Alexander the Great in India

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC)

After conquering the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, the Macedonian king (and now high king of the Persian Empire) Alexander the Great launched a campaign in north-western India. The rationale for this campaign is usually said to be Alexander's desire to conquer the entire known world, which the Greeks thought ended in north-western India.

"Phalanx attacking the centre
in the battle of the Hydaspes"
by Andre Castaigne (1898-1899)

Alexander crossed the Indus and fought and won an epic battle against King Porus, who ruled a region in the Punjab, in the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC. Alexander was impressed by Porus's bravery, and made him an ally. He appointed Porus as satrap, and added to Porus' territory land that he did not previously own. Choosing a local helped him control these lands so distant from Greece. Alexander founded two cities on opposite sides of the Hydaspes river, naming one Bucephala, in honor of his horse, who died around this time. The other was Nicaea (Victory) located at the site of modern day Mong, Punjab.


In 321 BC, two years after Alexander's death, Chandragupta Maurya of Magadha, founded the Maurya Empire in India and took many Greeks and Greek satraps as slaves after defeating them in a rough battle.

Image from Revolution Magik

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