AHC and WI: Western Conquest of IRV

AHC and WI: Western Conquest of Indus River Valley

As early as Cyrus the Great, as late as Alexander the Great -- who is the best candidate for conquering the whole Indus River Valley (as far south as the Gulf of Khambhat)? And how would history change?

(To distinguish from this thread...)
 
Last edited:
Well, the Indus River Valley was conquered several times by foreign invaders both before Cyrus and after Alexander. If Alexander had not gone straight from Persia to India without leaving much time for resting and regrouping, he would have stood a decent chance.

Cheers,
Ganesha

P.S. I initially didn't click on this thread because I didn't know the acronym IRV. Perhaps you might change that to get more responses.
 
I would have to go with Babur there (pretty easy to come up with something when the guy actually did it).
 
One of the Persian Kings of Kings could have done it. Holding it for long is another issue- the trouble with Persians and India is that by pushing into the Indus valley any Persian polity is taking over what will be by far the most heavily populated and richest part of the Empire. This tend to throw any Persia Empire off balance because a disproportionate amount of resources need to be devoted to holding this which would, in the long run, lead to structural problems. The Indus province will be the first thing to split off once civil unrest happens to hit the Empire. The other option is moving the seat of government to the Indus valley but then the rest of the Empire will start fraying at the first opportunity.
 
Top