The Alexander Invasion of India

Alexander's invasion of India started after his conquests over the Achaemenid Empire of Persia (Modern day Iran) in the year 326 B.C. Alexander was the king of Macedonia he conquered Asia, Egypt, and Persia. After conquering Persia by collapsing the Archeamenid power his ambitions and goals did not stop there, he formulated plans and set into action for fulfilling his dream of conquering India and with it the world. After establishing firm control over Ghandhar (in modern-day Afghanistan)  he marched east and crossed the Indus river into India. 

India at that time was ruled by Nanda Dynasty. Then again Nanda's Kingdom did not cover the entire India. It was a large and vast empire no doubt and if we compare it with other contemporary Kingdoms at that time but the regions of Punjab were not under the Control of Nanda, instead, it was under the control of different smaller kingdoms or autonomous republics. Some of these kingdoms were ruled by powerful and brave kings but not all. Some kingdoms surrendered to Alexander without any struggle. 

Alexander started out from Kabul and it took him approximately two years till he reached the Beas river. Alexander crossed from the Hindu Kush and entered through the Laghman route into the Swat Valley. People who lived in Swat Valley at that time were known as the Aspasians, Gouraians, and Assakenians. These people were brave and Alexander faced a little difficulty in subjugating them. Alexander defeated Assakenians and their main stronghold Massaga was considered almost impregnable but after their chief was killed, they surrendered. It was in Massaga where Alexander massacred 7000 mercenaries. This move by Alexander was considered a blot on his otherwise chivalrous and honorable image and as Plutarch rightfully said "it rests as a foul blot on his [Alexander] martial fame". After this, the Swat valley was now under the control of Alexander. Alexander then reached Nysa. At Nysa, Alexander was relieved as they warmly welcomed Alexander and also claimed Kinship with the Greeks, Alexander left Nysa unharmed.

Alexander then crossed the river Indus, where he was received by Ambhi the ruler of Taxila. Ambhi not only swore allegiance with Alexander but also his army was entertained in Taxila. Alexander was impressed and left his Kingdom undisturbed. Alexander being Alexander, was impatient to conquer the world so he didn't waste any time in Taxila relaxing and enjoying and took his army and marched forward to Jhelum.

After crossing Jehlum, Alexander met with fierce resistance from the king of the Punjab region, the fearless and valorous Porus. Now, if you have seen, read, or heard anything about Alexander, this name [Porus] must have popped up. Alexander knew, most probably from Ambhi that Porus was battle-ready to face Alexander's army and was waiting for him on the other side of Hydaspes. Alexander was also ready and eager to fight the army of Porus. Porus was a brave man, as some sources tell when an envoy sent by Macedonians went to summon the King to meet Alexander, Porus famously told them that he would definitely meet Alexander but at his frontier and in arms. War ensued between them but in this blog, I don't wish to go into detail about the Battle as this post is about Alexander's Invasion of India and not about the Battle of Hydaspes, I will most probably write another blog specifically for Batlle of Hydaspes. But the part that should be taken into account was that Porus did not have a massive army compared to Alexanders'. Still, the Indian King fought bravely till his last men. Alexander sent for Porus who was fighting the battle bravely even though wounded. After, persuasion Porus agreed to meet Alexander. Alexander was impressed and even inspired by the bravery of Porus and after he met Porus, who was, as some sources mention over 7 feet tall and after having a long conversation with him agreed to reinstate Porus as the king. 

Alexander then crossed the Acesines (Chenab River) and subjugated more kingdoms and added more territories to his name. Alexander then crossed the Ravi river and into the territories held by the Kathas, which were known as the best fighter and warriors in Punjab. The Kathas had a hill fortress, Sangala, that was captured by the forces of Alexander. In the fight that ensued nearly seventeen thousand Indians were killed and many thousands were killed. It has been told that Alexander faced many hardships in defeating the Kathas and in the process many of his powerful commanders were slain. But Alexander still was not satisfied. He proceeded towards the Beas river after razing the city of Sangala to the ground.

As Alexander reached Beas the local king told him about the extent of the power of the Nanda king. He told him that Nanda had a very large army with thousands of Horseman and Chariots and thousand elephants and even Porus confirmed these statements. The news about the might of Nanda spread like a wildfire in the army of Alexander. The soldiers were homesick and were longing to see their loved ones who they hadn't seen for a very long time and they began to lose heart and had become more anxious because of the hardship they faced ever since they crossed Indus and entered India and the news about Nanda's large army, instilled a fear in them of never being able to see their loved ones ever again and this served as the last straw for them to revolt against the mighty emperor.

The army mutinied and refused to advance forward. Alexander gave up his campaigned and decided to return as even he must have realized that a demotivated army can is a weak army. He agreed to retract and the decision of Alexander was met with great joy by his army. But this retraction was no end of fighting for them, a fierce and violent battle, perhaps the most dangerous battle for Macedonians was yet to come. Before, crossing back the Indus again, Alexander decided to subjugate one last territory, the Malloi. This state was not like most other states, the sources mention Malloi as a “republican state” like the Kathas. Malloy fought hard but was not well prepared to face the power of Alexander’s army and was also subjugated by Alexander. But it's no doubt that the Malloians fought bravely and in the battle, Alexander himself was deeply wounded in his chest which left him weakened. This was the last territory conquered by Alexander the Great in India and after this, he returned back. Alexander, unfortunately, did not get to enjoy the vast empire he conquered and neither did he got a chance to invade India again and conquer it wholly as died due to fever in Babylon.

 

Alexander’s invasion of India was a short campaign and in reality, he conquered only a small part of India, and the Macedonians and the Nanda Empire never met face to face. This definitely makes the History buffs curious by thinking what would have happened if Alexander had decided to march forward and had crossed the Beas. Even after crossing the Beas, Alexander would have met with many Independent kings, some surrendering to him without any aggression and some may have decided to fight him. This no doubt would have further reduced the morals of the Macedonians. Fighting the large army of Magadha king would have been a much more difficult job for Alexander’s army, considering his large army. But on the other hand, another thinks to take into account is that just one year after the death of Alexander the Chandragupta with his mentor Chanakya were able to overthrow the Nanda Empire. This meant that Nanda Empire was weak and fragile at that time and also there was a lot of resentment against the Nanda at that time in the General Domain which was capitalized at the right time by Chandragupta and Chanakya.  But the question that whether Alexander could have or could have not conquered India, the truth is that the answer to such a question will be pure guesswork and as of now there is no way and medium to answer the question.

Chandragupta Maurya was one of the greatest emperors of India and Conquered mostly most of which lies in Present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. I will also write a blog soon on Chandragupta Maurya. 

The famous historian Arrian refers to Indians as wise men, it is said that when men used to see Alexander, they did nothing but stomp the ground they stood to tell Alexander that each of them possesses as much land as they stand on and to tell Alexander that one day he will die and possess only that much of land as sufficient for his burial. Alexander's campaign in northwestern India was brutal he went on hanging people and destroying cities as other invaders did and for Indians, he is on the same list as other invaders that came after him - Ghazni, Timur, and many more. It is safe to say that Alexander did not have a solid effect on India as he is not mentioned in any Indian Literature and Alexander's campaign in North-western India may be a successful military campaign but not at all a successful political campaign.