The Battle of the Hydaspes: A Mystery in the Mists of Time

[Joe Shearer]

THE BATTLE FIELD AND THE DISPOSITION OF THE TWO ARMIES​

The river was not yet at its full size, but the rains would soon begin; and Porus with his army, including many elephants, held the farther bank. Alexander had the flotilla from the Indus brought across in sections, and made ostentatious preparations for crossing to hold Porus' attention, though he knew that the cavalry could not cross in the face of the elephants. Under cover of these preparations he reconnoitred the bank, and selected a place 18 miles above Jhelum, at the great bend of the river, where was a wooded island in mid-stream. The rains had begun, and there was need of haste. The boats were brought to the selected point and put together; meanwhile Alexander made numerous feints at crossing elsewhere, keeping Porus perpetually on the move; the Indian finally grew weary of meeting threats that never materialised. Shortly after the summer solstice, Alexander joined his flotilla by a wide detour, leaving Craterus at Jhelum with his hipparchy, two battalions of the phalanx (those of Alcetas and Polyperchon), and the Indian contingents from Gandhara, who, however, took no part in the battle; his orders were not to cross unless Porus were defeated or the elephants withdrawn from the bank. To guard against a surprise crossing, three battalions of the phalanx, those of Meleager, Attalus and Gorgias, were strung out along the bank between Jhelum and the crossing-point; their orders were to cross in turn and join Alexander as he successively came level with them on his march towards Porus' camp. The following night was especially stormy.

Alexander had with him the agema of the Companions, the hipparchies of Hephaestion, Perdiccas, Coenus and Demetrius, and the horse-archers, nominaly 5,300 horse. Of infantry, he had the hypaspists, two battalions of the phalanx, those of Coenus (Antigenes) and Cleitus, the Agrianians, archers and javelin-men, somewhere about 10,000 men. Ptolemy's statement (if it be his) that he had under 6,000 foot is, for once, demonstrably wrong; if taken from the Journal, it was given there simply with the object of minimising the effect of the enemy's elephants. In the morning, the force crossed to the island; but as soon as they left it, they were seen by Porus' scouts. They landed safely, only to find themselves on another island; with great difficulty, they waded ashore, and Alexander at once advanced downstream towards Porus' position, on the way defeating and killing Porus' son, who had been sent forward with 2,000 horse to reconnoitre. Porus himself, leaving a few elephants to prevent Craterus crossing, had followed, and drew up his army at right angles to the river; his left, however, did not rest on the river, but gave ample space for cavalry to manoeuvre. As Alexander was superior in cavalry, Porus' reason is obscure, unless it was to obtain drier ground for his archers. His centre was formed by 200 elephants; behind and between them the infantry were drawn up, with a body of infantry on each wing unprotected by elephants. His best infantry, the archers, carried huge bows capable of shooting a long arrow with great force; but one end of the bow had to be rested on the ground, and the slippery mud handicapped them badly. On either flank were his cavalry, some 3,000 - 4,000 altogether.

 

[Joe Shearer]

THE BATTLE - IN BRIEF​

The battle with Porus differs from Alexander's other battles in that he could neither win with his cavalry nor help his infantry, since his horses would not approach the elephants; all he could do was to prevent Porus' cavalry, whose horses were trained to elephants, from interfering while the infantry fought it out. He had his heavy infantry in line, with the light-armed on either flank, Seleucus leading the hypaspists and Antigenes the five battalions of the phalanx; he himself with all the cavalry was on the extreme right. Out of bowshot he halted, to breath the infantry; and Porus, seeing the massed cavalry, brought all his own cavalry around to his left. Alexander began by sending his horse-archers to attack the infantry of Porus' left wing outside the elephants and keep them occupied; his own infantry had orders not to attack till he had defeated Porus' cavalry. He had to draw tha cavalry away from the elephants; he therefore ordered Coenus to take two hipparchies and move off as if towards Porus' right (Alexander's left); then, when the Indian cavalry, seeing the force opposed to them, should charge, his orders were to take them in rear. If Alexander knew that the Indian cavalry, a weaker force than his own, would charge him, this could only be because he intended to make them do so; the inducement was the division of his force; they would imagine Coenus was going to support the horse-archers, and would see only two hipparchies with Alexander. The plan worked; the Indians attacked Alexander's two hipparchies, and while Alexander met them Coenus swung around and took them in the rear; after a sharp fight, they were driven to take refuge behind the elephants. Then the Macedonian line advanced and the elephants attacked them. There was a terrific struggle, but at last, the Macedonians won; many elephants were killed, the wounded broke back, and the battle was over. The pursuit was taken up by Craterus, who had crossed the river. Porus, who had fought to the last and was wounded, rode leisurely off on his huge elephant; when finally he surrendered and Alexander asked him how he would be treated, he replied,'Like a king.' Alexander's losses were carefully concealed, but there is a conclusive proof of the desperate nature of the battle with the elephants - its effect on the minds of the generals (as seen later) and especially on that of Seleucus, who had actually fought with them; when king, he ceded whole provinces in order to obtain enough war-elephants, and they became the special arm and symbol of his dynasty.

 

[Joe Shearer]

In the following passage, Tarn's account of the post-battle arrangements, and of the future course of Alexander's expedition will be presented. Subsequently, the sources from whom Tarn himself drew inspiration will be put up, so that we have a multiplicity of choice available to us.

 

[indushek]

In the following passage, Tarn's account of the post-battle arrangements, and of the future course of Alexander's expedition will be presented. Subsequently, the sources from whom Tarn himself drew inspiration will be put up, so that we have a multiplicity of choice available to us.

Its so sad that our historians haven't been able to keep our history well!! I mean all we read about great India is from Huantsang or some Arab or some European or some other. Why didn't ever our people pay attention to this thing.

Or is it that we Indians obsessed with English read very little of our history from our own historians??

 

[Joe Shearer]

Its so sad that our historians haven't been able to keep our history well!! I mean all we read about great India is from Huantsang or some Arab or some European or some other. Why didn't ever our people pay attention to this thing.

Or is it that we Indians obsessed with English read very little of our history from our own historians??

There is an incredibly good discussion possible on this specific point that you have raised, especially in comparison to the meticulous record-keeping of the Chinese and the Arabs, including the extended Muslim civilisation. This civilisational defect has terrible consequences in all aspects of our cultural life.

Unfortunately, it is not military history, and presumably will not be encouraged. For the moment, I am going to stay with this one theme, although I am slowed down by the strain on my eyes reading small print and typing it in.

Any further suggestions or ideas will be welcome. Next (major) upload this evening (I will attempt a small one now); my eyes are really reeling.

 

[Joe Shearer]

AFTER THE BATTLE​

Alexander after his victory founded two cities, Alexandria Nicaea where his camp had stood, and Alexandria Bucephala on the battlefield, nicknamed from his horse which died there; and later a coin was struck to commemorate the battle, showing Alexander pursuing Porus' elephant{1}. Porus became his ally, a protected native ruler; Alexander reconciled him to Taxiles, and greatly enlarged his kingdom. He had already enlarged Taxiles' kingdom, which now stretched tothe Jhelum, and relieved him of subjection to Philippus; he meant the two rajahs to balance each other. Abisares, who had not helped his ally, sent envoys and 40 elephants to Alexander, who threatened him with invasion unless he came in person. Alexander now decided that...he would return down the Jhelum and Indus, reducing Sind; he left Craterus on the Jhelum with troops to secure his communications, build a fleet and finish the new cities, and himself advanced to the Chenab, keeping near the hills to avoid wide crossings. It was early July, with the rains at their full and the Chenab rising; it flooded him out of his camp, and he had some losses crossing. He left Coenus, perhaps already ill, at the Chenab to see to his communications and to bring the transport across, sent Porus home to recruit troops, and advanced to the Hydraotes (Ravi), leaving garrisons along his line of route and detaching Hephaestion southward to conquer the kingdom of Porus' recalcitrant nephew (between Chenab and Ravi), and place it under Porus' rule. He then crossed the Ravi and entered the country of the Cathaeans.

The Aratta generally were regarded as the best fighters in the Punjab; and the Cathaeans had gathered for the defence of their capital Sangala (unidentified; not Sagala-Sialcot), and had formed a triple lager of wagons outside the town. Alexander attacked the lager, himself commanding on the right and Perdiccas on the left; cavalry being useless, he led the phalanx on foot. The lager was taken, but the defenders took refuge in the town; he had to build siege-machines, and ultimately stormed the place and razed it to the ground. The desperate nature of the fighting is shown by the unique admission that Alexander had 1,200 wounded, for only the seriously wounded were ever counted. Porus was ordered to garrison the country, and Alexander pushed on to the Hyphasis (Beas), which he probably struck somewhere near Gurdaspur. It is not certain if it then joined the Sutlej at all; where the Sutlej then ran is an insoluble problem. Possibly the Beas had been the boundary of Darius I; it would agree with what happened.



Footnotes:

1: Once unique. A second specimen, now in the British Museum, shows that the horseman is Alexander. See G. F. Hill in Brit. Mus. Quarterly, 1926, no. 2, p. 36 and Pl. XVIIIb.

 

[Joe Shearer]

Its so sad that our historians haven't been able to keep our history well!! I mean all we read about great India is from Huantsang or some Arab or some European or some other. Why didn't ever our people pay attention to this thing.

Or is it that we Indians obsessed with English read very little of our history from our own historians??

There are very few histories other than Rajatarangini that exists in Indian languages, written by Indian historians. There are a large number of memoirs and tracts with historical bearings in Urdu and Persian, however, and Sir Jadunath Sarkar's main claim to fame was a mastery of these two languages that allowed him outstanding insight into such literature.

 

[Nalwa]

It is not certain if it then joined the Sutlej at all; where the Sutlej then ran is an insoluble problem. Possibly the Beas had been the boundary of Darius I; it would agree with what happened.

I can attest to the indefinite nature of the Satluj by way of local sayings. I belong to Bathinda and my hometown has the famous Razia Sultan's fort whose ramparts stood on the banks of the Satluj when it was constructed. Right now the closest Satluj flows is near Ferozepur, a good 70-80 kms away.

 

[Joe Shearer]

I can attest to the indefinite nature of the Satluj by way of local sayings. I belong to Bathinda and my hometown has the famous Razia Sultan's fort whose ramparts stood on the banks of the Satluj when it was constructed. Right now the closest Satluj flows is near Ferozepur, a good 70-80 kms away.

You'll find this local knowledge - and so will those of our Pakistani friends who are Punjabis - when reading the original Tarn, not only this, but Volume II, which is an incredible fountain of information. Unfortunately, somewhere, sometime during the last 40 years of working in more than 20 locations, I lost this second volume, and feel crippled. If you can get your hands on it, or on those other two famous books, JW McCrindle on 'Ancient India according to Megasthenes and Arrian', and 'Ancient India according to Ptolemy', you will find the enormous effort that went into deciphering the history of those times.

That is why sometimes I fail to preserve my temper when accosted by stupid people who set up their footling personal prejudices in the face of these sustained, sometimes lifelong feats of scholarship, and who try to introduce some half-baked local lore and 'legend', all in the name of patriotism. There are more Indians than Pakistanis doing this, unfortunately, but both sides are present in numbers.

Returning to the rivers issue, there is also some trouble in reconstructing the mouth-waters of the Indus as they were in ancient times; they are apparently completely differently located now. Just to add to the confusion, what the ancient historians thought was the Aral Sea is today the Caspian; the Caspian was called the Hyrcanian Sea. There is also signal confusion about the respective locations of the Sea of Azov (!!!) and the Caspian; Alexander wanted to go and find out the actual lie of the land, but needed to secure the lost Indian province of Darius I and went off to cross the Indus. But apparently there were other efforts - General Zopyrion, the representative of Antipater (whom Alexander had left in charge in Greece and Macedonia) went from his base in Thrace and crossed the Danube, quite possibly in an effort to link Thrace and Bactria.

Don't get me started on this, please; this was one of my favourite subjects in college. Let's stick to the battle.

 

[Joe Shearer]

I can attest to the indefinite nature of the Satluj by way of local sayings. I belong to Bathinda and my hometown has the famous Razia Sultan's fort whose ramparts stood on the banks of the Satluj when it was constructed. Right now the closest Satluj flows is near Ferozepur, a good 70-80 kms away.

I will soon scan and upload a (regrettably small-scale) map of Alexander's campaigns, and would appreciate your comments on it.

 

[Joe Shearer]

THE MUTINY​

....At the Beas, the army mutinied and refused to go further. They were tired. The heat and the rains had told heavily on them{1}, and they had been shaken by the severe fighting on the Jhelum and at Sangala. Report said that across the Beas was another Aratta people (the eastern Gandaridae {2}<sic> are meant) <Of course, I disagree wholly with Tarn, for reasons we can discuss after the full report is at hand>with an unexamples number of very large and brave elephants; after their experience with Prous they had no desire to meet those elephants. But they were even more tired in mind than in body. They had understood the conquest of Persia; but now they did not know what they were doing or where they were going; they wanted to go home.

It was a severe blow to Alexander. True, he could not have gone much farther in any case; half his army was on his communications with Taxila, and he was using Porus' troops for garrisons. But he thought there was not much further to go; his desire still to advance with his reduced force proves that clearly enough. The intention of conquering the Prasii, i.e., the great kingdom of Magadha on the Ganges, with which he is credited in some inferior sources, is a later legend {3}; for he knew nothing of the Ganges, unless just the name, or of Magadha. Undoubtedly traders and students from the east came to Taxila; but the Achaemenids had not known of the Ganges, and any information Alexander obtained had to be filtered through two interpreters via Persian. In fact, all that he seems to have heard of, apart from the eastern Gandaridae across the Beas, was one more unnamd river to cross, presumably the Sutlef; and then came, he supposed, the end, i.e., Ocean. To turn back meant, not only failure to secure the entire province of 'India', but failure to solve the problem of Ocean, and above all to provide for the Greeks, in his continental Empire, necessary access to a new sea to replace the home sea they would long for. Once the design of reaching the eastern Ocean failed, we see Alexander giving little further thought to the Punjab, and concentrating instead on a second-best plan, the colonisation of the Persian Gulf. How much he cared is shown by this, that almost his last act when dying was to discuss Ocean with Nearchus. He would have failed of course even without the mutiny; it was centuries too early, and Ocean was not where he thought. But it was a great dream.

Like Achilles, Alexander retired to his tent, and waited for three days for the army to change its mind; but the army was as stubborn as he. Then he took the omens for crossing, which naturally were unfavourable; he yielded to the gods, set up by the Beas twelve altars, one for each Olympian, at which, legend said, Chandragupta afterwards sacrificed, and turned back amid the acclamation of his troops. But the actual clash of wills ended in a draw. They had stopped him going forward, but they did not get their desire, an easy return home; he went back by the way he intended to go all along, and gave them some of the hardest fighting and worst marching of their lives. But he left his arrangements in India an unfinished sketch, to be sponged off the canvas the moment he died. He formally handed over all the country between the Jhelum and the Beas to Porus as an independent king; and when, in spite of his threats, Abisares still did not come to him, he accepted his excuses, confirmed him in his kingdom as a (nominally) tributary prince, and gave him authority over the neighbourhood of Hazara. Clearly Alexander no longer cared what happened east of the Jhelum.


Footnotes:

1: Strab. XV, I, 27 (697), from Aristobulus.
2: App. 14, pp. 279 sq.
3: On the Ganges legend and its ramifications, see App. 14.

THE START OF THE JOURNEY TO THE SEA​

On the Jhelum, he completed his half-finished fleet - 80 triakontors and some smaller warships, with horse-transports, supply vessels and numerous native boats carrying food; they were organised in divisions, and the flotilla reached the imposing total of 800 or 1,000. Nearchus commanded, and in the simple straightforward Cretan, most honest of chroniclers, Alexander had the right man; Onesicritus steered Alexander's ship. The expenses of equipment were borne by 33 trierarchs - 24 prominent Macedonians, 8 Greeks and one Persian. Before the star Coenus died, a loss to the army; his hipparchy was given to Cleitus. Alexander took on board his favourite troops, the hypaspists, Agrianians, Cretans, and the agema of the Companions; the rest marched in three armies, Craterus on the right bank, Hephaestion with the elephants on the left, and Philippus following; they were accompanied by the contingents of the Indian princes, and a great train of women and children, camp-followers and traders. The start was made early in November 326, with the north wind. Ammon had told him to honour, to the rivers Jhelum, Chenab and Indus, to Poseidon and all gods and goddesses of the sea, and to Ocean himself {1}; and now at the start, standing on the prow of his ship, he poured libations from a golden cup to the three rivers, to Heracles his ancestor and to Ammon his protector, and to all the gods of his worship {2}. Then his trumpeters sounded; the wooded banks rang to the shouts of the rowers and the beat of oars; and the vast procession started down the Jhelum towards the sea.


Footnotes:

1: Arr. VI, 3, I.
2: Arr. Ind. 18, 11. On the difficulties arising from this unique public exhibition by Alexander of his connection with Ammon (if it be true), see App. 22, p. 351, n. 5.

 

[Joe Shearer]

And so we come to the end of the accounts excerpted from Tarn. I will endeavour to put in the footnotes, which I omitted originally in the interests of speedy reporting, and of my poor, tired 61 years old eyes, by this evening or tomorrow. Thereafter, we will examine accounts of the battle alone as reported by

1. Arrian
2. Strabo
3. Curtius Rufus Quintius
4. Diodorus Siculus
5. Justin
6. Plutarch
7. (the anonymous) Itinerarium Alexandri M.
8. Sextus Julius Frontinus

These are, of course, the originals that Tarn studied and adapted, after looking at ground conditions in the terrain described; now that we have his intelligent interpretations, the originals may make greater sense.

 

[indushek]

And so we come to the end of the accounts excerpted from Tarn. I will endeavour to put in the footnotes, which I omitted originally in the interests of speedy reporting, and of my poor, tired 61 years old eyes, by this evening or tomorrow. Thereafter, we will examine accounts of the battle alone as reported by

1. Arrian
2. Strabo
3. Curtius Rufus Quintius
4. Diodorus Siculus
5. Justin
6. Plutarch
7. (the anonymous) Itinerarium Alexandri M.
8. Sextus Julius Frontinus

These are, of course, the originals that Tarn studied and adapted, after looking at ground conditions in the terrain described; now that we have his intelligent interpretations, the originals may make greater sense.

I think i found this video on youtube from a site called the art of battle

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/4044/7261.mp4

It is a graphic representation of the battle.

One of the poster with name Jonathan Webb says that the following are the authoritarian books on this which are

# Diodorus Siculus (90-30 BC). Bibliotheca Historica.
# Quintus Curtius Rufus (60-70 AD). Historiae Alexandri Magni.
# Plutarch (75 AD). The Life of Alexander the Great, Parallel Lives.
# Arrian (early 2nd c. AD).

I mean not one India source, a turning point in the history of this country and no one even thought of writing a authoritative account of it!!!!

 

[indushek]

Sorry but i am not much knowledged on posting videos and photos

i tried but it seems the video doesn't show

may be this could work or this

ImageShack&#174; - Online Photo and Video Hosting

 

[Rafi]

According to our family tradition it was the Persian horse archers who carried the day for Alexander - the Punjabi's could not cope with their mobility.

You wound, like Parthians, while you fly,
And kill with a retreating eye.
&#8212;Samuel Butler