About Battle Of The Hydaspes
The battle of Hydaspes took place in the mo7nth of May in 326 BC and was fought between Alexander the Great and Paurava Kingdom’s King Porus, in the location of the eastern banks of the Hydaspes river, which in current date happens to be the Jhelum River, which is a tributary of River Indus, but this one happens to be located in the Punjab province lying in the Pakistan side.
The result of this battle led to the victory of the Greeks in this domain, leading to an entire annexation of Punjab. During the battle, when the monsoons had made the Hydaspes river swollen way too much, leading to a list of risks surrounding it, a headstrong Alexander made his army cross the river nonetheless despite heavy surveillance from India, a move which till date is considered to be one of his best; in other words, one of his ‘’masterpieces.’’
The battle is considered to be one the most costly battles in Indian history, and such was the resistance shown by King Porus and his army men, that it conspicuously earned the respect of Alexander the great, and despite their victory, he gave Porus an offer of becoming a Macedonian Satrap, which means a governor. Hence, although Porus was defeated in this battle, history to date claims him to be one of the strongest opponents ever faced by Alexander the Great.
It was this battle of the Hysdaspes that opened the gates of Greek influences in the country of India, which happened to last for centuries later. In the present day, it is quite tough to exactly locate the battle site of this battle, due to prominent landscape changes over the centuries.
It is said that in this same site, Alexander the Great had founded the city of Nicaea, which is a place yet to be discovered even till today.
By lots of speculations and theories, it has also been said that the most probable location of the battle site could be in the south of the city of Jhelum, where there’s a very ancient main road that crossed the Jhelum River, and according to a Buddhist source, the city of Nicaea was also mentioned there.