Alexander’s Empire
323 BCE – A mosquito in Babylon dies and does not give Alexander the Great malaria[1]. He continues his journey back to Greece.
322 BCE – Chandragupta Maurya conquers the Indo-Gangetic Plains, along with Bengal[2].
321 BCE – Alexander reaches Athens, the capital of the Hellenic League. A vast celebration is held. To prevent a mutiny, which was beginning to break out amongst his men, he decides to prevent any military campaign from occurring over the course of the next five years.
Alexander, along with his many wives obtained over the course of his many conquests[3], sets up a capital at Athens. He hears word of a rising empire in India[4], so any such plans of preventing military campaigns comes to an end. He begins to travel to India, sensing that war is near.
319 BCE – In the wake of the unification of North India, Alexander sends troops to guard holdings in Punjab and Bactria[5].
317-297 BCE – Hellenic-Maurya War. In the beginning, the Maurya take Punjab and most of southern Bactria in Alexander’s first military defeats. In 311 BCE, a truce is called, but in 306 BCE, Chandragupta Maurya takes most northern Bactria[6]. Alexander I, and, following his death, Alexander II (Alexander IV of Macedon), fight against the Maurya in this war, but ultimately loses the majority of Bactria to the Maurya.
[1] – This is, of course, presuming malaria killed Alexander the Great.
[2] – As with OTL.
[3] – It’s when Rome was a small insignificant town, of course everyone practiced polygamy!
[4] – The Maurya Empire, as with OTL, rises.
[5] – Greek name for Afghanistan and parts of Iran.
[6] In OTL, around this time, this war occurs with the Seleucid Empire, but with more land taken by Chandragupta Maurya (up to Central Asia) and a far shorter war. Alexander the Great would not be defeated so easily without the exhaustion Wars of the Diadochi, so the war is longer and far less land is conquered.