Invasion of Punjab by Alexander the Great(By Arun Joshi,Sri-Krishna Institute,9888933043)

Alexander the Great

Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon and Olympias, was born at Pella in 356 B.C. and received education from Aristotle, especially in the arts of government and war. On the assassination of his father, Alexander ascended the throne, in 336 B.C., at the age of 20. At the time, the small but powerful country of Greece was divided into several states which were constantly at war with each other.


Various Conquests

Soon after his accession to the throne, Alexander conquered Thrace and reduced Thebes. In his celebrated march across the Hellespont, he defeated an army of 110,000 Persians. He eventually turned his arms against Syria and Phoenicia, occupied the great city of Damascus, and conquered all the cities on the shore of the Mediterranean. He then marched to Jerusalem and received the submission of Palestine, and went northwards into Mesopotamia and Assyria. Wherever Alexander went, he subdued nations, built strong forts, and founded new cities.

Alexander the Great

Conquest of Punjab Having conquered Drangiana, Archosia, Gedrosia, and Seistan, in ten days, Alexander crossed the Hindu Kush and was thus fully informed of the magnificence of the country and its riches in gold, gems and pearls. However, Alexander had to encounter and reduce the tribes on the border of Punjab before entering the luxuriant plains. Having taken a north-easterly direction, he marched against the Aspii, mountaineers, who offered a vigorous resistance but were subdued. Alexander then marched through Ghazni, and shortly after, blockaded Magassa, and then marched to Ora and Bazira. Turning to the north-east, Alexander marched to Pucela, the capital of the district now known as Pakhli. He entered Western Punjab, where the ancient city of Nysa was situated. A coalition was formed against Alexander by the Cathians, the people of Multan, who were very skillful in war. Alexander invested heavy troops and eventually seventeen thousand Cathians feel in this battle, and the city of Sanghala was razed to the ground.

Legacy of Alexander

In the southern extremity of the Punjab, Alexander built a city which he named Alexandria. Alexander established a chain of forts along the whole line of the Indus, for commercial and political purposes, and he built various military posts. There was a coalition formed by the Brahmins to expel the foreign invaders, but Peithon, appointed by Alexander, crushed the insurgents, and a large number of priests and Brahmins were publicly crucified. Alexander left Punjab in 326 B.C., and took his army to Persia and Susa. He had conquered the whole of the then known world. In every part of the world he visited, he founded magnificent cities, constructed large fleets, and developed commercial places. He died in his palace in Babylon on June 13th, 323 B.C., in the 32nd year of his age. Within a few years of his death, his wives, his child, and his mother were all killed, and his vast empire divided among his generals, so that nothing remained of him but his name.