1 INVASION OF ALEXANDER. 63
2 gold and silver and other possessions, iff am richer than you, I am willing
3 to oblige you with a part of what I have; if I am poorer, I have no objec-
4 tion to share in your bounty.” Charmed with the frankness, no less than
5 with the address, of the Indian king, Alexander answered: “Think you,
6 then, with all this civility, to escape without a conflict? You are much
7 deceived, if you do. I will dispute it with you to the last, but it shall be in
8 favours and benefits,. for I will not have you exceed me in generosity.”
9 Alexander kept his word faithfully. He made more valuable presents to his
10 Indian ally than those he received from him and showered royal favours on
11 him, adding new territories to his dominions, which tended substantially to
12 increase his strength. Alexander was, on his march to the Indus, accom-
13 panied by ‘Taxiles and other princes of the country, who carried out all the
14 orders given them with the utmost promptitude. Astes, King of Pencealotis,
15 who resisted, was seized and slain, the whole of his country having been
16 conquered after a severe struggle, which lasted a full month. On reaching
17 the Indus, Alexander came to a thick wood which grew on its banks, A
18 large quantity of timber was cut, and with it two large vessels with thirty
19 oars were constructed, besides many rafts to carry the supplies. <A halt
20 was made here for thirty days, which were spent in recreation, in sacrifices
21 to the gods and in gymnastic exercises. A bridge of boats had already been
22 constructed by Hephaestion and Perdiccas, who had been previously sent
23 with that‘object, and sacrifices having been again offered up, the passage
24 of the army was effected, without loss or opposition, in May 827 B.c. The
25 whole army under Alexander at this time numbered 135,000 men, including
26 15,000 cavalry, levies from the hills west of the Indus, under Ambisaras,
27 their Chief, and 5,000 Indian auxiliaries, under Mophis of Taxila. The
28 Macedonian army crossed the Indus at Attock, where the politic Akbar, in
29 after ages, founded the fort of that name, commanding the passage of the
30 river, The troops having reached the opposite bank in safety, Alexander's
31 first care, according to his custom, was to offer sacrifices to the gods of
32 Victory and War, after which the usual athletic games were held.
33 At the period of Alexander’s invasion the country east of the Indus
34 was ruled by three sovereigns of the Hindu race. The kingdom of Taxiles.
35 as before observed, lay between the Indus and the Hydaspes (Jhelum), that
36 of Porus, denominated Panrava in the Sanskrit, and Fur in the Persian of
37 the Sikandar Namah, extended from the last-named river to the Acesines
38 (Chindb). The dominions of Abisares lay among the mountains. All
39 these rdéjds were subordinate to the supreme mahdrajé4 of Magadha, whose
40 kingdom lay on the south bank of the Ganges. The name of this mahdrdjd
41 was Chandra Gupta, called by the Greeks Sandracottus, who had been raised
42 to the throne of Magadha by Chancaya, a passionate and vindictive
43 Brahmin, after the murder of the celebrated R4jé Nanda, the last king of
44 the renowned dynasty of the rdéjds of Bihar, who had, for a long series of
45 years, ruled the kingdom of Magadha.
46 Proceeding on his journey, Alexander arrived at Taxila, the capital of
47 Taxiles, described as a wealthy and most populous city, between the Indus
48 and the Jhelum. Taxiles and his subjects accorded the most cordial recep-
49 tion to the Macedonian king, and, in grateful acknowledgment of this treat-
50 ment, the king assigned to him a great part of the adjoining country. The
51 Greeks describe the country as being more fertile than Egypt. As to the
52 identity of Taxila, various suggestions have been made. Wilson identifies it
53 with the Takhsasila of the Hindus ; Smith considers that it is represented by
54 the vast ruins of Mankyala ; General Cunningham, with more precision, iden-
55 tifies it with the ruins of Deri Shdéhdn. Taki (the modern Asrur), between
56 Defeat and death
57 of the king oi Pencea-
58 lotis.
59 The Macedonian
60 army crosses the
61 Indus at Attock, 327B.c.
62 Sacrifices to the
63 gods.
64 The three principak
65 monarchies of the
66 Panjab at the time of
67 Alexander's invasion.
68 Taxila the capital
69 of Taxiles,
70 Taxila identified
71 with Deri Shahan.
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