The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s4.t3.37

c5.s4.t3.37

From the last statement which I have quoted, it is clear that the battle-field was within sight of Alexander's camp. Now, this is especially true of the plain about Mong, which is within easy ken of the east of Alexander's camp at Shah-Kabîr, the nearest point being only 2 miles distant. With this last strong evidence in favour of Jalâlpur as the site of Alexander's camp, I close my discussion of this interesting question. But as some readers, like Mr. Grote,‡ the historian of Greece, may still think that General Abbott has shown “highly plausible reasons” in support of his opinion that Alexander’s camp was at Jhelam, I may here point out that the village of Pabrâl, which he has selected as the battle-field, is not less than 14 miles from Jhelam, and therefore quite beyond the ken of Alexander’s camp. I may quote also Abbott’s own admission that the bed of the Sukhetr river, a level plain of sand one mile in width, “is a torrent after heavy rain, and is so full of quicksands as to be unsuited to military operations.” Now, this very Sukhetr river actually lies between Pabrâl and the site of the Indian camp opposite Jhelam, and as we know that a heavy storm of rain had fallen during the preceding night, the Sukhetr would have been an impassable torrent at the time of the battle. And so also would have been the Jada river, which joins the Jhelam just below the Sukhetr. With these two intervening rivers, which, whether wet or dry, would have been obstacles equally great to the march of the Indian army, and more specially to the passage of the war-chariots, I am quite satisfied that the battle-field could not have been to the north of the Sukhetr river.