arising in the army, as soon as he could bear the fatigue, had himself
conveyed to the banks of the river Hydraôtês, and embarking there,
he sailed down the river to reach the camp, at the junction of the
Hydraôtês and the Akesinês, where Hêphaistiôn commanded the land forces
and Nearchos the fleet. When the vessel which carried the king was now
approaching the camp, he ordered the awning to be removed from the
poop that he might be visible to all. They were, however, even yet
incredulous, supposing that the freight of the vessel was Alexander’s
dead body, until he neared the bank, when he raised his arm and stretched
out his hand to the multitude. Then the men raised a loud cheer, and
lifted up their hands, some towards heaven and some towards Alexander
himself. Tears even started involuntarily to the eyes of not a few at
the unexpected sight. Some of the hypaspists brought him a litter where
he was carried ashore from the vessel, but he called for his horse. When
he was seen once more on horseback, the whole army greeted him with loud
acclamations, which filled with their echoes the shores and all the
surrounding hills and dales. On approaching his tent he dismounted that
he might be seen walking. Then the soldiers crowded round him, touching
some his hands, others his knees, and others nothing but his raiment.
Some, satisfied with nothing more than a near view, went away with
expressions of admiration. Others again covered him with garlands, and
others with the flowers of the clime and the season.
Nearchos says that he was offended with certain of his friends who
reproached him for exposing himself to danger when leading the army,
for this, they said, was not the duty of a commander, but of a common
soldier, and it seems to me that Alexander resented these remarks because
he felt their truth, and knew he had laid himself open to censure. Owing,
however, to his prowess in fighting and his love of glory, he, like other
men who are swayed by some predominant pleasure, yielded to temptation,
lacking sufficient force of will to hold aloof from dangers. Nearchos
also says that a certain elderly Boiôtian (whose name he does not give)
observing that Alexander resented the censures of his friends, and was
giving them sour looks, approached him, and in the Boiôtian tongue thus
addressed him: “O Alexander, it is for heroes to do great deeds,” and
then he subjoined an Iambic verse, the purport of which was that he who
did any great deed was bound also to suffer.[169] The man, it is said,
not only found favour with Alexander, but was admitted afterwards to
closer intimacy.
_Chapter XIV.—Submission of the Malloi, Oxydrakai, and others—Voyage down
the Hydraôtês and Akesinês to the Indus_
At this time envoys came to Alexander from the Malloi who still survived,
tendering the submission of the nation; and from the Oxydrakai came the
leading men of their cities and their provincial governors, besides 150
of their most eminent men, entrusted with full powers to conclude a
treaty. They brought with them those presents which the Indians consider
the choicest, and, like the Malloi, tendered the submission of their
nation. Their error in so long delaying to send an embassy was, they
said, pardonable, for they were attached more than others to freedom
and autonomy, and their freedom they had preserved intact from the
time Dionysos came to India until Alexander’s arrival. Since, however,
Alexander was also, according to current report, of the race of the
gods, they were willing, if he so pleased, to receive whatever satrap
Alexander might appoint, pay the tribute he chose to impose, and give
as many hostages as he required. Upon this he asked for a 1000 men, the
flower of the nation, to be retained, if he thought good, as hostages,
but, if not, to be employed as auxiliaries until he had finished the war
against the other Indians. They selected accordingly 1000 men, their
best and tallest, and sent them to him, together with 500 chariots and
their charioteers, though these were not demanded. Alexander appointed
Philippos as satrap over that nation and over the Malloi who still
survived. The hostages he sent back, but he kept the chariots.
When these arrangements had been completed, and many vessels had been
built in the interval while his wound was healing, he put on board the
fleet 1700 of the cavalry companions, the same number of light-armed
troops as before, and about 10,000 infantry, and sailed a short distance
down the river Hydraôtês. But when the Hydraôtês fell into the Akesinês
he continued the voyage down the latter river (which in preference to
the Hydraôtês gives its name to the united stream) until he reached the
junction of the Akesinês with the Indus. For these four vast rivers which
are all navigable yield up their waters to the river Indus, but not each
of them under its own special name. For the Hydaspês discharges into the
Akesinês, and the single stream then forms what is called the Akesinês.
But this Akesinês again unites with the Hydraôtês, and after absorbing
this river is still the Akesinês. The Akesinês after this receives the
Hyphasis,[170] and still keeping its own name falls into the Indus, but
after the junction it resigns its name to that river. Hence I am ready to
believe that the Indus from this point to where it bifurcates to form the
Delta expands to a breadth of 100 stadia or even more in places where it
spreads out more like a lake than a river.
_Chapter XV.—Appointment of Satraps—Voyage down the Indus to the
dominions of Mousikanos, who tenders his submission_
There at the confluence of the Akesinês and Indus he waited until
Perdikkas arrived with his forces. This general in the course of his
march had subjugated the Abastanoi,[171] one of the independent tribes.
Meanwhile there arrived at the camp other thirty-oared galleys and
transport vessels which had been built for him among the Xathroi,[172]
another independent tribe of Indians whose submission he had received.
From the Ossadioi[173] also, another independent tribe, came envoys
offering the submission of their nation. Alexander then fixed the
confluence of the Akesinês and Indus as the boundary of the satrapy of
Philippos, and left with him all the Thracians and as many foot-soldiers
as seemed sufficient for the defence of his province. Then he ordered
a city to be founded there at the very confluence of the rivers,[174]
hoping it would become a great city and make a name for itself in the
world. He ordered also the construction of dockyards. At this time the
Baktrian Oxyartês, the father of Alexander’s wife Roxana, arrived, and on
him he bestowed the satrapy of the Parapamisadai after dismissing the
previous satrap Tyriaspês, who had been reported guilty of irregularities
in the exercise of his authority.
Then he transported Krateros, with the bulk of the army and the
elephants, to the left side of the river Indus, because the route along
that bank of the river seemed easier for an army heavily accoutred, and
because the tribes inhabiting those parts were not quite friendly. He
sailed himself down to the capital of the Sôgdoi, where he fortified
another city, constructed other dockyards, and repaired his damaged
vessels. He then appointed Oxyartês and Peithôn satraps of the country
which extended from the confluence of the Indus and Akesinês to the sea,
together with the whole sea-board of India.[175]
Krateros he again despatched with the army [through the country of the
Arachôtians and Drangians]; while he sailed down himself to the realm
of Mousikanos,[176] which was reported to be the most opulent in India,
because that sovereign had neither come to surrender himself and his
country, nor sent envoys to seek his friendship. He had not even sent
presents to show the respect due to a mighty king, nor had he asked any
favour from Alexander. He therefore made the voyage down the river so
rapidly that he reached the frontiers of the country of Mousikanos before
that prince had even heard that Alexander had started to attack him.
Mousikanos, dismayed by his sudden arrival, hastened to meet him, taking
the choicest presents India could offer and all his elephants with him.
He offered to surrender both his nation and himself, and acknowledged his
error, which was the most effective way with Alexander to obtain from him
whatever one wanted. Alexander therefore granted Mousikanos a full pardon
on account of his submission and penitence, expressed much admiration of
his capital and his realm, and confirmed him in his sovereignty. Krateros
was then ordered to fortify the citadel which protected the capital, and
this work was executed while Alexander was still on the spot. A garrison
was placed in the fortress, which he thought suitable for keeping the
surrounding tribes in subjection.
_Chapter XVI.—Campaign against Oxykanos and Sambos_
Then he took the archers and the Agrianians and the cavalry which was
sailing with him, and marched against the governor of a district in
that part of the country whose name was Oxykanos, because he neither
came himself nor sent envoys to offer the surrender of himself and his
country.[177] At the first assault he took by storm the two largest
cities under the rule of Oxykanos, in the second of which that chief
himself was taken prisoner. The booty he gave to the army, but the
elephants he led away and reserved for himself. The other cities in
the same country surrendered without attempting resistance wherever he
advanced; so much were the minds of all the Indians paralysed with abject
terror by Alexander and the success of his arms.
He then advanced against Sambos, whom he had appointed satrap of the
Indian mountaineers, and who was reported to have fled on hearing that
Mousikanos had been pardoned by Alexander, and was ruling his own
land, for he and Mousikanos were on hostile terms. But when Alexander
approached the city called Sindimana,[178] which formed the metropolis of
the country of Sambos, the gates were thrown open on his arrival, and the
members of the household of Sambos with his treasure (of which they had
reckoned up the amount) and his elephants went forth to meet him. Sambos,
these men informed him, had fled, not from hostility to Alexander, but
from fears to which the pardon of Mousikanos had given rise. He captured
besides another city,[179] which had at this time revolted, and he put to
death all those Brachmans who had instigated the revolt. These Brachmans
are the philosophers of the Indians, and of their philosophy, if so it
may be called, I shall give an account in my work which describes India.
_Chapter XVII.—Mousikanos is captured by Peithôn and executed—Alexander
reaches Patala at the apex of the Indus Delta_
Meantime he received word that Mousikanos had revolted. Thereupon he
despatched the satrap Peithôn, the son of Agênor, against him with an
adequate force, while he marched himself against the cities which had
been placed under the rule of Mousikanos. Some of these he razed to
the ground after reducing the inhabitants to slavery; into others he
introduced garrisons and fortified their citadels. When these operations
were finished he returned to the camp and the fleet—whither Mousikanos
was conducted, who had been taken prisoner by Peithôn. Alexander ordered
the rebel to be taken to his own country and hanged there, together with
all those Brachmans who had instigated him to revolt. Then there came to
him the ruler of the country of the Patalians, which, as I have stated,
consists of the Delta formed by the river Indus, and is larger than the
Egyptian Delta. This chief surrendered to him the whole of his land, and
entrusted both himself and all his possessions to him. Alexander sent him
back to his government with orders to make all due preparations for the
reception of his expedition. He then sent away Krateros into Karmania
by the route through the Arachôtians and the Sarangians,[180] leading
the brigades of Attalos, Meleager, and Antigenês, along with some of
the archers and such of the companions and other Macedonians as he was
sending home to Macedonia as unfit for further service. He also sent away
the elephants with him. The rest of the army, except that portion which
with himself was sailing down to the sea, was placed under the command of
Hêphaistiôn. Peithôn, who led the horse-lancers and the Agrianians, he
transported to the opposite bank so that he might not be on that side of
the river by which Hêphaistiôn was to advance. Peithôn was instructed to
put colonists into the cities which had just been fortified, to suppress
any insurrection which the Indians might attempt, to introduce settled
order among them, and then to join him at Patala.
On the third day after Alexander had started on the voyage, he was
informed that the Prince of Patala was fleeing from that city, taking
with him most of its inhabitants, and leaving the country deserted.
He accordingly accelerated his voyage down the river, and on reaching
Patala found that both the city itself and the cultivated lands which lay
around it had been deserted by the inhabitants. But he despatched his
lightest troops in pursuit of the fugitives, and when some of these had
been captured sent them on to their countrymen to bid them take courage
and return, for they were free to inhabit their city and cultivate their
lands as formerly; and so most of them did return.[181]
_Chapter XVIII.—Alexander orders wells to be dug in the district round
Patala, and sails down the western arm of the Indus_
After directing Hêphaistiôn to construct a citadel in Patala, he sent out
men into the adjacent country, which was waterless, to dig wells[182] and
make it habitable. Some of the barbarians in the neighbourhood attacked
them, and, as they fell upon them quite unexpectedly, killed several of
their number, but as the assailants lost many on their own side, they
fled to the desert. The men were thus able to complete the work they were
sent to execute, especially as Alexander, on learning that they had been
attacked by the barbarians, had sent additional troops to take part in
the work.
Near Patala the stream of the Indus is divided into two large
rivers,[183] both of which retain the name of the Indus till they enter
the sea. Here Alexander set about the construction of a roadstead and
dock, and when some satisfactory progress had been made with these
undertakings, he resolved to sail down to the mouth of the right arm of
the river.[184] To Leonnatos he gave the command of about 1000 cavalry
and 8000 heavy and light infantry, and despatched him to move down the
island of Patala, holding along the shore in a line with the squadron of
ships. He set out himself on a voyage down the right arm of the river,
taking with him the fastest vessels with one and a half bank of oars,
all the thirty-oared galleys, and several of the smaller craft. As the
Indians of that region had fled, he had no pilot to direct his course,
and this made the navigation all the more difficult. Then on the second
day after he had started a storm arose, and the gale blowing against the
current made deep furrows in the river, and battered the hulls of the
vessels so violently that most of his ships were damaged, while some of
the thirty-oared galleys were completely wrecked, though the sailors
managed to run them on shore before they went all to pieces in the
water. Other vessels were therefore constructed; and Alexander, having
despatched the quickest of the light-armed troops some distance into
the interior, captured some Indians, whom he employed in piloting his
fleet for the rest of the voyage. But when they found themselves where
the river expands to the vast breadth of 200 stadia the wind blew strong
from the outer sea, and the oars could scarcely be raised in the swell.
They therefore again drew toward the shore for refuge, and the fleet was
steered by the pilots into the mouth of a canal.
_Chapter XIX.—The fleet is damaged by the tide, halts at an island in the
Indus, and thence reaches the open sea_
While the fleet was at anchor here, a vicissitude to which the Great Sea
is subject occurred, for the tide ebbed, and their ships were left on
dry ground. This phenomenon, of which Alexander and his followers had
no previous experience, caused them no little alarm, and greater still
was their dismay, when in due course of time the tide advanced, and the
hulls of the vessels were floated aloft. Those vessels which it found
settled in the soft mud were uplifted without damage, and floated again,
nothing the worse for the strain; but as for those vessels which had been
left on a drier part of the beach, and were not firmly embedded, some
on the advance of a massive wave fell foul of each other, while others
were dashed upon the strand and shattered in pieces.[185] Alexander
caused these vessels to be repaired as well as circumstances allowed,
and despatched men in advance down the river in two boats to explore an
island at which the natives informed him he must anchor on his way to the
sea. They said that the name of the island was Killouta.[186] When he
learned that the island had harbours, was of great extent, and yielded
water, he ordered the rest of the fleet to make its way thither, but he
himself with the fastest sailing ships advanced beyond the island to see
the mouth of the river, and ascertain whether it offered a safe and easy
passage out into the open main. When they had proceeded about 200 stadia
beyond the island, they descried another which lay out in the sea. Then
they returned to the island in the river, and Alexander, having anchored
his ships near its extremity, offered sacrifice to those gods to whom, he
said, Ammôn had enjoined him to sacrifice. On the following day he sailed
down to the other island which lay in the ocean, and approaching close to
it also, offered other sacrifices to other gods and in another manner.
These sacrifices, like the others, he offered under sanction of an oracle
given by Ammôn. He then advanced beyond the mouths of the river Indus,
and sailed out into the great main to discover, as he declared, whether
any land lay anywhere near in the sea, but, in my opinion, chiefly that
it might be said that he had navigated the great outer sea of India. He
then sacrificed bulls to the god Pôseidôn, which he threw into the sea;
and following up the sacrifice with a libation, he threw the goblet and
bowls of gold into the bosom of the deep as thanks-offerings, beseeching
the god to conduct in safety the naval expedition which he intended
to despatch under Nearchos to the Persian Gulf and the mouths of the
Euphrates and Tigris.
_Chapter XX.—Alexander after returning to Patala sails down the eastern
arm of the Indus_
On his return to Patala, he found the citadel fortified, and Peithôn
arrived with his troops after completing the objects of his expedition.
Hêphaistiôn was then ordered to prepare what was requisite for the
fortification of the harbour, and the construction of a dockyard,
for here at the city of Patala, which stands where the river Indus
bifurcates, he meant to leave behind him a very considerable naval
squadron.
He himself sailed down again to the Great Sea by the other mouth of the
Indus,[187] to ascertain by which of the mouths it was easier to reach
the ocean. The mouths of the river Indus are about 1800 stadia distant
from each other.[188] When he was approaching the mouth, he came to a
large lake formed by the river in widening out, unless, indeed, this
watery expanse be due to rivers which discharge their streams into it
from the surrounding districts, and give it the appearance of a gulf
of the sea;[189] for salt-water fish were now seen in it of larger
size than the fish in our sea. Having anchored in the lake, at a place
selected by the pilots, he left there most of the soldiers under the
command of Leonnatos and all the boats, while he himself with the
thirty-oared galleys, and the vessels with one and a half bank of oars
passed beyond the mouth of the Indus, and sailing out into the sea by
this other route, satisfied himself that the mouth of the Indus on this
side was easier to navigate than the other. He then anchored his fleet
near the beach, and taking with him some of the cavalry, proceeded along
the shore a three days’ journey, examining what sort of a country it
was for a coasting voyage, and ordering wells to be sunk for supplying
sea-farers with water. He then returned to the fleet, and sailed back
to Patala. He sent, however, a part of the army to complete the work of
digging wells along the shore, with instructions to return to Patala
on their completing this service. Sailing down again to the lake, he
constructed there another harbour and other docks, and, having left a
garrison in the place, he collected sufficient food to supply the army
for four months, and made all other necessary preparations for the voyage
along the coast.
_Chapter XXI.—Alexander crosses the river Arabios and invades the Oreitai_
The season of the year was impracticable for navigation from the
prevalence of the Etesian winds, which do not blow there as with us
from the north, but come as a south wind from the Great Ocean. It was
ascertained that from the beginning of winter, that is from the setting
of the Pleiades,[190] till the winter solstice, the weather was suitable
for making voyages, because the mild breezes which then blow steadily
seaward from the land, which is drenched by this time with heavy rains,
favour coasting voyages, whether made by oar or by sail. Nearchos, who
had been appointed to the command of the fleet, was waiting for the
season for coasting, but Alexander set out from Patala, and advanced with
the whole of his army to the river Arabios.[191] He then took half of the
hypaspists and archers, the infantry brigades called foot companions,
the corps of companion cavalry, and a squadron from each division of the
other cavalry, and all the horse archers, and turned towards the sea,
which lay on the left, not only to dig as many wells as possible for
the use of the expedition while coasting those shores, but also to fall
suddenly upon the Oreitai (an Indian tribe in those parts which had long
been independent), because they had rendered no friendly service either
to himself or the army. The command of the troops which he did not take
with him was entrusted to Hêphaistiôn. There was settled near the river
Arabios another[192] independent tribe called the Arabitai, and, as
these neither thought themselves a match for Alexander, nor yet wished
to submit to him, they fled into the desert when they learned that he
was marching against them. But Alexander having crossed the Arabios,
which was neither broad nor deep, traversed the most of the desert, and
found himself by daybreak near the inhabited country. Then leaving orders
with the infantry to follow him in regular line, he set forward with
the cavalry, which he divided into squadrons, to be spread over a wide
extent of the plain, and it was thus he marched into the country of the
Oreitai.[193] All who turned to offer resistance were cut down by the
cavalry, but many were taken prisoners. He then encamped near a small
sheet of water, and on being joined by the troops under Hêphaistiôn still
continued his progress, and arrived at the village called Rambakia,[194]
which was the largest in the dominions of the Oreitai. He was pleased
with the situation, and thought that if he colonised it, it would become
a great and prosperous city. He therefore left Hêphaistiôn behind him to
carry this scheme into effect.
_Chapter XXII.—Submission of the Oreitai—Description of the Gadrôsian
desert_