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Why didn't Alexander Invade India? -Facts Just Beyond Records
Warnings about Indian
strength
With the desire to occupy India,
Alexander started to march towards the same after the Persian war. He was
warned by Persians that many great rulers got mixed in the mud reaching the
gates of India. They told him about Cyrus, one of the greatest Persian kings
ever died in the hands of Indians far before the time of Alexander. Assyrian
queen Semiramis was a bit lucky and just made home with 20 soldiers while she
went with 400,000 highly trained warriors. However, this didn't fear Alexander.
He just liked to break the record by crushing India.
Later, when Alexander tried to
invade India, he found the real strength in the words of the Persians. Later,
he wrote to his mother that
I am
involved in the land of a ‘Leonine’ (lion-like) and brave people, where every
foot of the ground is like a wall of steel, confronting my soldier. You have
brought only one Alexander into the world, but
every mother in this land has brought an Alexander in the world.”
Here are some
proofs that Alexander could not invade India
Why should
Alexander reward Porus?
According to the
records of Greek history, Alexander returned Porus his kingdom though he had
won the war. A simple logic here. Alexander spent 1000 talents (25,000
kilograms of gold) to Ambhi for defeating Porus. If he
had spent such a large amount, why would he offer back the kingdom he won to
the defeated knowing that on doing so, they would not have enough gold to
return to their home? Moreover, Porus was mentioned as a very noble king. And
so, why would any noble king accept that offer?
There was a mention about Porus that
"Wounded
in his shoulder, standing over 2 m (6 ft 7 in) tall, but still
on his feet, he was asked by Alexander how he wished to be treated. "Treat
me, Alexander, the way a King treats another King" Porus said."
The above lines show that he was
indeed noble and heroic.
The deadly battle
Of all the wars fought by Alexander,
the war with India is considered as the best. The fact that the Greek army
didn't celebrate after their win over the battle of Persia but had a huge
commemoration after the battle of Hydaspes (Jhelum) reveals the fact that the
army just survived the battle. There was no doubt that the Macedonians were
frightened by the sight of Indian war elephants.
Diodorus wrote that
"Upon this the elephants, applying to good use their
prodigious size and strength, killed some of the enemy by trampling under their
feet, and crushing their armour and their bones, while upon other they
inflicted a terrible death, for they first lifted them aloft with their trunks,
which they and twisted round their bodies and then dashed them down with great
violence to the ground. Many others they deprived in a moment of life by goring
then through and through with their tusks"
Bucefalus
Alexander's
beloved horse Buccafalus was killed in the battle by one of the sons of Porus
while crossing the banks of Jhelum. History says that Alexander is too fond of
his horse. If so, why would he spare the kingdom which was responsible for the
death of his own horse?
Illogical excuse
It is said that
Alexander returned to his home because his soldiers requested him to do so as
they were tired of being waging themselves in constant wars. However, this
seems to be highly falsified version. Macedonians had a system of rotation. Old
soldiers were sent back with gold and slaves replaced constantly by the
new ones. So, this excuse seems highly pointless.
Conclusion:
Alexander did not invade
India because he feared of mighty empires such as Ganderites and
Praesii ready with eighty thousand horsemen, two hundred thousand footmen,
eight thousand chariots, and six thousand fighting elephants.
As the records were written by Alexander's men, they wrote in favor of
him. Many facts were manipulated by them leaving a lot of loopholes. It is
absolutely true that one or the other day, truth
one thing . alexander was not afraid to battle any enemy and you said that he was afraid of indians? persian empire was stronger than indians .your conclusion is a joke.
ReplyDeletePersian army was large in number when compared to that of Indians but it is never a joke that Indian elephants frightened Macedonian horses and also Alexander's army. It was clear in the records the same whereas Persian army never used war elephants which made Alexander victorious easily.
DeletePersian empire is always feared of Indians and their strength,how they would be powerful than the indiand
Deletenice
ReplyDeletethe army power matters the most....and india had strong army at that time.
ReplyDeleteThe people of Jehlum (Pakistan) are still very strong and tall in height. A large majority of inhabitants of Jehlum serve the Pakistan army. They are very brave and professional fighters fight to death and never surrender to anyone.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete8-bit video game, fun in the beginning but when u play the same game again and again u lose interest and get tired
ReplyDeleteTO Anonymous. please read the verified history by the historians. not by the writer. even today the pakis say to their citizens, they have won every war with INDIA. all the 3 war that pakis waged against INDIA were lost. in the 1st war INDIA ARMY were 26 kilometers away from lahore. in second war about 175000 paki solders were POW and had laid their arms on the ground. in the 3rd war the parkis did not accept the bodies of their solders, they even claimed the solders killed in kargil were men from islamic terrorist organisation. sure they were from islamic terrorist org, called ISI of pakistan. JEHLUM are not the current pakistani... this history is 326 BC. in that period there were idol worshipers....
ReplyDeleteIt is all history past & long past. What now matters is, where do we go from now to the future of India which at present facing Pakistan & China. India should focus on strategic planning, military & economic strength to defeat any adversary from the north, north east. What did 1962 war with China taught India? It should never happen again
ReplyDeletedont worry buddy Indians still has the same blood and passion of fight for right ...now pakistan and china both are india's kids are trying to trap father but dont forget that father remains father..
DeleteForcibly fabricated and extremely manipulated story. Keep it up, by the way!!!!
ReplyDeleteI realise that there is a tendency to harbour hatred against each other. Both Indians and Pakistanis are prone to do this and that is not advisable at all. Both India and Pakistan cannot afford a war. But the difference between both the countries my India and Pakistan is that the Indian state has an army and the Pakistan army runs a state. Relax Guys. Why talk about war always? India can defend itself and we will. But we are their for friendship.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the typing error. I meant " We offer our friendship"
ReplyDeleteFirst off, Alexander underestimated the true size of India. He thought maybe one or two campaigns pushing east would take him East Sea, or the final end of Earth as it was known. It was this train of thought, among other compulsions, that allowed him to realistically believed that he could successfully invade India.
ReplyDeleteAlexander was Defeated by King Porus
ReplyDeleteYou are so interesting! I don't believe I've read anything like that before. So wonderful to discover somebody with genuine thoughts on this issue. Really.. thanks for starting this up. This web site is one thing that is needed on the web, someone with some originality! facebook log in
ReplyDeleteAh, lets first ignore the mutiny before further entry into India. Alexander's men were tired, worn out and logistically it wasn't getting easier. "Rotations" did not rotate the majority of the veterans who were accompanying Alexander. Macedonia was extremely far away at this point so replacing hundreds of phalagists would have been a headache.
ReplyDeleteAlso the Greeks developed means to counter Indian war elephants similar to the tactics used against scythe chariots. If anything it wasn't India's supposed "great army" that made the Greeks turn back it was nature. Disease, weather patterns, numerous rivers would have turned back most armies who had week supply lines. Had he reformed his army back in Babylon, got the critically needed fresh Macedonian troops and Persian hoplites that were being trained at the time. He would have conquered India with mid difficulty.