Alexander's Invasion of India

Alexander the Great, the Ruler of Macedonia had embarked on a campaign to conquer the world. After conquering Persia, his eyes turned towards the rich and fertile kingdoms of India. The first kingdom to bow before him was Gandhara. The king of Gandhara was Ambhi, a power hungry and corrupt ruler. Ambhi was jealous of his neighbour king Porus' expansions. In order to secure his own kingdom, he bowed before Alexander, offering him the kingdom of Gandhara along with it's armies and riches. Alexander was clearly not impressed by a spineless coward like Ambhi. He longed for a real battle. Panchala, ruled by the mighty Porus was the next kingdom in line. But Porus was not a man to go down without a fight. He refused the peace offerings of Alexander and mobilized his enormous army on the bank's of the Jhelum river. The army of Porus comprised of cavalry, elephants, chariots and infantry. Whereas Alexander relied on the strength of the Macedonian phalanx. Alexander's decision to cross the monsoon - swollen river despite close Indian surveillance, in order to catch Porus' army in the flank, has been referred as one of his "masterpieces". The elephants of Porus panicked under the rain of spears and trampled their own soldiers. The disarrayed army of Porus was easily destroyed by Alexander's troops. The king was defeated but was reinstated on his throne. When asked by Alexander how he wished to be treated, Porus replied "Treat me as a king would treat another king". Impressed, Alexander indeed treated him like a king, allowing him to retain his lands.In 326 BC, the army of Alexander approached the boundaries of the Nanda Empire based in Magadh {Modern day Bihar}. His army, exhausted from the continuous campaigning and frightened at the prospect of facing yet another gigantic Indian army, demanded that they should return to the west. Alexander finally gave in and turned south, along the Indus, securing the banks of the river as the borders of his empire. The reason why this conqueror returned back was the danger from the mighty Nanda army. Dhana Nanda, the king of the Nanda Empire was a weak one but his capable Prime Minister - Amatya Rakshas was a force to reckon with. He mobilized the entire Magadh army numbering almost 300000 soldiers along the southern bank's of the Beas. Afraid to face such a disciplined army, Alexander thought it wise to return back to Macedonia. But all did not go well for him and he died in Babylon at a young age.

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