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Invasion On India By Alexander

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In North-Western India,  around the  time of Alexander’s invasion was no political unity. The territory between the Indus and the Beas was divided into a number of petty  engaged in destructive warfare.

There was not a single powerful ruler in that area to bring the different states together.

Beyond the Sutlej, there was the strong Nanda Empire of Magadha, but it did not bother itself about the politics and problems of the North-Western frontier states.

The hill territory of modern North-Western Frontier Province in the fourth century B.C. was governed by the Aspasians, Nysaeans and Assakenos.The Assakenos were the most powerful of all these tribes. Their capital was Massaga near the Malakand Pass. This tribe had a powerful army of 20,000 cavalry and more than 30,000 infantry. Near modern Peshawar there lay the kingdom of Pushkulvati which was then not very powerful.

In western Punjab two important States at that time were the kingdom of Taxila or Takshasila and the kingdom of Paurava near modern Jhelum. The kingdom of Taxila extended from the eastern bank of the Indus to the western bank of the Jhelum.

To the south-east of the kingdom of Taxila lay the kingdom of the Pauravas. It was governed by a powerful king Porus and had as many as 300 cities under its control.

The King of Taxila was very jealous of the strength of the Pauravas, and the former’s son, Ambhi, had sent envoys to Alexander in Bactria asking him to invade India and assuring him of his help against Porus. These dissensions between the Taxila prince and Porus had worsened the political situation.

The territory between the rivers Jhelum and the Beas was occupied by five independent tribes. These tribes did not have a monarchial type of government, but on the oter hand were controlled by aristocratic oligarchies.

The Mallois or Mallavas and Oxydrakai or Kshudrakas were some of the well known tribes in this region.

The Mallois ruled over the territory of modern Multan and their Kshudrakas were most probably occupying the modern Montgomery district of West Punjab.

Upper Sind, like the rest of north-western India, was equally parcelled out into a number of petty states, each governed by a small tribe. Mousikanos was a well-known ruler in that region. His capital was Alor (Shikarpur District).

The Battle and Outcomes

After a compaign in Bactria, the region on the borders of the modern Soviet Union and Afghanistan watered by the River Oxus, Alexander crossed the Hindu Kush and occupied the district of Kabul. Then, fiercely but unsuccessfully resisted by the hillmen, he descended the Kabul Valley and reached the Indus, which he crossed in the spring of 326 B.C. Omphis, king of Takshasila or Taxila, had already submitted, and the city offered no resistance.

Beyond the Jhelum, however, lay the territory of the most warlike king of the Punjab, Porus, for fear of whom Omphis had willingly thrown in his lot with Alexander. It was only with great difficulty, after a surprise crossing of the Jhelum, that the Macedonians succeeded in defeating the troops of Porus, who was captured. Porus was a very tall and handsome man, whose courage and proud bearings made a great impression on the Greeks.

When brought before his conqueror he was found to have received nine wounds, and he could barely stand; but when Alexander asked him how he wished to be treated he boldly replied: “As befits me-like a king!” Alexander was so impressed by his captive that he restored him to his kingdom as a vassal and, on the retreat of the Greek forces, left him in charge of the Punjab.

After the defeat of Porus Alexander continued his advance, subduing numerous tribes and petty kingdoms; but at the Beas he was forced to turn back, for his generals feared mutiny if his troops were made to advance further into unknown country. Alexander returned across the Punjab and fought his way down the Indus, often meeting stiff opposition from the martial tribes.

At the mouth of the Indus the army divided, part returning to Mesopotamia by sea, and part, led by Alexander himself, by land, following the coast through the desolate Makran. After much hardship both detachments reached the Euphrates, together with a smaller body which had been sent back earlier by way of Aracosia, modern Khandahar.

There is no doubt, Alexander desired to keep Indian territories under his rule. Like his other conquered kingdoms, he divided his Indian territories as well into five satraps (provinces) each under a governor, Indian or Greek, and kept Greek contingents in various cities. But, his desire remained a dream.

After his death, the rivalry of different Greek governors weakened them and none of his successors could pay proper attention to his Indian territories. Most of the Greek commanders left India with their soldiers while their Indian counterparts declared independence. And, whatever remained even after that, was wiped out by Chandra Gupta Maurya.

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Tags: alexander, Assakenos, Defeat of Porus, eve, Hill tribes, HTaxilla, india, North-Western India, Paurava Kingdoms, tribes Mallavas and Kshudrakas, upper sind