Anoushka Ranjit (Dubai)
Alexander the Great was the king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia. His reign began in 336BC and came to an end in 323BC when Alexander died due to malaria. When the young king left Macedonia in 334 BC, he left with the intention to create a mighty empire and army. He proceeded to conquer many zones, starting from northern Africa with countries such as Egypt, and moving southwards progressing on to take over countries such as India. His sweeping of Western Asia lasted for over a decade. Although he had several battles over the years, his most iconic and ferocious battle was the one he had with King Porus of India.
The fight between King Porus of ancient Punjab and Alexander the Great, also known as the Battle of Hydaspes, all began due to Porus’ aversion to form a peaceful resolution with the young king. This was a clear demonstration of a pompous and traditional King underestimating the power of a young and inexperienced monarch. Alexander was undefeated in the past, with a highly and intrinsically skilled army behind him, his victory continued undefeated, and as he initially marched across India, he successfully made allies and avoided battles with all the Indian kings he encountered. Their men got trained and skilled with the Macedonian artistry of combat, therefore strengthening and enlarging Alexanders adept army. Nonetheless, Porus aimed to bring Alexander’s continuous victories to a halt by defeating him. His self-pride refused to let him comply, which led to him challenging the Macedonian king at the Hydaspes river.
Porus not only underestimated Alexander’s physical and military power, but he further underestimated the kings ability to adapt and his eagerness to conquer. Porus assumed that the young king would wait to begin the battle until the monsoon season comes to an end, as the currents in the river would be hazardous, or instead, he hoped that as Alexander would be unaware of how to conduct battle in such a situation that he would abandon his quest and leave. Furthermore, in preparation for the battle, Porus had arranged for over 20-50,000 men, over 2,000 cavalry, around 200 elephants and more than 300 chariots to be stationed by the river in preparation for the Macedonian’s arrival. These number’s clearly outweighed Alexander’s group of soldiers, nevertheless, as seen in his other battles, Alexander has constantly been outnumbered, therefore he remained confident, however an elephant is an entity Alexander had never encountered in combat. Due to all the strengthening factors, Porus truly believed he had the ultimate advantage.
Much to Porus’ surprise, Alexander came to the river with his army behind him, leaving solely a river separating the two kings. Whilst Alexander’s main aim was to find a strategic and efficient way to cross the river with all of his troops, he realised that Porus had people looking at him at all times, therefore, he set all of his soldiers in a frenzy, with men moving all over his side of the river and this sent the Indian king into a state of confusion. When Alexander had finally come up with a viable solution to crossing the river, he intended to keep Porus unaware, therefore he dressed one of his soldiers as himself, in order to further confuse Porus. Alexander and his men set to sail across the river with rafts made out of tents, however they encountered something unexpected, an island in the middle of the river. This sudden impediment soon turned into an opportunity for Alexander to regroup and further plan his attack on Porus once they reach the other side.
Historian Arrian, who is known to have the most accurate account of the battle, addressed the encounter as the following; “the Indians, seeing Alexander there in person, his mass cavalry coming at them in successive charges, squadron by squadron, broke and fled”, therefore not only did Alexander now have to defeat a smaller army, but he was easily able to make his way across to Porus. The battle ended with 12,000 Indian soldiers and 80 elephants dead, as compared to only 1,000 Macedonians. The aftermath of the battle resulted in the capturing of Porus and in Macedonian victory. Nonetheless, Alexander continued to have respect for Porus and allowed him to remain a king, with owing allegiance to Alexander.
After this Alexander continued his journey west, however, with his beloved horse, Bucephalus, dead, this marked the nearing of the end. He returned to Babylon, which is where he passed away, marking the end of his colossal journey as the king of Macedonia
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