Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/66

 32 IIISTOIJV OP' INF^TA. [Br>oK I.

DC. :i2o. of water several feet lii^^li! 'J'lii.s .sin;;ular |jlienoinenori, now well known to niai'iuers by the name of the bore, and common to the Indas with many othei- rivei"s similarly situated, produced not only wonder but ten'or, because it seemed to portend the destruction of the whole Heet. In point of fact, considerable damage was sustained Ijefore the necessary precautions could )je taken.

Voyage of Here Alexanders maritime adventures ended. The little he luul seen of the

"^"^ sea had j)roljably left him no desire to become better acquainted with its dangers. These he left Nearchas to encounter, by giving him the command of the fleet, with injunctions to skirt and explore the shore from the Indas west- ward. He himself with the main body of the army, took leave of India for ever by an inland route, which, though he was not aware of the fact, was the more periloas of the two, as it led through the heart of a sandy desert, which stretches, almost without inteiruption, from the eastern edge of the basin of the Indas across the south of the Asiatic and the north of the African continent to the Atlantic Ocean.

K.Tecuof The Indian expedition of Alexander cannot be justified on moral grounds.

expedition. It was dictated by a wild and ung jvernable ambition ; and spread misery and death among thousands and tens of thousands who had done nothing to offend him, and were peacefully pursuing their different branches of industry, when he made his appearance among them like a destropng demon. Such exploits, once deemed the only avenues to fame, are now judged more wisely. Still it Ls impossible to deny that conquerors were often in early times pioneers of ciW- lization, commerce following peacefully along their bloody track, and compen- sating for their devastation by the blessings which it diffused. Such was certainly the result of the Indian expedition of Alexander; and therefore, while reprobating the motives in which it originated, we cannot but rejoice that it was so overrviled by Proddence as to be productive of mo.st impoi-tant and valuable results.

The conquests of Alexander were never consolidated, and foimed only a nominal Macedonian empire, which fell to pieces on his death, and was parti- tioned by his officers. The most eastern portion was given to Seleucixs Nicator, who established himself in Babylon, and became the foiinder of the d}Tiasty of tlie SeleucidsB, which lasted for two centmies and a half In the early part of his reign, the stiiiggles which he had to maintain with powerful competitoi-s completely engi-ossed his attention ; but when, by the overthrow of Antigonas, he felt firmly seated on the throne, he appeai-s to have become animated with an ambition to imitate the exploits of Alexander, and caiTv his arms far to the East, India, indeed, he natvu'aUy regarded as fonning ]-)art of Ms tenitory, and, on hearing that the natives had risen in insmTection, killed Alexander's prefects, and thro^vn off* the Macedonian yoke, he resolved to treat them as rebels. Accordingly, after ha'ing made himself master of Bactria, he crossed the Indus, and entered the territories of which Taxiles and Ponis were still ridel's. Neither

Selenois Nicator.