Battle of Hydaspes
The battle of the Hydaspes River was a battle fought by Alexander the Great in 326 BC against the Indian king Purushotthama (better known as Porus) on the Hydaspes River (now the Jhelum) in present-day Pakistan. Although Alexander was victorious, his army refused to go any further into India. His tired army saw the use of elephants for the first time in war and were afraid of what other such war techniques might they have to face. Later Purushotthama trained Alexander's army to combat such attacks.
Combatants
- Macedonians and various Greek, Persian and Indian Allies, led by Alexander. With about 4,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry.
- King Purushotthama with 200 War elephants, 6,000 Cavalry, and 30,000 Infantry.
The Macedonians also had a significant force (some say 5 times the amount Alexander commanded). Under the control of Craterus, posing as a diversionary force across the river (see below).
Location
The battle took place on the east bank of the Hydaspes River, near present day Lilla, Pakistan and Bhora, Pakistan.
Prelude
After Alexander's defeat of the last remnants of the Achaemenidian Empire under Bessus in 328 BC, he started a new campaign versus the various Indian kings in 327 BC. Some place the invasion force as 120,000 men, others say that the fighting force was probably no more than 35,000 men, at most a third of it as cavalry.
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 the early spring of next year, he combined his forces and allied with the King of Taxila against his neighbor the King of Hydaspes.
Battle
The King of Hydaspes drew up on the left bank of the Hydaspes River, and was set to repel any crossings. The Hydaspes is deep and fast enough that any opposed crossing would probably doom the entire attacking force. So Alexander waited for several days, with lots of marches and counter-marches and information warfare (letting the local peasants "know" that he considered the water too high for crossing, which was learned of by Porus.) One night, after the Indians had gotten complacent, Alexander crossed the Hydaspes with a small force 17 miles upstream. The Porus, seeing the main body under the command of Craterus still in front of him, did not believe that it was a significant crossing, and sent only a small cavalry force under his son to oppose it. The force was easily routed, and Porus' son was killed.
When the battle actually started, the Alexandrian cavalry was to the right of their 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.
Alexander started the battle with a customary charge on the right side (the Indian's left) with predictable results, the Indian left became weak, and Porus reinforced that side with cavalry from the right. This left nobody to oppose the circling cavalry which attacked from behind.
Meanwhile, the Phalanxes and the attached Persian infantry had advanced to engage the charge of the war elephants, which was stopped, albeit with heavy casualties to the infantry. The mahouts of the elephants were killed, and some hamstrung, the Alexandrian force eventually surrounded the Indian force. After massive casualties, Porus, who was wounded in the fighting, surrendered.
Casualty figures are hard to come by, but the Indians are said to have lost all of their cavalry, many (most?) of their infantry, and over 100 elephants. The Alexandrians captured over 80 elephants, and suffered a heavy toll in their infantry. The losses to their cavalry arm was much less by comparison.
Aftermath
Despite the defeat, Alexander spared Porus' life and let him rule Hydaspes in Alexander's name. This was the furthest that Alexander went, as his army refused to go any further after seeing the first real use of the war elephants and hearing rumors of other more exotic weapons in store in the Indian heartlands.
Curiously, this was not the first time that either the Persians or the Macedonians saw war elephants. There were 20 in Darius's army at the Battle of Gaugamela but they appeared not to have much impact on the battle. Hydaspes River might have been the first time they saw an elephant charge.
Alexander died a few years later in 323 BC and his empire fell apart to civil war. After various battles and revolts, Hydaspes again became independent. As a result of this battle, Alexander founded two cities, Nicaea (Victory) at the site of modern day Jalapur, Pakistan and Bucephala at the site (possibly) of Bhora. Bucephalus was the name of the horse that Alexander rode on, having died either during battle or right afterwards of weariness and old age.
