How the fateful clash on the banks of the Hydaspes shaped history in ancient India.
We’ve all heard the story. After a hard-fought battle, Alexander the Great met the defeated King Puru and asked, “What do you expect from me?” Puru’s answer was, “Treat me like a king.” That brief exchange has lived on for centuries as a sign of respect between two warriors. However, how many of us know what really happened before and after that moment? What led these two rulers to face each other on the banks of the Hydaspes River? How fierce was the fight, and what changed once the battle was over?
So, in this piece, we’ll step back in time to trace the clash between Alexander and Puru.
Alexander’s arrival in India was no sudden leap. By 327 BCE, he had spent a decade conquering (from Thebes to Babylon), and the lands beyond the Indus were the next horizon. The Punjab then was a patchwork of kingdoms and republics. To the east, the Nanda Empire loomed, and between them lay smaller realms, including Puru’s Paurava kingdom, flanked by the Hydaspes and Acesines rivers.
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Puru’s neighbor, Ambhi of Taxila, feared his power and invited Alexander in, offering supplies and safe passage. Puru refused the newcomer’s demands. The monsoon season made the standoff more difficult, as the Hydaspes ran wide and fast from Himalayan meltwater, making its banks muddy. To cross, Alexander would need deception, and to stop him, Puru would have to keep watch day and night.
Ancient sources disagree wildly on numbers. Alexander likely commanded around 40,000-50,000 men in India, but only a fraction would attempt the river crossing, perhaps 11,000 in the first wave. His troops were a blend of Macedonian phalangites with their long sarissas, elite hypaspists, Persian infantry, cavalry from Greece and the steppe, and mounted archers.
Puru’s forces may have included 20,000-50,000 infantry, several thousand horsemen, 130-200 elephants, and hundreds of chariots. The elephants, armored and towering, could scatter horses but also panic in confusion. The chariots, with blades on their wheels, were lethal on firm ground but useless in mud.
Alexander probed for crossing points, staging false alarms downstream to keep Puru guessing. Puru lined the riverbank with elephants every few dozen yards, infantry behind them, and cavalry on the wings.
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Now, on a storm-lashed night, Alexander slipped away with his chosen troops. Seventeen miles upstream, near what is now Jalalpur, they ferried across on rafts and disassembled ships. Rain and thunder masked the sound.
The first clash came quickly. Puru’s son rode in with 2,000 cavalry and over a hundred chariots. The chariots bogged in the wet ground; Alexander’s cavalry broke them. The prince fell in the fight.
Puru moved his main force to meet the landing. Elephants took the front, infantry behind, cavalry on each side. Alexander opened with a cavalry strike at the Indian left, pulling their horsemen away. Then, from behind, Coenus’ squadron swung in, the classic double-envelopment. Archers harried the elephants until some turned back into their own ranks. The Macedonian phalanx advanced, spears meeting elephant hide.
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By the time Craterus crossed with reinforcements, the fight was decided. Macedonian losses may have been around a thousand; Indian casualties are harder to know, though ancient claims of 20,000 or more are likely inflated.
After the rout, Alexander sent for Puru. The king, wounded but upright on his elephant, was brought in. Arrian tells us Alexander admired his stature and courage. Plutarch and Curtius Rufus give us the famous exchange - “What shall I do with you?” asks Alexander. “Treat me as befits a king,” replies Puru.
However, not all ancient accounts record these words. Some modern historians believe the dialogue plausible, consistent with Alexander’s habit of rewarding valor; others suspect it was added later to flatter his legend. Whatever the truth, all agree that Puru was restored to his throne and given more territory to govern as Alexander’s ally.
The alliance was very practical. Puru knew the land and its politics; Alexander needed local rule to keep his lines secure. Two cities were founded nearby - Nicaea, to mark victory, and Bucephala, named for Alexander’s horse, which died soon after the battle.
But the army’s mood was turning. Weeks later, on the banks of the Hyphasis, the Macedonian troops refused to march further east. The Hydaspes had been a victory, but it also marked a turning point.
Within a decade, Alexander was dead. Puru, too, was gone, killed by a Greek general seeking his elephants. Soon after, Chandragupta Maurya would take the region, ending the brief Macedonian foothold in India.
The meeting of Alexander and Puru is still read through the needs of later storytellers, especially colonial chroniclers who saw it as a civilizing moment, and nationalists who recast Puru as a symbol of defiance. What is certain, however, is that, for a single rain-swept day on the Hydaspes, two kings tested each other’s will. One emerged with the field; the other with his dignity. And both entered history.
