Battle of the Hydaspes 720543 221994130 2008-06-27T01:24:31Z 67.180.225.250 {{Infobox Military Conflict |image=[[Image:The phalanx attacking the centre in the battle of the Hydaspes by Andre Castaigne (1898-1899).jpg|250px]] |caption=A painting by Andre Castaigne depicting the [[phalanx formation|phalanx]] attacking the centre during the Battle of the Hydaspes |conflict=Battle of the Hydaspes |partof=the [[Wars of Alexander the Great]] |date=[[326 BC]] |place=Near the Hydaspes River (known as [[Jhelum River]]), [[Pakistan]]. |result=[[Macedon]]ian victory.<ref>Welman</ref>| |territory=Alexander controls Punjab. |combatant1=[[Macedon|Macedonian Empire]]<br>[[Ancient Greece|Greek]] allies<br>[[Persian Empire|Persian]] allies <br>[[History of India|Indian]] allies |combatant2=[[Pauravas|Paurava]] |commander1=[[Alexander the Great]],<br>[[Craterus]],<br>unlisted others| |commander2=[[Porus|King Porus]],<br>unknown others| |strength1=34,000 [[infantry]],<ref name=Welman>Welman estimates 41,000 soldiers in total.</ref><ref name=Guha>Guha estimates 46,000 soldiers in total.</ref><ref name=Harbottle>Harbottle estimates as high as 135,000 soldiers in total.</ref> <br>7,000 [[cavalry]]<ref>Arrian 5.18.3 estimates 5,000 cavalry under Alexander's command.</ref><ref>Fuller estimates a further 2,000 cavalry under Craterus' command.</ref> |strength2=20,000 [[infantry]],<ref name=Plutarch621>Plutarch 62.1: <br>{{quote|"But this last combat with Porus took off the edge of the [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian]]s' courage, and stayed their further progress into India. For having found it hard enough to defeat an enemy who brought but twenty thousand foot and two thousand horse into the field, they thought they had reason to oppose Alexander's design of leading them on to pass the Ganges, too, which they were told was thirty-two furlongs broad and a fathom deep, and the banks on the further side covered with multitudes of enemies."}}</ref> <br>2,000 [[cavalry]],<ref name=Plutarch621/> <br>200 [[war elephant]]s,<ref>Curtius 8.13.6</ref><ref>Metz Epitome 54</ref> <br>1,000 [[chariot]]s<ref name=Plutarch605>Plutarch 60.5</ref> |casualties1=4,000 infantry killed,<ref name=Green>Green</ref><br>280 cavalry killed,<ref>Diodorus 17.89.3</ref> <br>8,000 killed or wounded<ref name=Wounded>Welman and Guha estimate about 12,000 soldiers in the Macedonian army were killed or wounded.</ref> |casualties2=12,000 killed,<ref name=Diodorus>Diodorus 17.89.1-2</ref> <br>9,000 captured<ref name=Diodorus/>| }} {{Campaignbox Wars of Alexander the Great}} The '''Battle of the Hydaspes River''' was a [[battle]] fought by [[Alexander the Great]] in [[326 BC]] against the [[India]]n king [[Porus]] (Pururava or [[Purushotthama]] in [[Sanskrit]]) on the [[Hydaspes]] River (the [[Jhelum River|Jhelum]]) in the [[Punjab region]] of [[ancient India]], near [[Bhera]] now in [[Pakistan]]. The kingdom of [[Pauravas|Paurava]] of King [[Porus]] was situated in the part of Punjab which is now part of modern day [[Pakistan]] (see [[Punjab (Pakistan)|Pakistani Punjab]]). The Hydaspes was the last major battle fought by Alexander. Although victorious, Alexander's exhausted army mutinied and refused to go any further into [[India (disambiguation)|India]]. His tired army saw the use of [[war elephants]] for the first time in years since [[Battle of Gaugamela|Gaugamela]]. King Porus and his men put up a fierce resistance against the invading Macedonian army which even won the admiration and respect of Alexander.<ref>Fuller, p.198</ref> ==Location== The battle took place on the east bank of the Hydaspes River (now called the river [[Jhelum River|Jhelum]], a tributary of the river [[Sindhu|Indus]]) in the Punjab province of [[Pakistan]]. Later, Alexander founded a city on the site of the battle, which he called [[Nicaea (Punjab)|Nicaea]]; as long as this city has not been discovered, any attempt to find the ancient battle site is doomed, because the landscape has changed considerably. For the moment, the most plausible location is just south of the city of Jhelum, where the ancient main road crossed the river, and where a Buddhist source indeed mentions a city that may be Nicaea. The identification of the battle site near modern [[Jalalpur Sharif|Jalalpur]]/Haranpur is certainly erroneous, as the river meandered far from these cities.<ref>P.H.L. Eggermont, ''Alexander's campaign in Southern Punjab'' (1993).</ref> ==Background== After Alexander defeated the last remnants of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] under [[Bessus]] and [[Spitamenes]] in [[328 BC]], he began a new campaign against the various Indian kings in [[327 BC]]. Some scholars place the invasion force as high as 135,000 soldiers,<ref name=Harbottle/> while others estimate the fighting force at about 41,000<ref name=Welman/> or 46,000.<ref name=Guha/> The main train went into modern day Pakistan through the [[Khyber Pass]], but a smaller force under the personal command of Alexander went through the northern route, taking a fortress at [[Aornos]] (modern day Pir-Sar, Pakistan) on the way. In early spring of the next year, he combined his forces and allied with [[Taxiles]] (also Ambhi), the King of [[Taxila]], against his neighbor, the King of [[Hydaspes]]. ==The motives== Porus drew up on the south bank of the [[Jhelum River]], and was set to repel any crossings. The [[Jhelum River]] was deep and fast enough that any opposed crossing would probably doom the entire attacking force. Alexander knew that a direct crossing would fail, and so he tried to find a crossing point. Alexander moved his mounted troops up and down the river bank each night, with Porus shadowing him. Eventually, Alexander found a suitable crossing, about 17 miles upstream of his camp. His plan was a classic pincer maneuver: leave his general Craterus behind with most of the army while Alexander crossed the river upstream with a strong part of his army, consisting perhaps of 10,000 foot and 5,000 horse. Craterus was to ford the river and attack if Porus faced Alexander with all his troops, but to remain if Porus faced Alexander with only a part of his army. [[Image:Battle hydaspes crossing.gif|left|thumb|300px|Alexander's crossing of the Hydaspes river]] Alexander quietly moved his part of the army upstream and then traversed. He landed on an island, however, but was soon on the other side of the river. To combat the new threat, Porus sent a small cavalry and chariot force under his son to the crossing. The force was easily routed, the chariots in particular being impeded by the mud near the shore of the river, with Porus' son among the dead. Porus now saw that the crossing force was larger, and decided to face it with the bulk of his army. He left behind a small detachment to disrupt the landing of Craterus' force now crossing the river. ==The battle== When the battle actually started, the Macedonian cavalry was to the right of the line, but Alexander sent a group of cavalry to circle behind the Indians and attack them from behind. The Indians were poised with cavalry on both flanks, the war elephants in front, and infantry behind the elephants. These [[war elephants]] presented an especially difficult situation for Alexander. Most of his success on the battlefield came from his ability to separate the enemy lines and drive his crack [[Companion cavalry]] into the opening. This was used with devastating effectiveness at both [[Battle of Issus|Issus]] and [[battle of Gaugamela|Gaugamela]]. However, the Indian elephants scared the Macedonian horses. The mere scent of these incredible creatures forced Alexander to modify his strategy. [[Image:Battle hydaspes combined at.gif|right|thumb|300px|Combined attack of cavalry and infantry]] Alexander started the battle by sending horse archers to shower the Indian left cavalry wing. After this, he led the customary charge on the weakened cavalry wing. Predictably, the Indian right cavalry wing galloped to the opposite wing in order to reinforce the charged cavalry. At this moment, Alexander sent his officer Coenus with cavalry either to attack the Indian left by way of circling behind the enemy, or to attack the Indian cavalry after a feint to the Indian right. Thus, Alexander was able to destroy the Indian cavalry while minimizing his mounted units' exposure to the Indian war elephants. Had the Indian cavalry not been destroyed they could have endangered his [[Phalanx formation|phalanxes]] later in the battle, and the Macedonian horse may not have been able to support the foot soldiers against the Indian cavalry due to the proximity of the elephants. Meanwhile, the [[Macedonian phalanx]]es had advanced to engage the charge of the war elephants, which was stopped, albeit with heavy casualties to the infantry. The Macedonians eventually surrounded the Indian force, which amounted to a mass surrender. Porus was one of many Indians who impressed Alexander. Wounded in his shoulder, standing at seven feet tall, but still on his feet, he was asked by Alexander how he wished to be treated. "Treat me, O Alexander, like a king" Porus responded.<ref>Rogers, p.200</ref> Macedonian losses to their cavalry arm was much less than in the infantry, with 280 killed. Alexander lost as many as 4,000 infantry, mostly phalanx troops,<ref name=Green/> while 12,000 of his men were casualties in total.<ref name=Wounded/> They had borne the brunt of the fighting against the elephants, as the horses of the Macedonian cavalry had refused to go near the beasts. Indian losses amounted to 12,000 dead and 9,000 men captured. ==Aftermath== [[Image:Le Brun, Alexander and Porus.jpg|thumb|right|A painting by [[Charles Le Brun]] depicting Alexander and Porus during the Battle of the Hydaspes]] The bravery and war skills of [[Porus]] impressed Alexander. Alexander spared the life of Porus, although he had been defeated, and let him rule Hydaspes in Alexander's name. This was as far as Alexander could go. At this time, the [[Magadha Empire]] further east on the [[Gangetic plain]] had 6,000 war elephants, while [[Chandragupta Maurya]] of the [[Mauryan Empire]] years later acquired 9,000 war elephants. These numbers of war elephants were many times larger than the numbers employed by the Persians and Greeks, which was discouraging for Alexander's men and stayed further progress into India. Afterwards, Alexander founded Alexandria Nikaia (Victory), located at the battle site, to commemorate his triumph. He also founded [[Alexandria Bucephalus]] on the opposite bank of the river. Alexander did this in memory of his recently deceased and much cherished horse, [[Bucephalus]]. ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== ===Modern=== *[[J. F. C. Fuller|Fuller, John]] (1960). ''The Generalship of Alexander the Great. New Jersey: De Capo Press''. *[[Peter Green (historian)|Green, Peter]] (1974). ''Alexander of Macedon: A Historical Biography''. *Manav Guha (2005). ''Porus and Alexander: The Battle of the Jhelum 327-326 BC''. Orders of Battle. General Data LLC. *Harbottle, Thomas Benfield (1906). ''Dictionary of Battles''. New York. *Rogers, Guy (2004). ''Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness. New York: Random House''. *Welman, Nick. [http://pothos.org/alexander.asp?paraID=95&keyword_id=8&title=Battles%20(Major) Battles (Major)] and [http://www.pothos.org/alexander.asp?ParaID=78 Army]. [[Fontys Hogescholen|Fontys University]]. ===Ancient=== *[[Diodorus Siculus]] (90-30 BC). ''Bibliotheca Historica''. *[[Quintus Curtius Rufus]] (60-70 AD). ''Historiae Alexandri Magni''. *[[Plutarch]] (75 AD). ''[http://www.siu.edu/~dfll/classics/Civ2004/alia/alexander.pdf The Life of Alexander the Great], [[Parallel Lives]]''. *Metz Epitome. ==External links== *[http://www.livius.org/ja-jn/jhelum/hydaspes.html Hydaspes (Jhelum)] *[http://www.the-art-of-battle.350.com/The_Battles.htm Battle of Hydaspes River animated battle map] by Jonathan Webb [[Category:Battles of Alexander the Great|Hydaspes River]] [[Category:Battles involving the Indian kingdoms|Hydaspes River]] [[Category:Ancient Greeks in Asia]] [[Category:Ancient India]] [[Category:326 BC]] [[Category:History of South Asia]] [[Category:History of Pakistan]] [[bs:Bitka kod Hidaspa]] [[cs:Bitva u Hydaspes]] [[de:Schlacht am Hydaspes]] [[es:Batalla del Hidaspes]] [[fr:Bataille de l'Hydaspe]] [[hr:Bitka kod Hidaspa]] [[it:Battaglia dell'Idaspe]] [[mk:Битка кај Хидасп]] [[nl:Slag bij de Hydaspes]] [[no:Slaget ved Hydaspeselven]] [[pl:Bitwa nad rzeką Hydaspes]] [[ru:Битва на Гидаспе]] [[sr:Битка на реци Хидасп]] [[fi:Hydaspesjoen taistelu]] [[sv:Slaget vid Hydaspes]]