Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/70



LEXANDER THE GREAT, having completed the subjugation of Bactria, resolved to execute his cherished purpose of emulating and surpassing the mythical exploits of Dionysos, Herakles, and Semiramis by effecting the conquest of India. Toward the close of spring in the year 327 B. C., when the sun had sufficiently melted the snows, he led his army, including perhaps fifty or sixty thousand Europeans, across the lofty Khawak and Kaoshan passes of the Hindu Kush, or Indian Caucasus, and after ten days' toil amidst the mountains emerged in the rich valley now known as the Koh-i-Daman.

Here, two years earlier, before the Bactrian campaign, he had founded a town, named as usual, Alexandria, as a strategical outpost to secure his intended advance. The governor of this town, whose administration had been a failure, was replaced by Nikanor, son of Parmenion, the king's intimate friend; the population was recruited by fresh settlers from the surrounding