[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924) › c10.68 # The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c10.68 The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c10.68 - **Language:** English ### [c10.68](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c10.68) The Greek and Roman historians, who derived their information from either Megasthenes or the companions of Alexander, and thus rank as contemporary witnesses reported at second-hand, throw a little light on the real history. When Alexander was stopped in his advance at the Hyphasis in 326 B. C., he was informed by a native chieftain named Bhagala or Bhagēla, whose statements were confirmed by Pōros, that the king of the Gangaridae and Prasii nations on the banks of the Ganges was named, as nearly as the Greeks could catch the unfamiliar sounds, Xandrames or Agrammes. This monarch was said to command a force of 20,000 horse, 200,000 foot, 2,000 chariots, and 3,000 or 4,000 elephants. Inasmuch as the capital of the Prasii nation undoubtedly was Pātaliputra, the reports made to Alexander can have referred only to the king of Magadha, who must have been one of the Nandas mentioned in native tradition.³ The reigning king was alleged to be extremely unpopular, owing to his wickedness and base origin. He was, it is said, the son of a barber, who, having become the paramour of the queen of the last legitimate sovereign, contrived the king's death, and, under pretence of acting as guardian to his sons, got them into his power, and exterminated the royal family. After their extermination he begat the son who was reigning at the time of Alexander's campaign, and who, 'more worthy of his father's condition than his own, was odious and contemptible to his subjects.'¹ - [Previous: c10.67](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c10.67) - [Next: c10.69](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c10.69) - [Up: c10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c10) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c10.68](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c10.68) · Pramāṇa