Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c5.57

c5.57

**Insecurity of Greek Rule.** But apart from the military strength which Chandragupta was able to mobilise for his mission, it was materially helped by the internal conditions of the country and other factors which did not augur well for the future of Greek rule in India. Even from the very beginning, the course of Alexander's invasion did not run smooth. It appeared to be smooth only on the surface. Its difficulties lay deeper. Alexander was not sure of his rear. It was threatened by rebellions both among Greeks and Indians. The prospects of his enterprise did not appeal as much to his followers as to him personally. Alexander's policy was to plant colonies of Greek veterans at suitable centres, the new eastern cities, to mark the progress of his conquests, and to secure its fruits [Arrian, V. 27, 5]. Such colonies were set up first in Bactria and Sogdiana, but it was against the will of the colonists who were not reconciled to this exile. They were always longing for opportunity to desert. When Alexander was fighting with the distant Mālavas and received a wound, a rumour of his death spread far and wide, and at once these Greek colonists numbering 3,000 left for home [Diodorus, XVII. 99]. Alexander himself thought of these colonies as penal settlements to which the Greeks convicted of disloyalty were committed [Justin, XII. 5, 8, 13].