana grew up with a princely education and his parents believed that he would be a great heir. However, when Pandu died, Kunti and her sons returned to Hastinapura, living alongside Dhritarashtra's children. Yudhishthira, Pandu's eldest son, was older than Duryodhana. Given that Pandu was the king and that Yudhishthira was born of the god Dharma, he had a strong claim to the throne. A succession crisis began; though recognising Yudhishthira's merits, Dhritarashtra favoured his own son, blinded by affection. Upon much pressure from the Brahmins, Vidura, and Bhishma, Dhritarashtra reluctantly named Yudhishthira as his heir. Bifurcation of the Kuru Kingdom After the House of Lac incident, in which the Pandavas are believed to have been immolated, Dhritarashtra mourns, but was able to finally name Duryodhana as his heir. When the Pandavas are revealed to have survived, Duryodhana refuses to cede his title as heir when the sour relations between the Kauravas and the Pandavas simmer. On Bhishma's advice, Dhritarashtra bifurcates the kingdom, giving Hastinapura to Duryodhana and Khandavaprastha to Yudhishthira. The game of dice Shakuni, Gandhari's brother, was a master of dice as he could load them without his opponents having a clue. He, along with his nephew Duryodhana, conspired in a game of dice and invited the Pandavas to gamble. The Pandavas eventually lost their kingdom, wealth, and prestige and were exiled for thirteen years. Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, was humiliated in court after Dushasana tried to disrobe her. The blind king only intervened after counselling with Gandhari when Draupadi was going to curse the Kuru dynasty. Though notables like Vikarna and Vidura objected to the sins of Duryodhana, most of the spectators were helpless due to their obligations to Hastinapura; Dhritarashtra could have spoken out, but did not. The Kurukshetra War Krishna, as a peace emissary of the Pandavas, travelled to Hastinapura to