and frightened, and rushed madly about trampling CHAPTER IV. down the Indian infantry. Porus fought with a valour which excited the admiration of Alexander, but was at last wounded and compelled to fly. Ultimately he was induced to tender his submission, but in the true spirit of a Rajpoot he demanded to be treated as a king. Alexander responded with his usual generosity, and the two princes who had recently met as deadly foes now regarded each other as firm friends." Macedonian vic tory formation Jhelum. of a Macedonian fleet on the The victory over Porus established the ascend- Results of the ancy of Alexander in the Punjab. It was probably of more consequence to the great Macedonian than his flatterers would acknowledge. A defeat would have been destruction; for Porus would have undoubtedly followed up his success by the conquest of Taxiles; and Alexander would have been left single-handed to cut his way through the war-like mountaineers of Cabul, who had already given him considerable trouble. The victory, however, not only decided the question between himself and Porus, but enabled him to open up a new communication with Persia, viâ the river Indus and the Indian Ocean. He sent out woodmen to cut timber for ship-building in the northern forests, and to float it down the Jhelum; and he founded two cities, Bukephalia and Nikæa, one on each side of the Jhelum; ostensibly in memory of his horse Bukephalus, and in commemoration of his victory, but in reality as suitable spots for the construction of a flotilla on the Indus. The formation of a fleet was indeed in accordance with that soldierly instinct which led Alexander to take on all 13 Arrian, Exped. v. 15-20. CHAPTER IV. Occasions every precaution that would ensure the safety of his army. But still in dealing with his motives, a large allowance must always be made for his boundless imagination. He had seen crocodiles in the river Indus, and at first fancied that this river was the same as the Nile; and even arrived at the conclusion that by descending the Indus he might find himself in Egypt and the Mediterranean. Further information convinced him of his error, but awakened a new idea. He was assured that the ocean intervened between India and Egypt; and it had ever been the object of his ambition to penetrate to that mysterious ocean, which Homer had supposed to surround the world. It was partly to realize this dream that he purposed conquering the lower Ganges as far as this ocean; and failing that, he hoped to reach the same distant sea by the Jhelum and Indus rivers. Advance of Alexander to the younger. Whilst the fleet was being constructed, Alexfight of Porus; ander continued his march to the Chenab, and crossed that river into the dominions of Porus the younger. This prince, like Taxiles, had been prepared to support the Macedonian invader out of hostility to Porus the elder; but having heard that his uncle had been re-instated in his kingdom and reconciled to Alexander, he was seized with such a panic of fear that he hastily abandoned his throne and went into exile. Alexander accordingly made over his kingdom to the elder Porus, and nothing afterwards is heard of the nephew." Alexander next crossed the Ravee, when he was called back by tidings of importance. The Kathæi, Arrian, Exped. v. 21. Macedonians broken by the south-west monsoon. an important tribe between the Chenab and the CHAPTER IV. Ravee, had broken out in rebellion; and as Alexander never permitted an enemy in his rear, he hastened back and reduced them to obedience by the capture of their capital at Sangala.15 But meantime the Macedonians had grown weary of their campaign in India. Their spirits had been broken, Spirit of the not so much by the toils of war, as by the wind and rain of the south-west monsoon; and by this time their love of ease and sensual gratification had blunted that passion for glory and dominion which had formerly animated the phalanx. Accordingly they utterly refused to advance to the Ganges, and clamoured loudly to be conducted back to Greece. Alexander remonstrated with them in vain. He urged that the river Ganges was not far off; that it fell into the eastern ocean which communicated with the Caspian; and that if they proceeded they would obtain immortal renown by their conquests and discoveries. But the Macedonians sullenly resisted. every attempt to lead them beyond the Sutlej; and Alexander, making a virtue of necessity, at last consulted the oracles and found that they were unfavourable to an onward movement. The expedition. of Alexander now loses its interest. He returned with his army to the Jhelum, and embarked on board the fleet with a portion of his troops, whilst the remainder of his army marched along either bank. In this manner he proceeded almost due south through the Punjab and Scinde towards the mouth of the Indus; engaging in hostilities against 15 The Kathæi had formed a confederation with the Oxydraka and Malli, who appear to have occupied the territory in the neighbourhood of Multán. After the fall of Sangala these two tribes tendered their submission to Alexander. CHAPTER IV. Certain tribes who offered resistance, or who revolted after making due submission. In some cases the insurgents were encouraged by the Bráhmans; but Alexander wreaked his vengeance by slaughtering every Bráhman that came in his way. At last he reached the Indian Ocean, and beheld for the first time the phenomena of the tides; and then landed his army and marched through Beloochistan towards Susa, whilst Nearchos conducted the fleet to Return of the the Persian Gulf, and finally joined him in the same city.16 expedition to Persia. Surface observ. ations of the Greeks who accompanied Alexander. The Grecks who accompanied Alexander into the Punjab were careful and acute observers. They accurately described the face of the country, the numerous towns and villages, the abundant harvests, the variety of fruits and vegetables, the cotton shrubs said to produce wool, the sugar-canes said to yield honey, the pillared shades of the banyan trees, the alligators, the elephants, the monkeys, the large serpents, the small cobras, the scorpions, the lizards, the ants, and all the numerous strange sights which meet the eye of every Indian traveller. But they failed to penetrate into the inner life of the people. They saw only the surface, and not very much of that, for they were campaigners in a strange land, harassed throughout by wind and rain; and notwithstanding the enthusiasm of their leader, it is evident that they were utterly weary of the depressing moisture and sweltering heat of the land of Dionysos and Herakles. Some sights attracted their 16 Arrian, v. 22, et seq. The military operations carried on by Alexander during his voyage down the Indus are related at considerable length by Arrian, but throw no further light upon the history of India. Some interesting details respecting the identification of localities will be found in General Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India. curiosity, but they disclosed little of the thoughts CHAPTER IV. and aspirations of the general population. One caste in the important fact may be elicited, that in the Punjab, or at any rate in the countries traversed by Alexander, there was as yet no appearance of caste dis- Absence of tinctions. This is proved by the absence of all Punjab. allusions to caste in the history of Alexander's expedition. It is moreover confirmed by the absence of all similar allusions in the older and more authentic hymns of the Rig-Veda. Had the institution existed, it could scarcely have failed to have attracted the attention of the Greeks; especially as they were eagerly searching for all resemblances between Egypt and India, and would naturally have been struck by such a remarkable similarity in the caste systems of the respective countries. riage customs. The absence of such distinctions in the Punjab Variety of mar may be further inferred from the description of the marriage customs, as furnished by the Greeks who accompanied Alexander. According to the strict law, which, as will presently be seen, already prevailed amongst the people of Hindustan, no member of any caste, or hereditary trade or profession, could marry out of his own class." Yet the marriage customs of the Punjab involved ideas altogether foreign to this law, although not foreign to the difference of tribes. Thus in some tribes virgins were offered as marriage prizes in boxing, wrestling, running, and archery; and the winners chose their own brides, but married them without portions.18 In other tribes a wife was to be bought for a pair of kine,1o but a 17 Megasthenes in Strabo, India, sect. 49. 18 Nearchos in Strabo, India, sect. 66. may be referred to the ancient Swayamvara. Arrian, India, c. xvii. This custom 19 This was the old marriage custom, which prevailed amongst the Vedic Rishis. See ante, p. 23. |