Posted:
: : Part 4 : :
Sculpture of Buddha, Gandhara.
Prince Aambhik learnt that a great warrior king of the West, called Alexander was marching towards Gandhara on a world conquest mission with an invincible army.No king,however the large the size of his army,was able to face this marauding army of Yavanas( Greeks in Sanskrit ).He was raging like a whirlwind, sweeping away kingdoms in its way.
Some spies of Ambhiraj,loyal to Aambhik, brought him more news about Alexander.The kings who accepted the suzerainty of Alexander,without a fight, were treated cordially.But those kings who did not yield even an inch of land,were crushed ruthlessly; without any mercy.Such countries faced loot, plunder and eventually destruction.The citizens of such rebellious Mahajanapadas, were massacred and butchered by the Yavanas.The Yavanas moved and fought in battle formations, unknown to the people of Aryavrata.The citizens of such Mahajanapadas were fleeing towards the eastern part of Bharat.Many such refugess had arrived in the city of Takshila.
The king Ambiraj, was meanwhile grappling with the influx of a large number of homeless people.He had intense discussions with his ministers, to decide their course of action if Alexander invaded Gandhara.Whereas Prince Aambhik,was thinking on completely opposite lines.What he like about Alexander that the Yavana Emperor was very friendly with those who joined his empire voluntarily.The idea of befriending Alexander to take revenge on Puru flashed in his mind.
Lately, the ministers and officials of Gandhara were coming under the influnce of Prince Aambhik, and he was getting more respect from them.They were increasingly becoming cronies of the Rajkumar.The reason was clear.The king of Gandhara, was now getting too old, to continue as king.Aambhik's becoming the king of Gandhara,was just a matter of time.Hence the courtiers and ministers of Gandhara wanted to be on the right side of the history.The ministers had begun to ingratiate themselves to the rising sun of Gandhara, and would not hesitate in taking orders from Aambhik directly, if it was safe.
Aambhik now had a plethora of cronies who surrounded him most of the time.It is said that a man's company influences as well as molds his character.So was in the case of Aambhik.Would-be sycophants were waiting to walk in.As it is that flatterers always cause your own loss.They merely praise the person for their own personal gain, thereby bringing about the person's downfall.Similar was Aambhik's fate.The cronies knew Aambhik's feeling for revenge and his idea of aligning with Alexander.They would always present new arguments in favour of the Yavana Invader.
