Porus - Defeated?

[Dr. Pal]

Dear Nick,
Thank you for taking up the question with such boldness GÇô without any regional or racial bias. After Alexander, Europeans have almost always won decisive battles and as a result history of the world as we have it now definitely has an Europeanist tilt. This needs to be corrected but I myself always try to rise above nationalism GÇô and in a sense I am inspired by AlexanderGÇÖs universalism. GÇ£Putroham PrithivyahGÇ¥, GÇ£I am a son of the EarthGÇ¥, he would perhaps have said. Unfortunately to many only the Greek and Roman sources seem to matter at the end. This is not acceptable in a post-colonial scenario. Despite many mistakes I adore Tarn mainly because he sought evidence also in the Sanskrit sources. His GÇ£Greeks in Bactria and IndiaGÇ¥ still remains unsurpassed.
I have already written about the war with Porus in this forum but to my horror it seems to have been forgotten. http://www.itihaas.com is a stinking heap of patriotic rubbish that is backed by a very powerful media organisation which is totally unconcerned about the stark arcahaeological scenario regarding Palibothra.
If Alexander was indeed defeated could his army cross the Beas and prepare for the Gedrosian expedition by making so many ships etc. What about his altars ? Could a defeated king be allowed to construct so many memorials ? This is absurd unless you assume that all the sources lied about the altars. I have, on the other hand, said that Asoka stole AlexanderGÇÖs altars (http://www.geocities.com/ranajitda).Most importantly you do not realise that Moeris whom he chased through the Gedrosian desert was the mighty Chandragupta Maurya of Prasii. Moeris was the same as Sasigupta (Sashi=Chandra=Moon). After the defeat at the hands of Porus how could Alexander take on such a powerful adversary? The navy was carrying provisions for the army which was engaged in a protracted battle. And the name Kahnuj (also given as Khanu in modern maps) where he celebrates his GÇÿvictory over the IndiansGÇÖ speaks volumes. In the Indian texts this is the name of the most important city of ancient India. As Prof. Hammond agreed this was Palibothra. In spite of what A.D.H. Bivar writes in the Cambridge History of Iran ancient India was a wider territory than British India and included not only Afghanistan but also southeast Iran. This was ancient Hidus of the Persian inscriptions.With best regards,Dr. Pal

[dean]

Dear Dr Pal.
It is a pleasure to read a message from such a well-informed individual as yourself,who has taken into account sources that I was not aware of- it seems that the whole "Porus" controversy seems to be quite a sticking point- after my asking the initial question Porus-defeated? a week ago- my doubt still lingers. I am inclined to believe, abover all, after reading the messages in the forum that Alexander probably just had about the hardest battle of his military career but came through victorious above all because of the fact that he continued his march onto the Ganges whereas if he had lost a retreat would have been a more logical move.
I look forward to hearing from you again.
Dean.

[yiannis]

Dear Dr. Pal,
Nice to hear from you again. It has been a while...
It's also my opinion that in the battle against Porus ATG's men had the worst time of their lives but came out of it victorious despite their casualties. Not to mention the terrible weather and the (probable) problems in logistics that they encountered.
Every rationale man in the army would beg to turn his back from this territory. I'm also certain that they wouldn't like another battle against elephants. Let's not forget that this was the first time that Greeks were against elephants in action.Regards,
Yiannis