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Battle of the Hydaspes

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Battle of the Hydaspes River
Part of the Wars of Alexander the Great

A painting by Charles Le Brun depicting Alexander and Porus during the Battle of the Hydaspes
Date326 BC
Location
Near the Hydaspes River (known as Jhelum River)
Result Macedonian Pyrrhic victory[1]
Belligerents
Macedonian Empire
Greek allies
Persian allies
Indian allies		 Paurava
Commanders and leaders
Alexander the Great,
Craterus		 King Porus
Strength
34,000 infantry,[2][3][4]
7,000 cavalry[5][6]		 20,000 infantry,[7]
2,000 cavalry,[7]
200 war elephants,[8][9]
1,000 chariots[10]
Casualties and losses
4,000 infantry killed,[11]
280 cavalry killed,[12]
8,000 wounded[13]		 12,000 killed,[14]
9,000 captured[14]

The Battle of the Hydaspes River was a battle fought by Alexander the Great in 326 BC against the Indian king Porus (Pururava or Purushotthama in Sanskrit) on the Hydaspes River (the Jhelum) in the Punjab region of ancient India, near Bhera now in Pakistan. The kingdom of Paurava of King Porus was situated in the part of Punjab which is now part of modern day Pakistan (see Pakistani Punjab). The Hydaspes was the last major battle fought by Alexander. Although victorious, Alexander's exhausted army mutinied and refused to go any further into India. His tired army saw the use of war elephants for the first time in years since Gaugamela. King Porus and his men put up a fierce resistance against the invading Macedonian army which even won the admiration and respect of Alexander.[15]

Location

The battle took place on the east bank of the Hydaspes River (now called the river Jhelum, a tributary of the river Indus) near the town of Nicaea, present-day Muga or Mong[16][17] in the Punjab province of Pakistan.

Prelude

After Alexander defeated the last remnants of the Achaemenid Empire under Bessus and Spitamenes in 328 BC, he began a new campaign against the various Indian kings in 327 BC. Some scholars place the invasion force as high as 135,000 soldiers,[4] while others estimate the fighting force at about 41,000[2] or 46,000.[3]

The main train went into modern day Pakistan through the Khyber Pass, but a smaller force under the personal command of Alexander went through the northern route, taking a fortress at Aornos (modern day Pir-Sar, Pakistan) on the way. In early spring of the next year, he combined his forces and allied with Taxiles (also Ambhi), the King of Taxila, against his neighbor, the King of Hydaspes.

Battle

Alexander's crossing of the Hydaspes river

Porus drew up on the south bank of the Jhelum River, and was set to repel any crossings. The Jhelum River was deep and fast enough that any opposed crossing would probably doom the entire attacking force. Alexander knew that a direct crossing would fail, and so he tried to find a crossing point. Alexander moved his mounted troops up and down the river bank each night, with Porus shadowing him. Eventually, Alexander found a suitable crossing, about 17 miles upstream of his camp. His plan was a classic pincer maneuver: leave his general Craterus behind with most of the army while Alexander crossed the river upstream with a strong part of his army, consisting perhaps of 10,000 foot and 5,000 horse. Craterus was to ford the river and attack if Porus faced Alexander with all his troops, but to remain if Porus faced Alexander with only a part of his army.

Alexander quietly moved his part of the army upstream and then traversed. He landed on an island, however, but was soon on the other side of the river. To combat the new threat, Porus sent a small cavalry and chariot force under his son to the crossing. The force was easily routed, the chariots in particular being impeded by the mud near the shore of the river, with Porus' son among the dead. Porus now saw that the crossing force was larger, and decided to face it with the bulk of his army. He left behind a small detachment to disrupt the landing of Craterus' force now crossing the river.

When the battle actually started, the Macedonian cavalry was to the right of the line, but Alexander sent a group of cavalry to circle behind the Indians and attack them from behind. The Indians were poised with cavalry on both flanks, the war elephants in front, and infantry behind the elephants.

These war elephants presented an especially difficult situation for Alexander. Most of his success on the battlefield came from his ability to separate the enemy lines and drive his crack Companion cavalry into the opening. This was used with devastating effectiveness at both Issus and Gaugamela. However, the Indian elephants scared the Macedonian horses. The mere scent of these incredible creatures forced Alexander to modify his strategy.

Alexander started the battle by sending horse archers to shower the Indian left cavalry wing. After this, he led the customary charge on the weakened cavalry wing. Predictably, the Indian right cavalry wing galloped to the opposite wing in order to reinforce the charged cavalry. At this moment, Alexander sent his officer Coenus with cavalry either to attack the Indian left by way of circling behind the enemy, or to attack the Indian cavalry after a feint to the Indian right. Thus, Alexander was able to destroy the Indian cavalry while minimizing his mounted units' exposure to the Indian war elephants. Had the Indian cavalry not been destroyed they could have endangered his phalanxes later in the battle, and the Macedonian horse may not have been able to support the foot soldiers against the Indian cavalry due to the proximity of the elephants.

Combined attack of cavalry and infantry

Meanwhile, the Macedonian phalanxes had advanced to engage the charge of the war elephants, which was stopped, albeit with heavy casualties to the infantry. The Macedonians eventually surrounded the Indian force, which amounted to a mass surrender.

Porus was one of many Indians who impressed Alexander. Wounded in his shoulder, standing at seven feet tall, but still on his feet, he was asked by Alexander how he wished to be treated. "Treat me, O Alexander, like a king" Porus responded.[18]

Macedonian losses to their cavalry arm was much less than in the infantry, with 280 killed. Alexander lost as many as 4,000 infantry, mostly phalanx troops,[11] while 12,000 of his men were wounded in total.[13] They had borne the brunt of the fighting against the elephants, as the horses of the Macedonian cavalry had refused to go near the beasts. Indian losses amounted to 12,000 dead and 9,000 men captured.

Aftermath and consequence

The bravery and war skills of Porus impressed Alexander. Alexander spared the life of Porus, although he had been defeated, and let him rule Hydaspes in Alexander's name. This was as far as Alexander could go. At this time, the Magadha Empire further east on the Gangetic plain had 6,000 war elephants, while Chandragupta Maurya of the Mauryan Empire years later acquired 9,000 war elephants. These numbers of war elephants were many times larger than the numbers employed by the Persians and Greeks, which was discouraging for Alexander's men and stayed further progress into India.[17]

Hydaspes River might have been the first time they saw an elephant charge. The combat against these attacking pachyderms was said to have had a fearful psychological effect on Alexander's men, particularly those in the phalanxes. That they withstood the war elephants was a tremendous testament to their discipline and skill as soldiers.

Afterwards, Alexander founded Alexandria Nikaia (Victory), located at the battle site, to commemorate his triumph. He also founded Alexandria Bucephalus on the opposite bank of the river. Alexander did this in memory of his recently deceased and much cherished horse, Bucephalus.

Notes

  1. ^ Welman
  2. ^ a b Welman estimates 41,000 soldiers in total.
  3. ^ a b Guha estimates 46,000 soldiers in total.
  4. ^ a b Harbottle estimates as high as 135,000 soldiers in total.
  5. ^ Arrian 5.18.3 estimates 5,000 cavalry under Alexander's command.
  6. ^ Fuller estimates a further 2,000 cavalry under Craterus' command.
  7. ^ a b Plutarch 62.1:

    "But this last combat with Porus took off the edge of the Macedonians' courage, and stayed

    their further progress into India. For having found it hard enough to defeat an enemy who brought but twenty thousand foot and two thousand horse into the field, they thought they had reason to oppose Alexander's design of leading them on to pass the Ganges, too, which they were told was thirty-two furlongs broad and a fathom deep, and the banks on the further side covered

    with multitudes of enemies."
  8. ^ Curtius 8.13.6
  9. ^ Metz Epitome 54
  10. ^ Plutarch 60.5
  11. ^ a b Green
  12. ^ Diodorus 17.89.3
  13. ^ a b Welman and Guha estimate about 12,000 soldiers in the Macedonian army were killed or wounded.
  14. ^ a b Diodorus 17.89.1-2
  15. ^ Fuller, p.198
  16. ^ Pierre Jouguet, Macedonian Imperialism and the Hellenization of the East, tr. Marryat Ross Dobie, A. A. Knopf (1928), p. 45.
  17. ^ Herbert Bunbury, A History of Ancient Geography Among the Greeks and Romans, London, John Murray (1883), p. 500.
  18. ^ Rogers, p.200

References

Modern

  • Fuller, John (1960). The Generalship of Alexander the Great. New Jersey: De Capo Press.
  • Green, Peter (1974). Alexander of Macedon: A Historical Biography.
  • Manav Guha (2005). Porus and Alexander: The Battle of the Jhelum 327-326 BC. Orders of Battle. General Data LLC.
  • Harbottle, Thomas Benfield (1906). Dictionary of Battles. New York.
  • Rogers, Guy (2004). Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness. New York: Random House.
  • Welman, Nick. Battles (Major) and Army. Fontys University.

Ancient

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