Alexander had gone into India as far as Beas -- the Hyphasis River, which you can see under the Aetolian League inset map to the left of the "d". West of the Jhelum (Hydaspes) River, notice the city (Bucephala) named for Alexander's famous horse and Taxila, the ancient capital of the area of the Punjab located between the Hydaspes and Indus. The name of the city means "City of Cut Stone" or "Rock of Taksha".
Taxila was an important point along the Silk Road that was destroyed in the 5th century by Huns. The Persian King Darius I had added Taxila to the Achaemenid empire but it was lost again by the time Alexander invaded India.
The king of Taxila, Amphi (Omphis), welcomed Alexander with feasting and gift-exchanges. Then, leaving the people of Taxila in peace, although Amphi may have been under the military suzerainty of one of Alexander's men (Philip; later, Eudamos) and an occupation army, Alexander went to Hydaspes to help Amphi, by fighting a pitched battle against a numerically superior force, supplemented with elephants, led by King Porus, who ruled the area between the Hydaspes (Jhelum) and Acesines (Chenab) rivers. Although Alexander won the battle, he reinstated Porus' kingdom, added to it, and made him and Amphi reconcile their differences.
References
- "Alexander and India"
A. K. Narain
Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 12, No. 2, Alexander the Great (Oct., 1965), pp. 155-165 - "Mauryya Chronology and Connected Problems"
N. K. Bhattasali
The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No. 2 (Apr., 1932), pp. 273-288 - Jona Lendering Taxila
- "Taxila" Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. John Everett-Heath. Oxford University Press 2005.
- Taxila. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica.
- World 66 Travel Guide Taxila
