Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/64

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30 • inSTOKV OF IM)IA. [li'joK. 1.

BC. 327. more than lO.OOO iiiliahitHiits, The terror of his name iiu preceded him, and the chiefs hastened to make their Hubmission. Jt would weem that, before quit- ting the Hydaspes, his tliouglits had been turned homewards; for on finding timber well fitted for the purpose, he caased innneiLse quantities to h>e cut down and employed in building vessels, with which he proposed, at a later period, t^> descend the Indus. Meanwhile his ambition urged him forward, and he arrived Pa^aKoof at the banks of the Acesines or Chenaub. Thougli much l^roa/ler and more impetuous than the Hydaspes, there was no enemy to dispute the pas.sage, and it was crossed with comparative ea.se. It seems, however, that though no enemy appeared, the country was in possession of one whose name, somewhat strange to sa}^ was also Poras. He was not only not related to the Poras of whom the above account has been given, but was at open enmity with him, and, probably under the influence of this enmity, had, prcAdously to the battle of the Hydaspes, sent in his submission to Alexander. It appears, however, that the favour into which the other Porus had been received had offended or alarmed him ; and therefore, on the news of Alexander's approach, instead of waiting either to welcome liim as a friend or oppose him as an enemy, he suddenly disappeared, cariying almost all the youth of the country fit for arms along with him. Alex- ander, offended, endeavoured to overtake him ; and in the course of the pursuit arrived at another of the Punjab rivers, called the Hydraotes or Ravee. Before crossing it, he bestowed the tenitories of the fugitive Porus on his more deserving namesake. The passage, which, according to Rennel,' took place near Lahore, he appears to have effected without difficulty; but in the country beyond, he found a formidable combination formed to resist him. Three native states, of which that of the Malli was the most powerful, had united their forces agamst the invader. In the campaign which followed, Alexander was di'awn far to the south, where a strong city, which bore the name of Sangala or Sagala was situated, somewhere between Lahore and Mooltan. Both from the description and the name of the inhabitants, it is conjectured to have been nearer the latter. Resistance in the open field soon proved hopeless; and the confederates, as a last refuge, shut them- selves up in Sangala, which occupied a commanding position, and was othei'wise as strono- as Indian art coiild make it. Alexander commenced the siecre, and carried it on with so much gour that the place soon feU into his hands. The resistance had exasperated him ; and forgetting the magnanimity which he had displayed in the case of Porus, he disgraced himself by a horrible massacre, in which neither age nor sex was spared. Anivai at From tlus atrocity Alexander tm-ned to make new conquests, and reached

sis. ' the banks of the H3q)hasis or Beas. Here he was met by an obstacle more for- midable than any he had yet encountered. His Em'opean troops, worn out with long service, had become impatient ; and, when he formally intimated his inten- tion to cross the river, broke out into loud murmurs. In vain he harangued

' Eeune], Memoir of a Map of Hindoostan.