The battle of the Hydaspes and the genius of Alexander

This battle is by far the greatest battle Alexanderever fought, yet it also is the one generally overlooked by historians and truly dwarfed by all previous similar confrontations. The Granicus wasAlexander's first test against the Persians who had underestimated their adversary. At Issus, Dariusappeared in person on the battlefield but this was not the terrain he had chosen; listening to bad advice he moved his army to find himself cornered in a far too small area for his massive number of men. Darius fled to save his bare life, meaning that he had to challenge Alexander in another fight. This time, at Gaugamela the terrain was exactly whatDarius needed but Alexander tricked him into opening his defensive lines and eventually charged straight at Darius. Again the king fled, and kept on fleeing till he was assassinated by one of his own kin, Bessus, who promoted himself to be the new king.

At the Hydaspes River, things were entirely different. Alexander's adversary was Porus, a powerful Indian ruler both in posture and in command, who was not going to budge from his choice location and advantageous position on the east bank of the river Hydaspes.

I think Alexander liked the challenge to this kind of battle, one army opposing the other where he could deploy all his strategic skills. This had not happened sinceGaugamela as in Central Asia he had to adapt his tactics of warfare and convert them into a guerrilla war a far cry from a glorious fight!

So, here we are in May 326 BC. After crossing the Indus River, Alexander is moving east and at about 77 km away from the next major river, the Hydaspes (modern Jhelum River) he is informed that Porus has set up his massive line of defense on the opposite river bank ready to keep the advancing Macedonian army out of his territory.

Porus' army must have looked very impressive from the onset. Ancient authors describe it as an enormous wall of 30,000 men/infantry interrupted at an equal distance by a towering elephant of which there were at least 85 depending on the sources. Spread among the foot soldiers were powerful archers using 90cm high bows able to shoot cumbersome large arrows. Some 300 four-horse chariots and 3,000 cavalry completed the setting. Porus dressed in silver and gold armor sat on the largest elephant, looming over the entire army enough to frighten any enemy. Besides, the river at this point was almost 800 meters wide, and this time of year an impetuous current offering no real fording in spite of some sandy islets. Ancient sources compare Porus' army to a huge city wall (infantry) with intermittent towers (elephants).

It was immediately clear to Alexander that there was no way he could cross the river and attack Porus frontally, and that he would have to develop a good strategy. At first, he tested his adversary and for days in a row he had Ptolemy move his army then upstream, then downstream, shouting and making as much noise as possible, threatening to cross the river. Porus, well-prepared to impede his opponent's army to cross followed course, moving simultaneously up and downstream. As after many days nothing happened, Porus' attention relaxed. This was exactly what Alexander had hoped for and while his men were moving back and forth, he explored the river bank further inland and found a wooded island some 28 km upstream, just behind an angle in the Hydaspes River. At that point, the river bank at his side also had a depression just deep enough to hide his army both foot and cavalry from sight. In other words, an almost ideal place to cross the river in spate.

In order to fool his adversary further, Alexander directed his pavilion to be set up further downstream with his personal squadron standing guard and all his personal royal paraphernalia in sight. He went even as far as to dress his general Attalus in his own attire with the royal chlamys and all so he would easily be confused withAlexander since he had the same build and appearance as his king at least from a distance. Attalus was also instructed to make excursions to the edge of the river with the king's entourage to this spot or that in order to give the impression that he was planning a crossing. What a stratagem!

It now all came down to choosing the proper moment and clearly the gods were onAlexander's side. After dark, when a heavy thunderstorm broke loose at nightfall he decided to make his move. Meanwhile, Ptolemy was still marching up and downstream with his troops and Craterus was left behind to light as many fires and make as much noise as he could in order to create the impression that the entire army was still there. His instructions were to cross the river and join the battle only when he could see that the Macedonians had broken the Indian lines.

The night was pitch dark and the Macedonians could hardly see one another, they had to shout to stay in touch but their voices were dwarfed by the wailing winds and the noise of thunder and lighting. Tempestuous rains drenched the soldiers who were at times swamped by the downpour. Fortune definitely was on their side for under these circumstances their sounds were not carried over to the enemy lines. It is amazing how Alexander managed to keep his men together during such a spooky night. In spite of the blacked-out heavens, he managed to reach the depression near the crossing spot, probably by midnight or soon thereafter. Alexander's troops must have been exhausted after this horrific night march of nearly thirty kilometers and he allowed his men a rest. Just before dawn when the rain stopped and the wind died a little, he signaled his forces to embark on the ships and the rafts made of inflated hides with wooden decking. The king himself launched his own vessel first (of course) and as Porus' attention was still focused onPtolemy feign-maneuvers Alexander and his troops landed unnoticed on the wooded island. From here, Alexander and his men waded through the second part of the river, whose fast flowing icy waters reached to their armpits and submerged the horses to their necks. It seems that this action escaped the enemy's attention till Alexander had reached Porus' side of the river. The cavalry was first to set foot on land and Alexanderimmediately set off in the direction of Porus, instructing the infantry to follow as soon as they had safely crossed the river.

Porus, at first, assumed that his reinforcements were joining up with him but his scouts soon discovered that their foe had managed to come across the river. The Indian ruler deployed 100 four-horse chariots and 4,000 cavalry commanded by his son. The force of the chariot is not to be underestimated because each vehicle was manned by six men, two of which were archers posted on either side of the chariot and two bore shields while the two remaining men were charioteers armed with javelins. That is at least what Curtius tells us although we may wonder how he could fit that many men on the small carriage floor.

Fortune once again was at Alexander's side because after the recent heavy downpours the sandy bank was slimy and totally impracticable for these vehicles which soon became bogged down. Alexander immediately sent his available light infantry to attack them. A wild fight followed as the charioteers desperately tried to get some control over their vehicle, to no avail and soon all of them were put out of action. Porus' son who had led the operation was killed in the skirmish.

Unable to impede Alexander's crossing of the Hydaspes, Porus now had to attack his adversary. He moved north in search of relatively dry sandy land where he could effectively post the majority of his elephants, his greatest weapon, in a massive battle formation. It was immediately clear toAlexander that the Indian formation was fundamentally defensive, which in turn allowed him plenty of time to wait for his infantry to catch up with him. After having crossed the second part of the Hydaspes, these men had to take on what normally was a day-march of nearly 30 km. They had already completed an equivalent march the previous night followed by a tempestuous river crossing and it is obvious that by the time they rejoined their king they must have been pretty exhausted. It was only sensible to allow them a rest before starting the battle. In order to conceal the presence of his 9,000 infantry and the strategy of his own deployment to Porus, he ordered his 5,300 strong cavalry to keep moving back and forth in front of the Macedonian army. The trick worked, just asAlexander expected.

We don't know how much rest the army was given before commencing the battle, butAlexander certainly had plenty of time to study the enemy's position. Porus' had again arranged his elephant in the front line, some thirty meters apart and his foot soldiers filled the gaps by standing in formation behind them. On either side, he has posted his cavalry protected by the remaining chariots in front of them. Alexander, rightfully so, assumed that Porus would keep his front line together and march in a straight line. He decided to start by eliminating the Indian cavalry to enable the flanking attack he liked so much.

When Alexander's troops were rested, he moved his infantry to the center facingPorus' line and all his cavalry to the far right. His instructions were very clear. The infantry was to stay put till the Indians were thrown into confusion by the Macedonian cavalry. Coenus and Perdiccas at the head of the Companion cavalry should stay behind at their assigned place till Porus called his cavalry from his own right flank to support his left against Alexander.

The scene is set and Alexander starts the attack by moving forward in an oblique line away from the trumpeting elephants.Porus' cavalry followed suit, extending their own lines to prevent a flanking attack. However, the Indian ruler soon realized that he had to call for horse reinforcements from his own right flank. This was exactly what Alexander had anticipated and conform the king's ordersCoenus and Perdiccas moved towards the empty cavalry spot of the enemy. They passed behind the Macedonian infantry, turned behind Porus' aligned infantry and fell on the enemy's cavalry from behind, which by now was totally encircled. At this point, the only solution for Porus was to divide his cavalry in two, one group would faceAlexander's attack and the other the Coenus/Perdiccas forces. Alexander's timing had been perfect and he now was able to launch his flanking attack which was a total success. The Indian horsemen fell back into confusion on the elephants who were called in to assist them. At this point, the solid straight line of defense broke down, which automatically created the opportunity for the Macedonian infantry to rush forward and join the action.

One thing is certain, hell broke lose! Porus' elephants were his greatest strength and most probably Alexander's greatest challenge. The Macedonian king was quick to realize that his heavy infantry was ill-equipped to deal with these beasts and he sent his light-armed troops to poke the elephants and their drivers with arrows and javelins. Curtius graphically describes how enraged elephants trampled the Macedonians and threw others over their heads. In spite of a renewed attack by the Indian cavalry, they were no match for the Macedonians. Coenus had joined ranks withAlexander and together they made successive attacks on the Indian cavalry and infantry. Through the joint pressure of the Macedonian heavy infantry and the Companion Cavalry the elephants were forced back onto their own troops. As most of the mahouts had been killed the cornered beasts trampled to death both friend and foe. The wounded and bewildered animals could no longer be controlled; maddened by pain and fear they spread death all around them. The Indian cavalry was jammed by the elephants and having no space to move suffered severe losses also. The Macedonian infantry had enough moving space to manoeuver and tried to deal at best with the madden elephants, but the trapped Indians suffered badly.

Gradually the elephants became exhausted and their charges grew weaker. Alexandersaw the time right to encircle what remained of the Indian army, signaling his infantry "to lock shields and advance onto the enemy en masse. Those who were able to escape through a small gap in the cavalry line did so but were intercepted by Craterus,who by now and according to his instructions had crossed the Hydaspes with fresh troops and joined the fight. The entire battle must have been a grueling carnage!

Although Porus still towering above the battlefield had been wounded at least nine times and bled profusely, he kept on fighting with undiminished verve until he collapsed. His mahout turned his master's massive elephant and set in the flight, with Alexander evidently in close pursuit. At this point, Alexander's horse was shot from under him and some assume this was how and when his dear Bucephalusdied while other sources tell us that his horse died from old age. In any case,Alexander lost some time in his pursuit as he had to mount another horse.

Alexander sent a messenger to Porus asking for his surrender, which he proudly refused. The events that followed seem to come straight out of some tale about a fearless knight. Flights of missiles of all kinds were hurled towards the Indians and their powerful king, who started to collapse and slid down his mount. His mahout thinking that Porus wanted to dismount, directed the elephant to crouch down on its knees and automatically all the other elephants did the same. Thinking that Porus had died, Alexander ordered his body to be stripped but as soon as the Macedonians approached, the elephant began to stand guard over his rider and menaced whoever dared to approach. He then picked up his noble king and put him back on its back. Once again the Macedonian attacked in full force with an overwhelming amount of missiles till the elephant fell down. Porus was laid in a chariot.

Soon word spread that the Indian king was dead and his army set out to flee. ForAlexander the fight was over; he clearly was victorious and he sounded the recall of his troops. As he went over to Porusand saw him move his eyelids he could not help but ask why he had not surrendered when offered. According to some source, Porus seems to have answered that he considered that there was nobody as strong as him "though I knew my own power, I had not yet tested yours. When asked how he should be treated, Porus responded with the known phrase "as a king. He evidently wonAlexander over not by compassion but by respect. Alexander had Porus' wounds cared for and when against all odds he recovered, Alexander restored his kingdom to him and even extended his territory.

[The two action pictures are evidently from Oliver Stone's movie Alexander]