Alexander the Great at the Hyphasis

Did Alexander actually want to cross the Hyphasis (Beas) River and advance to the Ganges? The historians present an inconsistent picture: most do not say that he did—indeed, no one would have asserted that he did not for fear of tarnishing the man’s reputation—and the evidence overwhelmingly supports the view that he had other plans and that such an undertaking would have been an aberration, a very foolish one at that. What Alexander himself thought, we cannot know. We do not even know what contemporary historians thought, for everything that they said is known to us through the works of authors who wrote three-to-five hundred years later. What the mythographers and their modern followers claim is at odds with the king’s usual practices and his strategic acumen. If we approach the problem objectively, and with a view to the king’s military and strategic concerns, we must reject the picture created by those who crafted his image. There is sufficient evidence for us to construct a compelling argument—one which restores a measure of greatness to the man—that policy for the subjugation and control of India was based on good military and political sense. The episode at the Hyphasis reveals a man who was tempted by his spirit of adventure but whose actions were governed by reason. The Alexander historians provide the context that demonstrates that turning back at the Hyphasis was not only reasonable but in keeping with what the king intended all along.