Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/95

Rh side. Upon this, all turned to flight wherever a gap could be found in the cordon of Alexander's cavalry."

Meanwhile, Krateros and the other officers left on the opposite bank of the river had crossed over, and with their fresh troops fell upon the fugitives, and wrought terrible slaughter. The Indian army was annihilated, all the elephants were either killed or captured, and the chariots destroyed. Three thousand horsemen, and not less than twelve thousand foot-soldiers were killed, and nine thousand taken prisoners. The Macedonian loss, according to the highest estimate, did not exceed a thousand.

Poros himself, a magnificent giant, six and a half feet in height, fought to the end, but at last succumbed to nine wounds, and was taken prisoner in a fainting condition.

Alexander had the magnanimity to respect his gallant adversary, and willingly responded to his proud request to be "treated as a king." The victor not only confirmed the vanquished prince in the government of his ancestral territory, but added to it other lands of still greater extent, and by this politic generosity secured for the brief period of his stay in the country a grateful and faithful friend.

The victory was commemorated by the foundation of two towns, one named Nikaia, situated on the battlefield, and the other, named Boukephala, situated at the point whence Alexander had started to cross the Hydaspes. The latter was dedicated to the memory of Alexander's famous charger, which had carried him