The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s1.t11.12

c5.s1.t11.12

Mr. Loewenthal rests his arguments in favour of the castle of Raja Hodi being the Aornos of Alexander, chiefly on the great similarity of the name of Banáras, and partly on Sir Neville Chamberlain’s opinion “that the hill above Khairabad is not only a most conspicuous point for friend and foe, but also one that must be taken before a passage of the Indus at Attok would be attempted by an invading force.” The first argument has already been disposed of in my discussion on the name of Aornos. The second argument takes two things for granted; first, that Alexander crossed the Indus at Attak, and, therefore, that he must have reduced the castle of Raja Hodi before he attempted the passage of the river; and next, that the people of the country had thrown themselves into Aornos to oppose his passage. The latter was certainly not the case, as we are told by Arrian that the people of Bazaria, “distrusting their strength, fled out of the city in the dead of night, and betook themselves to a rock, called Aornos, for safety.* Here we see clearly that the people of Bazaria were desirous of avoiding instead of opposing Alexander; from which we may infer that Aornos did not command that passage of the Indus which Alexander had chosen for his bridge of boats. But as all the accounts agree in placing the scene of Alexander’s campaign before crossing the Indus in the country to the north of the Kophes, or Kabul river, it appears quite certain that neither Aornos itself nor the bridge of boats could have been in the neighbourhood of Attak. For these reasons I conclude that the ruined castle of Raja Hodi cannot possibly be identified with the Aornos of Alexander. Indeed, its name alone seems sufficient to forbid the identification, as the people are unanimous in calling it Raja Hodi-da-garhi, or Hodi-garhi, an appellation which has not even one syllable in common with Aornos.