The story of Alexander the Great is very familiar to most Indians that when Alexander invaded India in 326 BCE. He fought a fierce battle with King Porus (battle of the Hydaspes River) in modern day Pakistan.
Porus was defeated but Alexander spared his life and allowed him to rule the area under his name. Alexander then reached the Beas River and decided to turn back after his army started revolting (many people in the ancient world including the Greeks also believed that India was the end of the world and it would not make sense to keep advancing)
As Alexander started his long journey back to Macedonia he awarded most of the lands captured by him to various Satraps (Persian name for governors).
Over the course of time many of these governors became emperors controlling large tracks of land themselves. the lasting legacy that they left on the long history of India.
Indian history teaches that the Mauryan Empire came into existence immediately after Alexander’s arrival in northwestern India. Chandragupta Maurya (340 BCE to 298 BCE) is credited with founding the Maurya Empire and establishing the first “Indian” empire by defeating the Greek Satraps. How do we explain such a major Indian empire coming into existence just 15 years after Alexander’s arrival at the Beas River?
In Greek and Latin Chandragupta Maurya is known as Sandrokottos or Androcottus. Very little is known about him or his lineage. Some Indian historians claim that he is the illegitimate child born to a Nanda prince and a maid. Others claim that he was raised by peacock tamers. But history is murky. The dates attributed to reign of Chandragupta Maurya are not set in stone and that is what makes his story very interesting.
Mauryan King including the great Ashoka or the Greeks has been found in Patna. This is true for the Nanda kings who the Mauryans supposedly captured. So where were the Mauryans actually ruling and who is Chandragupta Maurya?
Chandragupta Maurya setting up the Mauryan Empire following Alexander’s retreat there is evidence to show that Chandragupta was a contemporary of Alexander and fought and lost a major battle with Alexander in Patali. This will mean that the Mauryan Empire was mostly an empire that existed in Northwestern India (including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran) and probably did not exist in modern day Central and Eastern India (which could be the reason why the archeological evidence is missing)
After capturing Taksila (city in Pakistan), Alexander left the city under the control of one of his Satraps known as Orontobates (some accounts indicate that Orontobates was a Persian. Alexander’s army just like most armies in the world today had soldiers and generals from lands that they captured). Orontobates was also known as Tridates. He later on assumed the name of Sasigupta (known in Greek as Sasicottos).
Chandragupta was before he became emperor of “India”). This Persian was an important member of Alexander’s conquests. Diodorus (ancient Greek historian) indicates that it was Tridates who handed the Persian treasury over to the Greeks after Alexander defeated the Persian Empire led by King Darius III.
Walang komento:
Mag-post ng isang Komento