Page:Ancient India as described by Megasthenês and Arrian.djvu/169

 150 of that name was buried.^ Hillmen follow next, inhabiting the base of Caucasus, the S o 1 e a d se, and the S o n d r se ; and if we cross to the other side of the Indus and follow its course downward we meet the Samarabrise, Sambruceni, B,i s a m b r i t sd* Osii, Antixeni, and the T a X i 1 1 sef with a famous citj. Then succeeds % Alez^der, after ihe great battle on the banks of the Hydasp^ in which he defeated Pdros, founded two cities — Bokephala or Bakephalia, so named in honour of his cede- brated charger, and Nikaia, so named in honour of his vic- tory. Kikaia, it is known for certain, was built on the field of battle, and its position was therefore on the left side of tiie Hydasp^s— probably about where Mong now stands. The site of Bukephala it is not so easy to deter- mine. According to Plutarch and Pliny it was near the Hydaspes, in the place where Bukephalos was buried, and if that be so it must have been on the same side of the river as the sister city ; whereas Strabo ^nd all the other ancient authorities place it on the opposite side. Strabo again places it at the point where Alexander crossed the river, whereas Arrian states that it was built on the site of his camp. General Cunningham fixes this at Jal&lpur rather than at Jhelam, 30 miles higher up the river, the site which is favoured by Bumes and General Court and Greneral Abbott. Jalalpur is about ten miles distant from Dil&war, where, according to Cunningham, the crossing of the river was most probably effected. • V. 1. Bisabritse. t The SoleadsB and the SondrsB cannot be identified, and of the tribes which were seated tor the east of the IndxxB only the Taxillse are known. Their capital was the famous Taxila, which was visited by Alexander the Great. " The position of this city," says Cunningham, " has hitherto re- mained unknown, partly owing to the erroneous distance recorded by Pliny, and ^rtly to the want of information regarding the vast ruins which still exist in the vicinity of Sh&h-dheri. All the copies of Pliny agree in stating that Taxila was only 60 Boman, or 55 English, miles from Peuco- lalitis or Hashtnagar, which would fix its site somewhere on tiie Haro river to the west of Hasan Abdfil, or just two days' march from the Indus. But the itineraries of the Ghonese pilgrims agree in placing it at three days' journey to the east of the Indus, or in the immediate neighbourhood of K&la-ka-Sarfii. He therefore fixes its site near Sh&h-dheri Digitized by Google