What if Alexander was able to convince his men to press on into India following the battle of Hydaspis river. How will this change history? Will be Alexander be overwhelmed by the sheer number of Indian troops and killed with his men, causing an earlier collapse of his empire? Will he be assassinated so very little is changed? Will his invasion succeed, possibly leading to him remaining in power and his empire surviving? Can India be conquered at all? What's your opinion?
Alexander the great continues his invasion of India
- Thread starter Archon of Thessaly
- Start date
It may just be his version of Napoleons invasion of Russia, he had already bit off more territory then he could chew, let alone the fact his army is tired and wants to go home and he had been draining the available greek manpower dry fighting his invasions which is going to hurt his plans. Honestly this may just break his empire within his lifetime.
Kaiphranos
Donor
Hmm. There's a variation on this scenario I don't think I've seen explored before. Who are the likely candidates to stage a coup or start a civil war?
Alexander would have failed here. His men's morale, even if they hadn't mutinied, would be very low. While I think tactically Alexander could win (assuming that Nanda's troops aren't nearly as numerous as the rumors, and putting stock into Dhana Nanda being as unpopular as the rumors go), it would be such a Pyrrhic victory that it would devastate any chances of him actually controlling such a vast and populated new and very foreign territory, and his men would be absolutely destroyed. And if he lost (which is a very strong possibility), than he's done. His army would be destroyed, and all the satraps would be rebelling and preparing themselves as best they can for the post-Alexander world.
If Alexander were to live, and challenge Chandragupta Maurya with a massive Iranian based army... I think that would work even better with the comparison to Napoleon's invasion of Russia, since Chandragupta is known to have used guerilla warfare, and I can definitely see him doing some scorched earth tactics, and Alexander ultimately being able to be victorious always just out of his reach. Plus the whole Grand Armee thing. If he can succeed in bringing Chandragupta to one pitched battle to decide the fate of Magadha, I think he wins, but it's still doubtful that he maintains Magadha in his empire long-term, and trying to keep it might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back as far as keeping the empire together goes.
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As much as I love the idea of a Greco-Macedonian conquest of (and subsequently a Hellenized) India, even this particular scenario has begun to bore me.
Why can't people entertain the idea of a Seleucid conquest instead, specifically during the reign of King Antiochus III?
Why can't people entertain the idea of a Seleucid conquest instead, specifically during the reign of King Antiochus III?
Because no one ever asks about that? They ask about Alexander the Great conquering India and rarely bring up alternate possibilities like that. It would be at best an incredibly Pyrrhic victory and at worst the most devastating defeat he could ever face.
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From what i read, it seems it was just a huge raid, that burnt a few cities, got tribute and when he got 150 war elephants he just left! It hardly seems likely that he seriously entertained any ideas about conquering India- not without abandoning Syria.
There is a little clarity over the maurya-selucid war, western historians see this as a successful raid by the Seleucids that forced Chandragupta to give away his War Elephants. Indian historians see this as a sucessful attack by the Mauryas that forced the Seleucid to cede parts of modern day Pakistan and Afganistan.
Either way considering the problem the Selucids were having on the Western front, I doubt they could have taken and held Mauryan territory
Either way considering the problem the Selucids were having on the Western front, I doubt they could have taken and held Mauryan territory
I don't see Alexander getting too far into India, but I'm not sure how bad the opposition can be. Given the fact that the Nanda Dynasty collapsed all of five years after the Battle of the Hydaspes, I can't imagine such a state being organized or stable enough to resist well. Also, how many other kings of Porus' stature would there be to oppose Alexander?
Flocculencio
Donor
With scenarios like this no one ever takes into account the sheer scale of India. Alexander was stretched to the limit in Persia- actually conquering the far more heavily populated Indus valley would have been impossible. Successful raids, yes, conquest is another thing entirely.
NothingNow
Banned
Perhaps it could have been a project for his children (*Alexander IV Aegus?) after he starts to consolidate? But even then, it'd be a game of wits between the Argead Dynasty on one side and the Mauryan Dynasty on the other, and I doubt that the Argead emperors would've been able to gain much in the region long term (like a couple Decades at most.)
It certainly would've led to some interesting cases in Hellenization in the Indus valley, and having a semi-stable empire stretching from Macedonia to Kutch or Kathiawar probably would've done wonders for trade and the transmission of knowledge.
Alexander's children would have their hands full ruling the OTL state, tryign to expand would be a tremendously bad idea.
Flocculencio
Donor
Especially since (IIRC) the Indus Valley alone would have more population than the entire rest of the Empire. This makes for a rather lopsided centre of gravity.
I don't know the exact figures, but certainly enough to stretch what little loyal Greco-Macedonian manpower the Argeads have to work with too far.
And Persians etc. are only semi-enthusiastic at best.
Flocculencio
Donor
Because there's not that much to wank with. The Indo-Greek and Greco-Bactrian Kingdoms just don't have the leverage to do much against the Maurya.
But a combined culture of sorts already did form. India and the Greeks did inspire each other's ideas quite a bit.
And if Alexander invaded India for real, he'd get destroyed, even if Nanda collapses in the midst of the war.