Whatever might be the time of invasion of Alexander in ancient India, it does continue to give rise to intellectual dissensions still. If you look into the history and also the opinions of different schools of thoughts, it gets clear that there have never been any uniform thoughts among historians over Alexander’s aim of invading India and his subsequent thoughts. What is most striking, even some historians refuse to accept the generosity showed by Alexander to King Porus any more and as per them, it was Alexander who was actually defeated instead of Porus. They do also state with conviction that this defeat compelled the great Greek leader to withdraw from India, termed as “paradise of earth” by Greek authors, without ado.Can this be accepted ever? Why don’t we make an effort to find out the reality at this moment? Alexander the Great, by and large, happened to be King of Macedonia and is regarded as one of the greatest conquerors the world has ever seen. What made the young Macedonian monarch lead an expedition up to India? This question does also haunt many historians from time to time. Nevertheless, as per a few ancient anecdotes, the young monarch had an ambition to conquer the entire globe from his own childhood. With this end in view, he did conquer almost the length and breadth of Persia. The instant he became successful in marauding Persia, he decided to make India surrender, known for its immense booty and treasure and also as the heaven on earth in Europe from primordial days. It is generally reckoned that Alexander did subsist between 356 B.C and 323 B.C. and as a result his feat took place during this time only. It is worthwhile to mention even if Alexander’s invasion remained confined within the north-west part of India only, it does continue to have a remarkable effect in the Indian history. It has already been said that India was not an unknown object in ancient Greece and since Persians ruled Indian territories in profusion and earned revenues in the form of gold, all these were enough to tempt Alexander the Great and his army. The telling invasion took place through the northern frontiers and as soon as Indus River was crossed the Greek monarch encountered King Ambi of Taxila.The Indian King, devoid of showing any resistance, bowed before the Greek army. However, King Porus, considered as one of the most potent Indian rules in those days, refused to give up so easily and this antagonistic frame of mind led to a violent clash between Indians and Greeks. Indians became able to put up perhaps one of the strongest resistances known in the history and its ferocity even impressed the Greeks to a large extent. but what mattered most was the graciousness and clout of King Porus. In accordance with historical accounts, loyal horse of Alexander named Bucephalus got injured and succumbed to death as a result. Eventually King Porus got defeated and was captured. Nevertheless Alexander was highly impressed with the heroism of the Indian king Porus and resolved to let him go and give back his territory. But some schools of thoughts consider otherwise. What did prevent mighty Alexander from the continuing the expedition? It is learnt that his generals were not ready to take on the Nandas at the other side of Ganges, known for having exceedingly powerful army and giant-sized elephants.
