Is history written by the victor, and hence really partial?
Perhaps! Actually, no! For certain!
All history is pretty-much written by the victors - either by commission (ex. Akbarnama) or indirectly (ex. Ashoka of the Mauryas through edicts attributed to him), so you essentially get the victor's standpoint and viewpoint and the vanquished party's achievements and/or legacy is completely lost or worse, eradicated.
That brings us to one of the greatest epics and what Bharatiyas consider itihasa (history) - The Mahabharata. Is the Mahabharata partial to the victors? Does it extoll the Pandavas while pushing Kauravas to the depths of adharma? Perhaps we have missed out the legacy of the Kauravas because the author was partial to the Pandavas?
To examine this in detail, it is important to understand the family tree of the Kuru dynasty - post Shantanu (with whom the Mahabharata really begins) very clearly, and understand the biological bloodlines, the legal family bonds not withstanding. It will be clear why in a moment.
For all practical purposes the Kauravas and Pandavas were cousins - sons of brothers Dhritarashtra and Pandu respectively - who shared the same father but had different mothers. What, though, of their biological bloodlines? Did they actually have paternal familial blood of the Kuru dynasty in them? What of the author of the Mahabharata itself? How, if at all, was he related to the main actors of the epic? When you start plotting these biological and legal bloodlines, a very complex picture arises:
First up, of course, is Bhishma, born from Shantanu and Ganga. Bhishma is both biologically and legally in the Kuru line.
Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, (or Vedavyasa) arises from a pre-marital association of Satyavati and the sage Parashara.
Meanwhile, Bhishma makes a vow of celibacy, and Shantanu marries Satyavati. Chitrangada and Vichitravirya arise from this union. Both Chitrangada and Vichitravirya are legally and biologically in the Kuru line.
When Chitrangada dies early in life, Bhishma wins the princesses of Kashi - Amba, Ambika and Ambalika for Vichitravirya. Amba refuses to marry Vichitravirya, but Ambika and Ambalika do. Vichitravirya, however, has no heirs with Ambika and Ambalika and he too dies prematurely of disease.
With Bhishma's vow of celibacy intractable, Satyavati convinces her other son - Vyasa - for a niyoga union with Ambika and Ambalika in order to produce legal heirs in the Kuru family.
