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situated on middle reaches of the Ganges and at the time ruled by the
Nanda dynasty, did not come into contact with Alexander’s army, but
many much smaller states in north-western India did. Quintus Curtius
Rufus does mention that at least some of these states had paid tribute to the
satrap of Arachosia and in this sense declared their fealty to the Great
King.2
As usual, all the extant sources fail to provide the reasons for what was
to be Alexander’s successive military expedition. Moreover, no convincing
strategic reasons can be found. Modern historians have come up with a
large number of theories to make up for the lack of explanations in the
sources. By and large these explanations chiefly reflect how individual
modern historians perceive Alexander. Some argue, for example, that it
was hoped the shared experiences and victories of a successive war would
rebuild the bonds between the Macedonians and their leader as they had
been weakened by a series of internal conflicts over preceding winter and
spring. Similarly, ties were supposed to be strengthened this way between
Alexander and the Iranian cavalry. The legendary wealth of India has also
been stressed as a lure for prospective conquerors. Moreover, it has been
noted that such a campaign could earn Alexander respect among Iranians
as the successor of the Achaemenids. It is claimed that Alexander was
striving to extend the Persian Empire to the borders it had had at its
greatest moment in history under Darius I. This would not only bring
political gains but increase royal revenues many times over. The
Achaemenid theme in Alexander’s plans is the most popular theory in
modern historiography but it has one weakness in that the sources clearly
show Alexander’s plan was to conquer territories extending beyond the
empire’s most far-flung borders as had existed during the reign of Darius I.
We know that Alexander intended to continue marching east way past the
borders of Darius’ I empire and it was only the passive but resolute
opposition of his army that stopped him from doing so. It is therefore not
improbable that Alexander wanted to conquer the whole of India perhaps
as part of his plan to rule over the entire known world. It is possible that
non-economic or non-strategic factors began to predominate in these plans
as the campaign proceeded or were indeed present from the start. Modern
man would call such factors irrational but that is not how they were
perceived in Antiquity. Alexander had always attached great importance to
religion and the heroic tradition. Hence he could have wished to match the
achievements of Dionysus and his mythological ancestor, Heracles, as
2 Curt., 9.7.14. Vogelsang 1992, p. 227; Briant 1996, pp. 777-778.
Expedition to India
297
well as historic figures of the Near East such as Semiramis or Cyrus the
Great, all of whom fate had at one time or another sent to India. On top of
that there were other obvious aspects of Alexander’s character, his natural
curiosity and the urge to take up new challenges, which for the greatest
military leader of ancient times meant new wars. We will most probably
never know exactly why Alexander chose to invade India; quite probably
Alexander himself did not really know either.3
While Alexander was still in Sogdiana he received envoys from
Mophis/Omphis (Ambhi), the ruler of the Kingdom of Taxila. The
kingdom’s capital, also called Taxila, i.e. Takşaśilā (Takshasila) in
Gandhara, was both a centre of foreign trade and also one of academic
learning with numerous schools for Brahmans, the sons of princes and rich
merchants. The city was the home of, among others, the famous author of
Sanskrit grammar Panini. It also had an Iranian colony, probably from
where interpreters were later to join the Macedonian camp. We have
reason to assume this, as the Indian names recorded in Greek in works of
Alexander’s companions appear to have been translated indirectly from
Sanskrit through Persian. The Taxilan envoys asked Alexander to help
Omphis in a war against his enemies. At the time a former Indian ally of
Bessus’ called Sisicottus ( Sasigupta) was also present in Alexander’s
camp. Thus the grounds for starting an invasion were prepared and
political unrest in Northwest India provided a convenient pretext to
intervene.4
In the early summer of 327 the Macedonian army set off from Bactria
and crossed the Hindu Kush, most probably using either the shortest route
through the Salang Pass or the somewhat longer but easier route through
the Bamiyan valley and Shibar Pass, to reach the Kabul valley within ten
days. There two years earlier Alexander had founded Alexandria in the
Caucasus. Now he added more settlers, nominated one of his hetairoi,
Nicanor, commandant of the garrison and perhaps a Persian called
3 Str., 15.1.5-7. Tarn 1948, i, pp. 86-87; Badian 1964, pp. 199-200; Narain 1965,
pp. 161-162; Brunt 1965, pp. 207-209; Wilcken 1967, pp. 173-174; Schachermeyr
1973, pp. 407-413; Lane Fox 1973, pp. 331-334; Green 1974, p. 380; Goukowsky
1981, pp. 11-14; Bosworth 1988, p. 119; Carlier 1995, p. 160; Hahn 2000, pp. 15-
19; Briant 2002, p. 35.
4 Curt., 8.12.5; Diod., 17.86.4; Arr., An. , 4.30.4; Plin., Nat. , 6.78; ME, 49. Wheeler 1968, pp. 103-106; Dani 1986, pp. 1, 12, 42-43; Bosworth 1995, pp. 192-193;
Stoneman 1995, p. 107; Karttunen 1997, pp. 31-33, 61.
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Tyriespis/Terioltes as satrap of Paropamisus. 5 From there the army
marched to Nicaea, a town somewhere near Kabul but whose exact
location is now unknown. After offering sacrifices to the goddess Athena,
the army reached the river Cophen (Kabul) and thence proceeded
eastwards along this watercourse. In keeping with customs established in
the days of the Achaemenid monarchy the rulers of Taxila and of some
smaller states situated on the western side of the Indus met Alexander on
the border and presented him with gifts, including 25 elephants.6
It was there that the Macedonian army was divided into two units. One
of them, comprising half of the Macedonian troops and all of the Greek
mercenaries, was commanded by Hephaestion and Perdiccas. This corps
headed along the southern road through the Khyber Pass (in south-western
Afghanistan) towards the Indus, conquering the lands it passed. Its mission
was to prepare a passage for the entire Macedonian army across the Indus.
Hephaestion’s corps was joined by Indian vassals, no doubt with their own
armies. The only military operation of note was the conquest of the land of
Peucelaotis together with its capital, also called Peucelaotis
( Puşkalāvatī/ Puşkarāvatī or Pushkaravati, the ‘Lotus City’ in Gandhara
some 5 km from today’s Charsadda in western Pakistan). After a 30-day
siege the city was captured, the king, Astis, was killed and a certain
Sangaius was installed in his place by the Macedonians. After that the
Macedonian army only had to build a bridge over the Indus and wait for
Alexander’s troops to arrive.7
The king’s corps comprised the ve
ry best units, including hypaspists,
Agrianians and hetairoi, who were all selected on account of the far more
difficult task they had to face. The first operations were directed against
the tribes of Aspasians, Guraeans and Assacenians, who inhabited the
fertile highland and mountain regions to the north of the river Cophen and
east of the river Choes. Most scholars believe the latter river to be what is
now called the river Kunar, a northern tributary of the Kabul (Cophen),
though some reckon it is another Kabul tributary located further west and
called Alingar. Alexander led the vanguard, comprising cavalry and 800
mounted infantry, while the rest of the army, commanded by Craterus,
followed on foot. The first battle was fought outside a city called Silex.
5 Arr., An. , 4.22.3-5; Curt., 9.8.9; It. Alex. , 104. Schachermeyr 1973, pp. 676-681; Engels 1978, p. 107; Jacobs 1994, pp. 76-77; Bosworth 1995, pp. 141-146; Heckel
2006, p. 269.
6 Arr., An. , 4.22.6; Curt., 8.10.1-2. Bosworth 1995, pp. 146-149; Fraser 1996, p.
146, n. 79; Briant 1996, p. 777.
7 Arr., An. , 4.22.7-8, 4.30.9; It. Alex. , 104. Seibert 1985, pp. 147-150; Bosworth 1995, pp. 149-154; Karttunen 1997, p. 50.
Expedition to India
299
According to the Metz Epitome, which is the only source that gives it a
name, this city was located to the east of the river Choes. The natives were
defeated but Alexander was wounded in the fighting. The following day
the Macedonians took over the city and, in revenge for their king’s injury,
slaughtered all the inhabitants who had failed to escape into the mountains.
Terrified by this atrocity, the next town the Macedonian army approached,
Andaka, surrendered without putting up resistance.8
After these initial successes Craterus was entrusted with capturing
other towns in the region, while Alexander commanded the best soldiers
against the Aspasians. Once Craterus’ corps had completed their mission,
they rejoined Alexander’s army. The Aspasians burnt their settlements and
retreated into the mountains. That is why the campaign mainly involved
chasing the enemy and fighting them in the mountains. The region was to
be controlled from a town inhabited by natives and veterans of
Alexander’s army. The founding of this town was left to Craterus.
According to Arrian, who is quoting after Ptolemy, the Macedonians
captured 230,000 head of cattle and 40,000 prisoners. These figures must
be grossly exaggerated, for a British survey conducted in 1908 states that
the region’s entire population at the dawn of the industrial age was
approximately 100,000 and therefore in Antiquity it must have been
decidedly smaller.9
On completing these operations the Macedonians marched through the
land of the Guraeans ( Gauri) and having crossed the river Guraion (today
Panjkora) attacked the Assacenians ( Aśvakayana), who inhabited
territories further east on the river Swat. Though supported by 7,000
mercenaries recruited from beyond the Indus, the Assaceni did not choose
to confront Alexander’s in open field and instead decided to defend
themselves in fortified towns. The Macedonians faced the biggest problem
in capturing the region’s capital, Massaga. For four days the city resisted
persistent assaults, during which Alexander himself was hit by an arrow.
On seeing this, the pancratiast Dioxippus compared Alexander’s wound to
that Diomedes inflicted on Aphrodite at Troy and cited a verse from the
Iliad (5.340): ‘The ichor, such as flows in blessed gods.’ Suffering from
this wound but still having a sober mind, Alexander rebuked the shameless
flatterer by telling him this was normal blood, not ichor, and added that
although he was considered the son of Zeus, he felt physical pain
reminding him that he was a mortal. The defenders of Massaga only
decided to start negotiations after their leader was killed by a missile fired
8 Arr., An. , 4.23; Curt., 8.10.4-6; Str., 15.1.26; ME, 35; It. Alex. , 105. Wheeler 1968, pp. 95-97; Seibert 1985, pp. 146-147, 150-151; Bosworth 1995, pp. 154-158.
9 Arr., An. , 4.24.1-25.4. Bosworth 1995, pp. 158-167.
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Chapter VI
from a catapult. The mercenaries from beyond the Indus were encouraged
to surrender with an offer to serve in the Macedonian army. However, on
leaving the city both they and their families were surrounded and, using
the pretext of a supposed attempt to escape, slaughtered. On the other hand,
Alexander accepted the surrender of Massaga and confirmed Cleophis, the
mother of the deceased ruler, as Queen of the Assacenians. In some of the
sources there is a (spurious) story that Alexander and Cleophis had an
affair after which she bore him a son.10
At a stage in the campaign that is difficult to pinpoint, though most
probably before the operations against the Aspasians and Assacenians, the
Macedonians reached a city the sources call Nysa. According to the Metz
Epitome it was some 230 stades (41 km) from Andaka. Nysa had an
aristocratic system of government in which power was held by 300 of the
‘best’ families. This so much appealed to Alexander that he even withdrew
his original demand for aristocratic hostages for fear of weakening the
ruling elite. Instead he took from Nysa an auxiliary detachment of cavalry
which accompanied him right up to his return to the Hydaspes in the
autumn 326. The local ruler, King Acuphis, surrendered to Alexander and
it was on this occasion that the soldiers heard the story of how Nysa had
been founded by the god Dionysus and that its inhabitants are the
descendants of the Bacchants. The credibility of this story was confirmed
by the fact that ivy grew on a neighbouring mountain called Merus ( Meru
in Sanskrit; perhaps the mountain called today Koh-i-Mor to the west of
the middle course of the Panjkora). This plant was associated with the cult
of Dionysus and Alexander’s soldiers had not seen it since they left the
Mediterranean area. Grapevines were grown there as well and the
inhabitants produced wine. The Macedonians offered sacrifices to
Dionysus, wove garlands out of ivy and against a backdrop of laurel trees,
boxwood and myrtle they celebrated their bacchanalia for ten days. This
story seems like the pure fantasy of ancient authors and doubt was already
cast upon it by Eratosthenes, but it actually fits very well into the
landscape of northeast Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan (Nuristan and
Chitral). The region has the same vegetation as described by the sources,
whereas the locals have produced wine since time immemorial. Moreover,
they bury their dead in wooden coffins kept above the ground. According
10 Arr., An. , 4.25.5-27.4; Arr., Ind. , 1.8; Str., 15.1.27; Diod., 17.84; Curt., 8.10.22-36; Plu., Alex. , 59.6-7; Polyaen., 4.3.20; ME, 39-45; It. Alex. , 106. Alexander’s wound: Aristobul., ap. Ath., 6.57; Arr., An. , 4.26.4; Curt., 8.10.28-29; Plu., Alex. , 28.2; Plu., mor. , 341b; Sen., Ep. , 59.12; D.Chr., 64.21; ME, 40; Zonar., 4.10.
Quotation from The Illiad after Murray (Loeb). Goukowsky 1981, p. 90; Bosworth 1995, pp. 169-172; Karttunen 1997, p. 33; Heckel 2009, pp. 47-48.
Expedition to India
301
to Curtius Rufus, Alexander’s soldiers had used such coffins for firewood.
The local highlanders, called Kafirs, distinguish themselves from
neighbouring peoples with pale complexions, blue eyes and fair hair.
Moreover, they use of an archaic Indoeuropean language which indicates
that their ancestors originated from the West. It was only towards the end
of the 19th century that the Kafirs of Afghanistan were forcefully
converted to Islam, whereas those in what is now Pakistan are currently
fighting a losing battle for the remnants of their ancient culture against the
influences of Islamic fundamentalism promoted by Pakistani regime. To
this day they have worshipped the god Indra in his most ancient form. Like
the Greek Dionysus, Indra was an originator of the growing of grapevines
and the production of wine and so when his tale was translated into Greek
he was easily associated with the former. It is therefore hardly surprising
that their stay with the Kafirs evoked reminiscences among Alexander’s
soldiers of their Balkan homeland. The stay at Nysa contributed to the
propagation if not actual creation of the myth regarding Dionysus’s
invasion of India. In turn today the inhabitants of Nuristan and Chitral
willingly claim to be the descendants of Alexander’s soldiers.11
After the taking of Massaga, in the winter of 327/326, Alexander sent
his commanders against other Assacenian towns in the hope that news of
what had happened at the capital would induce them to quickly surrender.
This, however, did not happen and Alexander himself had to supervise the
capture of the town of Ora (today Udegram) on the Swat. Meanwhile the
defenders of Bazira (Bir-Kot on the Swat) and other towns escaped to a
fortress perched on a steep rock called Aornos ( Avarana in Sanskrit, which
simply means ‘Fortress’). By analysing areas to the north of the Indus and
the rock’s characteristic shape Sir Aurel Stein identified Aornos to be
today’s Pir-Sar, a 2,670-m mountain 40 km to the east of Udegram. Recent
attempts to revise this and associate Aornos with Mount Ilam, situated to