Intercourse between India and the Western World from the Earliest Times to the Fall of Rome c8.4

c8.4

But the Macedonian troops, desperate at the thought of new terrors and fresh privations, refused to go any further. They had fought battles, crossed deserts and rivers, and climbed mountain ranges at the order of their leader, but this was too much. The breaking-point had been reached at last. And so Alexander had to content himself with the conquest of the old Persian " satrapy of India." He was no mere military adventurer, and from the first his object was to develop the immense commercial resources of the Panjāb. Trading depôts were founded all along the course of the Indus as the Macedonian army moved towards the mouth of the river. Bukephala and Nikaea were built on the banks of the Hydaspes; Alexandria-on-Indus at the important spot where the Akesines joins the main stream; and Patala at the head of the Indus delta¹. Alexandria-on-Indus soon became an important town. It survived the overthrow of the Macedonian power in the Panjāb for many years, and became famous under the rule of the Baktrian kings as a great Graeco-Buddhist centre. "Alasanda of the Yonas" is mentioned in the Mahāvaṃsa, the chronicle-history of the distant island of Ceylon, as the "capital of the Yona country," and 30,000 monks are said to have come from this place to the dedication-festival of the great tope of Ruanvelli in 137 B.C.¹ We have, curiously enough, in the name of this town, the only mention in Indian literature of the name of the great Macedonian conqueror. Patala remained an important port for western trade, and was the principal harbour in north-western India until its claims were rivalled by Barygaza. Philip, the satrap of Parthia, was put in charge of the new province, with orders to push on the development of the colonies and the completion of the naval docks and other commercial undertakings with all speed². On reaching the mouth of the river, Alexander determined to build a dock at the end of the eastern arm, as he found there an excellent natural harbour, forming a lake-like basin³. Nearchus, the admiral in charge of the Greek fleet, was now sent on to explore the Persian Gulf, while Alexander, undeterred by the legendary stories of the fate of the army of Semiramis, rashly attempted to follow overland across the terrible Mekrān desert.