Pandava army

Seeing that there was now no hope for peace, Yudhisthira, the eldest of the
Pandavas, asked his brothers to organize their army. The Pandavas accumulated seven Akshauhinis army
with the help of their allies.Each of these divisions were led
by Drupada, Virata,Dhristadyumna, Shikhandi, Satyaki, Chekitana and Bhima. After consulting his
commanders, the Pandavas appointed Dhristadyumna as the supreme commander of the Pandava
army. Mahbhrata says that kingdoms from all over ancient India supplied troops or provided logistic
support on the Pandava side. Some of these were: Kekaya, Pandya, Cholas, Magadha, and many more.
Kaurava army

The Kaurava army consisted of 11 Akshauhinis. Duryodhana
requested Bhishma to command the Kaurava army. Bhishma accepted on the condition that, while he
would fight the battle sincerely, he would not harm the five Pandava brothers. In addition, Bhishma said
that Karna would not fight under him as long as he is in the battlefied. It is believed by many that
Bhishma pushed Karna into taking this decision due to his affection towards the Pandavas - the Kauravas
would be overwhelmingly powerful if both he and Karna appeared in battle simultaneously. However
the excuse he used to prevent their simultaneous fighting was that his guru (Parshurama) was insulted
by Karna. He also knew that Karna was a Kaunteya(Son of Kunti) from the day he met him in
Ranakshetra when Karna offered Arjuna to fight against him and Bhishma wanted to keep Karna out, so
that there will be someone to lead the army once he is unable to continue with the war. Regardless,
Duryodhana agreed to Bhishma's conditions and made him the supreme commander of the Kaurava
army, while Karna was debarred from fighting. But Karna enters the war later when Bhishma is wounded
by Arjuna. Apart from the one hundred Kaurava brothers, headed by Duryodhana himself and his
brother Dushasana, the second eldest son of Dhritarashtra, the Kauravas were assisted on the
battlefield by Drona and his sonAshwathama, the Kaurava's brother-in-law Jayadratha,
the brahmin Kripa, Kritavarma, Shalya, Sudakshina, Bhurisravas, Bahlika, Shakuni, and many more who
were bound by their loyalty towards either Hastinapura or Dhritarashtra.