Part 10

When Alexander arrived at the river Indus he found a bridge already made over it by Hêphaistiôn, and two thirty-oared galleys, besides a great many small boats. He found also a present which had been sent by Taxilês the Indian, consisting of 200 talents of silver, 3000 oxen fattened for the shambles, 10,000 sheep or more, and 30 elephants. The same prince had also sent to his assistance a force of 700 horsemen, and these brought word that Taxilês surrendered into his hands his capital Taxila, the greatest of all the cities between the river Indus and the Hydaspês. Alexander there offered sacrifices to the gods to whom it was his custom to sacrifice, and entertained his army with gymnastic and equestrian contests on the banks of the river. The sacrifices proved to be favourable for his undertaking the passage.

_Chapter IV.—General description of the Indus and of the people of India_

That the Indus is the greatest of all the rivers of Asia, except the Ganges, which is itself an Indian river; that its sources lie on this side of the Paropamisos or Kaukasos;[74] that it falls into the great sea which washes the shores of India towards the south wind; that it has two mouths, both of which outlets abound with shallows, like the five mouths of the Ister; and that it forms a delta in the land of the Indians closely resembling the Egyptian Delta, and that this is called in the Indian tongue Pâtâla,[75] let this be my description of the Indus, setting forth those facts which can least be disputed, since the Hydaspês and the Akesinês and the Hydraôtês and the Hyphasis, which are also Indian rivers, are considerably larger than any other rivers in Asia, but are smaller, I may even say much smaller, than the Indus, just as also the Indus itself is smaller than the Ganges. Indeed, Ktêsias (if any one thinks him a proper authority) states that where the Indus is narrowest its banks are 40 stadia apart, and where broadest 100 stadia, while its ordinary breadth is the mean between these two distances.[76]

This river Indus Alexander began to cross at daybreak with his army to enter the country of the Indians. Concerning this people I have, in this present work, described neither under what laws they live, nor what strange animals their country produces, nor in what number and variety fish and water-monsters are bred in the Indus, the Hydaspês, the Ganges, and other Indian rivers. Nor have I described the ants which dig up gold for them, nor its guardians the griffins,[77] nor other stories invented rather to amuse than to convey a knowledge of facts, since there was no one to expose the falsehood of any absurd stories told about the Indians. However, Alexander and those who served in his army did expose the falsehood of most of them, although some even of these very men invented lies of their own. They proved also, in contradiction of the common belief, that the Indians were goldless, those tribes at least, and they were many, which Alexander visited with his army; and that they were not at all luxurious in their style of living, while they were of so great a stature[78] that they were amongst the tallest men in Asia, being five cubits in height, or nearly so. They were blacker than any other men except the Aethiopians,[79] while in the art of war they were far superior to the other nations by which Asia was at that time inhabited. For I cannot make any proper comparison between the Indians and the race of ancient Persians, who, under the command of Cyrus, the son of Kambyses, wrested the supremacy of Asia from the Medes, and added to their empire other nations, some by conquest and others by voluntary submission; for the Persians of those days were but a poor people, inhabiting a rugged country and approximating closely in the austerity of their laws and usages to the Spartan discipline.[80] Then with regard to the discomfiture of the Persians in the Skythian land, I cannot with certainty conjecture to what cause it was attributable, whether to the difficult nature of the country into which they were led, or to some other mistake made by Cyrus, or whether it was that the Persians were inferior in the art of war to those Skythians whose territories they invaded.[81]

_Chapter V.—The rivers and mountains of Asia_

However, I shall treat of the Indians in a separate work,[82] in which I shall set down whatever seems to be most credible in the reports supplied by those who accompanied Alexander in his expedition, and by Nearchos who made a voyage round the Great Sea which adjoins the Indians. I shall then add the accounts of the country which were compiled by Megasthenes and Eratosthenês, who are both writers of standard authority. I shall describe the customs of the Indians and the remarkable animals which their country is said to produce, and also the voyage which was made by Nearchos in the outer sea.[83] In the meantime it will suffice if I content myself with describing only what seems requisite to make the account of Alexander’s operations clearly intelligible. Mount Tauros divides Asia, beginning from Mykalê, the mountain which lies opposite to the island of Samos; then forming the boundary of the country of the Pamphylians and Kilikians, it stretches onwards to Armenia. From the Armenians it passes into Mêdia, and runs through the country of the Parthians and the Khorasmians. Reaching Baktria it there unites with Mount Parapamisos, which the Macedonians of Alexander’s army called the Kaukasos, for the purpose, it is said, of magnifying the deeds of Alexander, for it could thus be said that he had carried his victorious arms even beyond the Kaukasos. It is possible, however, that this mountain range may be a continuation of that other Kaukasos which is in Skythia, in the same way as it is a continuation of the Tauric range. For this reason I have before this occasionally called this range Kaukasos, and in future I mean to call it so. This Kaukasos extends as far as the great Indian Ocean in the direction of the east.[84] All the important rivers of Asia accordingly rise either in Mount Tauros or Mount Kaukasos, and shape their courses some to the north, and others to the south. Those which run northward discharge their waters either into the Maiôtic Lake, or into the Hyrkanian Sea, which is in reality a gulf of the Great Sea.[85] The rivers which run southward are the Euphrates, Tigris, Indus, Hydaspês, Akesines, Hydraôtes, and Hyphasis, together with the rivers between these and the Ganges. All these either enter the sea, or, like the Euphrates, disappear among the swamps which receive their waters.

_Chapter VI.—Position and boundaries of India and how its plains may have been formed_

If anyone takes this view of Asia, that it is divided by the Tauros and the Kaukasos from west to east, then he finds that it is formed by the Tauros itself into two great sections, one of which lies towards the south and the south wind, and the other towards the north and the north wind. The southern section is divided into four parts, of which, according to Eratosthenês, India is the largest, this being also the opinion of Megasthenes who resided with Siburtios the satrap of Arakhôsia, and who tells us that he frequently visited Sandrakottos the king of the Indians.[86] They say that the smallest part is that which is bounded by the river Euphrates, and which extends to our own inland sea, while the other two parts which lie between the river Euphrates and the Indus will scarcely bear comparison with India even if both were taken together. They also say that India is bounded towards the east and the east wind as far as the south by the Great Sea, and towards the north by Mount Kaukasos, as far as its junction with the Tauros, while the river Indus cuts it off from other countries towards the west and the north-west wind as far as the Great Sea. The larger portion of India is a plain, and this, as they conjecture, has been formed from the alluvial deposits of the rivers, just as in other countries plains which are not far off from the sea are generally formations of their respective rivers, a fact which explains why the names of such countries were applied of old to their rivers. There is, for instance, in the country of Asia the plain of the Hermos, a river which rises in the mountain of Mother Dindymênê, and on its way to the sea flows past the Aiolian city of Smyrna. There is again another Lydian plain, called that of the Kaÿstros, which is a Lydian river, and another plain in Mysia, that of the Kaïkos, and another in Karia, that of the Maiandros, which extends as far as the Ionian city of Milêtos. In the case of Egypt again, the two historians, Herodotos, and Hêkataios (or at any rate the author of the work on Egypt, if he was other than Hêkataios) agree in declaring that in the same way Egypt was the gift of its river,[87] and clear proofs have been adduced by Herodotos in support of this view, so that even the country itself got perhaps its name from the river, for that in early times Aigyptos was the name of the river which the Egyptians and other nations now call the Nile the words of Homer sufficiently prove, since he says[88] that Menelaös anchored his ships at the mouth of the river Aigyptos. Now if the rivers we have mentioned, which are of no great size, can each of them separately form in its course to the sea a large tract of new country, by carrying down silt and slime from the upland districts in which they have their sources, there can be no good reason for doubting that India is mostly a plain which has been formed by the alluvial deposits of its rivers.[89] For if the Hermos and the Kaÿstros and the Kaïkos and the Maiandros and the other rivers of Asia which fall into the inland sea were united, they could not be compared in volume of water with one of the Indian rivers, and much less with the Ganges, which is the greatest of them all, and with which neither the volume of the Egyptian Nile, nor the Istros (Danube) which flows through Europe, can be for a moment compared. Nay, the whole of those rivers if combined into one would not be equal to the Indus, which is already a large river where it issues from its springs, and which after receiving as tributaries fifteen rivers,[90] all greater than those of Asia, enters the sea still retaining its own name. Let these remarks which I have made about the country of the Indians suffice for the present, while I reserve all other particulars for my description of India.

_Chapter VII.—The bridging of rivers_

In what manner Alexander made his bridge over the Indus neither Aristoboulos nor Ptolemy, the authorities whom I chiefly follow, have given any account; nor can I decide for certain whether the passage was bridged with boats, as was the Hellespont by Xerxes and as were the Bosporos and the Istros by Darius,[91] or whether the bridge he made over the river was one continuous piece of work. I incline, however, to think that the bridge must have been made of boats,[92] for neither would the depth of the river have admitted the construction of an ordinary kind of bridge, nor could a work so vast and difficult have been executed in so short a time. But if the passage was bridged with boats I cannot decide whether the vessels being fastened together with cables and anchored in a row sufficed to form a bridge as did those by which, as Herodotos the Halikarnassian says, the Hellespont was joined, or whether the method was that which is used by the Romans in bridging the Istros and the Keltic Rhine,[93] and by which they bridged the Euphrates and the Tigris as often as necessity required. Since, however, the Romans, as far as my knowledge goes, have found that the bridging of rivers by boats is the most expeditious method of crossing them, I think it worth a description here. The vessels at a preconcerted signal are let go from their moorings and rowed down stream not prow but stern foremost. The current of course carries them downward, but a small pinnace furnished with oars holds them back till they settle into their appointed place. Then baskets of wicker work, pyramid-shaped and filled with rough stones, are lowered into the river from the prow of each vessel to make it hold fast against the force of the current. As soon as one of those vessels has been held fast another is in the same way anchored with its prow against the stream as far from the first as is commensurate with their bearing the strain of what is put upon them. On both of them beams of wood are rapidly laid lengthwise, and on these again planks are placed crosswise to bind them together. In this manner the work proceeds through all the vessels which are required for bridging the passage. At each end of the structure firmly fixed railed gangways are thrown forward to the shore so that horses and beasts of burden may with the greater safety enter upon it. These gangways serve at the same time to bind the bridge to the shore. In a short time the whole is completed amid great noise and bustle, though discipline is by no means lost sight of as the work proceeds. In each vessel the occasional exhortations of the overseers and their rebukes of negligence neither prevent orders from being heard nor the work from being quickly executed.

_Chapter VIII.—Alexander arrives at Taxila—Receives an embassy from Abisares and advances to the Hydaspês_

This method has been practised by the Romans from of old, but how Alexander bridged the river Indus I cannot say, for even those who served in his army are silent on the matter. But the bridge was made, I should think, as nearly as possible in the way described, or if it was otherwise contrived let it be so.

When Alexander had crossed to the other side of the Indus he again offered sacrifice according to his custom. Then marching away from the Indus he arrived at Taxila,[94] a great and flourishing city, the greatest indeed of all the cities which lay between the river Indus and the Hydaspês. Taxilês, the governor of the city, and the Indians who belonged to it received him in a friendly manner, and he therefore added as much of the adjacent country to their territory as they requested. While he was there Abisarês, the king of the Indians of the hill-country, sent him an embassy which included his own brother and other grandees of his court. Envoys came also from Doxarês, the chief of the province, and those like the others brought presents. Here again in Taxila Alexander offered his customary sacrifices and celebrated a gymnastic and equestrian contest. Having appointed Philip, the son of Makhatas, satrap of the Indians of that district, he left a garrison in Taxila and those soldiers who were invalided, and then moved on towards the river Hydaspês—for he had learned that Pôros with the whole of his army lay on the other side of that river resolved either to prevent him from making the passage or to attack him when crossing.[95] Upon learning this Alexander sent back Koinos, the son of Polemokratês, to the river Indus with orders to cut in pieces all the boats that had been constructed for the passage of the Indus and to bring them to the river Hydaspês. In accordance with these orders the smaller boats were cut each into two sections and the thirty-oared galleys into three, and the sections were then transported on waggons to the banks of the Hydaspês. There the boats were reconstructed, and appeared as a flotilla upon that river. Alexander then taking the forces which he had with him when he arrived at Taxila and 5000 of the Indians commanded by Taxilês and the chiefs of that country advanced towards the Hydaspês.[96]

_Chapter IX.—Alexander on reaching the Hydaspês finds Pôros prepared to dispute its passage_

Alexander encamped on the banks of the river,[97] and Pôros was seen on the opposite side, with all his army and his array of elephants around him.[98] Against the place where he saw Alexander had encamped, he remained himself to guard the passage, but he sent detachments of his men, each commanded by a captain, to guard all parts of the river where it could be easily forded, as he was resolved to prevent the Macedonians from effecting a landing. When Alexander saw this, he thought it expedient to move his army from place to place, so that Pôros might be at a loss to discover his real intentions. For this purpose he divided his army into many parts, and some of the troops he led himself in different directions, sometimes to ravage the enemy’s country, and sometimes to find out where he could most easily ford the river. He placed various commanders at various times over different divisions of his army, and despatched them also in different directions. At the same time he caused provisions to be conveyed to the camp from all parts of the country on this side of the river, to impress Pôros with the conviction that he intended to remain where he was near the bank, till the waters of the river subsided in winter, and afforded him a large choice of passages. As the boats were constantly plying up and down the stream, and the skins were being filled with hay, while all the bank was lined, here with horse and there with foot, all this prevented Pôros from resting and concentrating his preparations at any one point selected in preference to any other as the best for defending the passage. At this time of the year besides, all the Indian rivers were swollen and flowing with turbid and rapid currents, for the sun is then wont to turn towards the summer tropic.[99] At this season incessant rains deluge the soil of India, and the snows of the Kaukasos then melting flood the numerous rivers to which they give birth. In winter they again subside and become small and clear, and in many places fordable, with the exception of the Indus and the Ganges, and perhaps some one or two others. The Hydaspês at all events does become fordable.

_Chapter X.—Alexander’s devices to deceive Pôros and steal the passage of the river_

Alexander therefore publicly announced that he would remain where he was throughout that season of the year if his passage was for the present to be obstructed, but he continued as before waiting in ambush to see whether he could anywhere rapidly steal a passage to the other side without being observed. He clearly saw that it was impossible for him to cross where Pôros himself had encamped near the bank of the Hydaspês, not only because he had so many elephants, but also because his large army arrayed for battle, and splendidly accoutred, was ready to attack his troops the moment they landed. He foresaw besides that his horses would refuse to mount the opposite bank, where the elephants would at once encounter them, and by their very aspect and their roaring would terrify them outright; nor did he think that even before they gained the shore they would remain upon the inflated hides during the passage; but that on seeing the elephants even at a distance off, they would become frantic and leap into the water. He resolved therefore to steal the passage, and to do this in the following way. Leading out by night the greater part of his cavalry along the river bank in different directions, he ordered them to set up a loud clamour, raise the war-shout,[100] and fill the shores with every kind of noise, as if they were really preparing to attempt the passage. Pôros marched meanwhile along the opposite bank, in the direction of the noise, having his elephants with him, and Alexander gradually accustomed him to lead out his men in this way in opposition. When this had been done repeatedly, and the men did nothing more than make a great noise and shout the war-cry, Pôros no longer made any counter-movement when the cavalry issued out from the camp, but remained within his own lines, his spies being, however, posted at numerous points along the bank. When Alexander had thus quieted the suspicions of Pôros about his nocturnal attempts, he devised the following stratagem.

_Chapter XI.—Arrangements made by Alexander for crossing the Hydaspês unobserved_

There was a bluff ascending from the bank of the Hydaspês at a point where the river made a remarkable bend, and this was densely covered with all sorts of trees. Over against it lay an island in the river overspread with jungle, an untrodden and solitary place. Perceiving that this island directly faced the bluff, and that both places were wooded and adapted to screen his attempt to cross the river, he decided to take his army over this way. Now the bluff and the island were 150 stadia distant from the great camp.[101] But along the whole of the bank he had posted running sentries[102] at a proper distance for keeping each other in sight, and readily transmitting along the line any orders that might be received from any quarter. In every direction, moreover, shouts were raised by night, and fires were burnt for many nights together. But when he had made up his mind to attempt the passage, the preparations for crossing were made in the camp without any concealment. In the camp Krateros had been left with his own division of the cavalry, and the Arakhosian and Parapamisadan horsemen, together with the brigades of the Macedonian phalanx commanded by Alketas and Polysperchon and the contingent of 5000 men under the chiefs of the hither Indians. He had ordered Krateros not to attempt to cross the river before Pôros moved off against them, or before learning that he was flying from the field, and that they were victorious. “If, however,” said he, “Pôros with one part of his army advances against me while he leaves the other part and his elephants in his camp, then please to remain where you are; but if Pôros takes all his elephants with him, and a portion of the rest of his army is left behind in the camp, then do you cross the river with all possible speed; for,” added he, “it is the elephants only which make it impossible for the horses to land on the other bank. The rest of the army can cross over without difficulty.”

_Chapter XII.—Alexander crosses the Hydaspês_