"The Cambridge Shorter History of India" by J. Allan, 1934

[Ptolemy]

"The Cambridge Shorter History of India" by J. Allan, H. H. Dodwell,T. Wolseley Haig, Cambridge University Press 1934

In 330 B.C. Alexander routed Darius, occupied Persepolis and then set about the subjugation of the eastern provinces of the Achaemenid empire. Early in the spring of the following year he marched from Seistan to the site of the modern Kandahūr, where he built the city of Alexandriain-Arachosia. Thence he pushed on to the Kūbul valley, where the army encamped until the passes of the Hindu Kush were opened in the following spring. To the north lay the still unconquered Persian province of Bactria, which constituted a threat to Alexander's communications and prevented any further advance westward. At the foot of the Hindu Kush, at a point guarding the entrance to the roads to Bactria, another Alexandria was built, with smaller settlements like Cartana and Nicaea within reach of it. This Alexandria is identified with the modern Charikar. In the following year, the Greeks engaged in the campaign which brought the whole of eastern Irūn under their power, and it was not till early in 327 B.C. that Alexander again turned southwards and eastwards

Page 21

In the summer of 327 B.C., the Greeks returned to Charikar, which was enlarged and strengthened and organised as a base of operations

at one town Alexander was wounded by an arrow, which filled his followers with such fury that the town was razed to the ground and all prisoners slain. The strongest opposition was offered by a people called the Assakenoi whose capital was Massaga, a very strong fortress, the natural advantages of which had been improved by all the engineering devices of the time. But the Greek artillery proved equal to the task, and the capture of the stronghold was facilitated by a chance shot which killed Assakenos (Asvaka), the king of the region.

But their plans were discovered and the Greeks, catching them unawares, slew them all, despite their desperate resistance; their number is said to have been 7000. Thus severely did Alexander punish this breach of faith, for he could take no risks so far from

Page 22

The reception of the Macedonians, however, was not always hostile. At one town, called Nysa by the Greeks, the inhabitants claimed kinship with them and said they were descendants of followers of Dionysus who had settled there during his campaign in the cast. The profuse growth in the neighbourhood of the vine and ivy, plants sacred to Dionysus, and certain place-names like Nysa and Meru (Meros), lent support to the story, and for a few days the Greeks made holiday with their long-lost kinsmen

Finally the Greeks secured a position commanding the fortress, and the garrison began to negotiate for surrender.

Page 23

For some time the Greeks sought in vain a possible landing-place on the other side, while the Indians vigilantly guarded against any attempt to cross. The river was rising, the rains had begun, and it looked as if the Greeks would have to postpone their attack till the waters had sunk again to their low level in the autumn. Alexander indeed seems to have encouraged this belief by collecting great stores. But at the same time his reconnaissances along the river-bank kept the Indian host in a state of considerable tension. At last one morning, after a night of unusual storm, the Indian sentries reported that the Greeks were crossing some sixteen miles above the camp. Alexander had made all his preparations at a place where a wooded island hid his movements;

Page 24

while the Macedonians had plenty of room to evade their rushes. The whole enemy line was finally surrounded, and cavalry and infantry alike cut to pieces. Any who could find a gap through which to escape, fled, only to meet the remainder of the Greek army under Krateros, who had crossed opposite the camp in readiness to receive the fugitives.

The Greek losses were about 1000 and the Indian 15,000 killed with 9000 taken prisoners

Page 25

[Ptolemy]

Friendly relations were established with a king named Sopeithes (Sophytes, Saubhuti) who entertained Alexander royally; his hunting parties and his dogs particularly impressed the Greeks

page 26

[i][i]He [Alexander] therefore built twelve great altars of stone on the banks of the river to commemorate his progress. This was in the late summer of 326 B.C. Classical writers record that these altars, dedicated to the gods of Greece, were long held in veneration by the kings of India, who came to offer sacrifices at them

The Siboi submitted, but the Agalassoi, who resisted, were severely punished for the losses they inflicted on the Greeks.

Page 27

[Ptolemy]

The Greeks found much to interest them in his kingdom, the customs of which reminded them of Sparta. At this moment Mousikanos's rival and enemy, Sambos (Sambhu), who had previously joined Alexander, rebelled but was quickly disposed of. In the meanwhile, however, the philosophers (i.e. the Brūhmans) had been urging Mousikanos to withdraw his submission, and, when he openly rebelled, Peithon, the new governor of the lower Indus territory, was sent against him. The monarch was captured and executed along with many of the Brūhmans, who were everywhere stirring up the people against the Greeks.

Page 28

His death in the following year prevented the consolidation of his Indian conquests, and a few years after his death not a single Greek officer was left in India

Page 29

Little strength was required to shake off the precarious hold of the Greek garrisons in India when the news of Alexander's death reached the lands beyond the Indus

The Indian leader who, according to Justin, liberated India front the yoke of Greek servitude, was Sandracottos, or Chandragupta

Page 31

[pankration]

An important fact I mentioned in the article "Fighting a Crusade", on the Alexander the Great site, that is often missed by these revisionists is that Alexander's Greek army, was in fact overwhelmingly composed of Macedonians. The Greek city-states contributed very few troops to this expeditionary force. Yet in EVERY contemporary document, regardless of who wrote it, Alexander's army is ALWAYS referred to as a GREEK army. If the Macedonians, proud and fierce, felt so strongly that they were not Greek, why does it not appear in any record of the time? There is no question that the Macedonians were often jealous rivals of the Greeks who were with Alexander but it was a jealousy born of regionalism, the social standard of the time, not culturalism. The Macedonians considered themselves Hellenes just as the Athenians, the only caveat being that they were from the HELLENIC region of Macedonia just as the Athenians were from Athens. At its basest, this is tribalism but it is not a framework to argue that Macedonia had a different culture. If they had, Alexander would have created the Macedonian Empire not the Greek one. And we know how that went.

[PhiliptheUniterchaeronea]

Originally Posted by pankration

An important fact I mentioned in the article "Fighting a Crusade", on the Alexander the Great site, that is often missed by these revisionists is that Alexander's Greek army, was in fact overwhelmingly composed of Macedonians. The Greek city-states contributed very few troops to this expeditionary force. Yet in EVERY contemporary document, regardless of who wrote it, Alexander's army is ALWAYS referred to as a GREEK army. If the Macedonians, proud and fierce, felt so strongly that they were not Greek, why does it not appear in any record of the time? There is no question that the Macedonians were often jealous rivals of the Greeks who were with Alexander but it was a jealousy born of regionalism, the social standard of the time, not culturalism. The Macedonians considered themselves Hellenes just as the Athenians, the only caveat being that they were from the HELLENIC region of Macedonia just as the Athenians were from Athens. At its basest, this is tribalism but it is not a framework to argue that Macedonia had a different culture. If they had, Alexander would have created the Macedonian Empire not the Greek one. And we know how that went.

Very succinct my friend. Excellent post.