INDIA. 



19 



ii 



InraMbr 



tfaepeopU 

 efTiheti 



ky Aleisn- 

 dcr UM 

 Great. 

 B.C.3M. 



which some of its princes had refined to pay, and to 

 compel them to acknowledge their dependence on the 

 throne of Persia. 



It would appear, that the extensive confederacy form, 

 ed in Hindottan, by the mutual understanding and the 

 union <>\ tiie four great kingdoms already mentioned, 

 again.'t foreign invasion, did not last long. Before the 

 conquest of the Persians, distension* had risen among 

 'the different state*, which, together with the wealth of 

 the people, and their unwarlike character, invited the 

 inroad* not only of these conquerors, but also of the 

 fierce and destructive barbarians of Tibet. By them 

 the northern provinces were attacked and laid waste. 

 It appear* also, that foreign war, instead of producing 

 domestic enncord, extended and heightened their mu- 

 tual aniirotities ; so that, at the period of the invasion 

 of India by Alexander the Great, the nations of the pe- 

 ninsula were totally separated from the kingdom of the 

 Prachii, though the western provinces of Hindostan 

 were more closely connected with it than at any for- 

 mer period. 



It is highly probable, that this union of the western 

 provinces enabled them to make such a vigorous de- 

 fence against the enterprise and high military skill of 

 Alexander, and the much superior discipline of tm 

 troops ; that their defence excited his surprise and ad- 

 miration, we are expressly informed by Ariun. Plu- 

 tarch, and other historian* ; but their etfurts, though 

 routed to religion* enthusiasm bv the eloquence of the 

 were ineffectual. Alexander, after having 



ubdued several mall state* on the bank* of the Indus, 

 paitri* the different rivers of the Punjab, attacked Po- 

 rus, the sovereign of that district, who had collected 



numerous army to oppose hi* march, and obtained a 

 decisive victory, in spite at the gallant defence of that 

 prince, who, together with some of hi* most distin- 

 guished general*, wa* taken prisoner*. This battle 

 waa fought oa the bank* of the Hydaape*, which river 

 it we* eictBiary for Alexander to crow, in order that 

 he might reach the Gang**, the great object of hi* am- 

 bition. To this point he BOW resolved to path ; but 

 hi* troop* had already done so much, add suffered so 

 greedy, especially from excessive rain* ami incessant 

 inundations, that their patience as well as their >trength 

 were exhausted, and their unanimously refused to ad- 

 vance farther. Alexander tried every effort, but in 

 vain, to change their purpose ; they were inflexible, 

 and the conqueror we* obliged to give way to l.i* 

 troop*, to abandon all hi* favourite scheme* of farther 

 onqueet, and to iseoe order* for marching back to 



i This memorable mutiny took place on the 

 banks of the Hyphaeis. the modem Beyah, one of the 

 mo*t celebrated rivers of the Punjab. Alexander Uit 

 hihipd him *ome of hi* most experienced officers, with 



small part of hi* army, for the purpose of keeping 

 poMfesioa of the conquered territory on the bank* of 

 the Indus ; but his troop* gave way to every kind of 

 corruption and debauchery, to which they were stimu- 



lated by the policy of the Hindoos ; mutual animosities 

 and recrimination* took place ; and the death of Alex- 

 ander, which happened about thi* time, hastened the 

 downfal of nil power in I ImdotUn. It was not, how- 

 ever, inimedi.ttrly annihilated. Pytho, the son of Age- 

 Bor, Mem* to have succeeded to aome part of Alexan- 

 der'* Indian conquests; and Seleucus, who obtained 

 I jiper Asia on the death of hi* master, considering 

 those countries of India, which had been subdued by 

 a* belonging to that portion of the Mace- 

 ire of which h was now sovereign, marched 



into it, partly with a view &f establishing his own au- HUtorjr. 

 thority there, and partly in order to curb Sandracottus. ~~~~Y~~~~ 



Sandracottus, called by the Hindoo writers Chandra 

 Gupta, was descended from the ancient lunar kings of Chindra 

 Magadha, but he was illegitimate, his mother having <> U P U - 

 been the daughter of a barber. His f-ither was Nanda, jf^'JJ^d 

 king of the Prachii, of whom the Hindoos relate so ne gocitions 

 many wonderful stories. Sacatara, his prime minister, *ith Selea- 

 murdered him in his old age, but was in his turn put cut. 

 to death, with the whole of his family, except one son, 

 by L'padhanwa, the son of Nanda. The young man, 

 however, who had been spared, watched fur an oppor- 

 tunity of revenge, and having provoked L'padhanwa 

 to oner an affront to a Brahmin, he took advantage 

 of the confusion occasioned by the consequent excom- 

 munication of the king ; and associating himself with 

 Chandra Gupta, entreated the assistance of the neigh- 

 bouring monarch* to overturn the kingdom of the Pra- 

 chii. Of these monarchs, the one who could afford the. 

 most ready and effectual assistance, from the contigui- 

 ty of his territories and his power, was Parvateswara, 

 lord of the mountains, king of Nepaul ; to him one-half 

 of the kingdom of the 1'r.u-hii was promised. This 

 monarch 1141 only assisted Chandra Gupta with his 

 own troops, but also (procured the help of the Yavans 

 or Greeks. Their effort*, aided by cruelty and treach- 

 ery, were successful ; Chandra Gupta was seated on 

 the throne of Prachii, but he soon forgot his promise 

 to Parvateswara. 1'he new monarch nut to death all 

 the noble and legitimate children of hi* father. His 

 reign, however, though commenced with these acts of 

 cruelty, seem* to have proceeded in a manner much 

 more creditable to hi* character ; for he was respected 

 broad, and beloved by his subjects. Towards the 

 restern prince* he was more grateful for the assistance 



they afforded him in obtaining his throne, than he ap- 

 pear* to have l>een to the sovereign of Nepaul. At 

 MBit it tceau probable, from the accounts both of the 



. and Hindoo writers, that the invasion of India 

 eicu, about A. C. 300, was occasioned by Chan- 

 npta having offered hi* assistance to the western 

 prince* against the neighbouring dominions of the Ma- 

 cedonian*. The particular* of this invasion are ob- 

 scurely and differently related. According to some 

 accounts, Chandra Gupta marched a formidable army 

 to the bank* of the Indus, and having restored the con- 

 quered province* to their rightful master*, offered bat- 

 tle to Selcucus, which that prince declined. According 

 to other account*, particularly those of the Greek his- 

 torians, the expedition of Seleucus was splendid and 

 successful. It i* probable, however, that no decisive 

 success was gained by either party ; and the terms of 

 the treaty, by which hostilities were concluded, teem 

 to confirm this conjecture. By this treaty, Seleucu* 

 gave hi* daughter in marriage to Chandra Gupta, who 

 in return agreed to furnish Seleucus annually with fifty 

 elephant*. In order to keep up and confirm more com- 

 pletely a friendly intercourse between the two mo- 

 narchs, Seleucu* sent McgMthene*, one of his officers, 

 a man of considerable acutcness and information, to re- 

 side at Baliputra, the capital of Prachii. Daimachu* 

 was afterwards sent a* ambassador to Allitrochidas, the 

 son and successor of Chandra Gupta. The time and 

 manner in which the possessions of the Greek* in In- 

 dia were finally and completely wrested from them, 

 are not known, but it is probable that they were obliged 

 to abandon that country soon after the death of Seleu- 

 cu*. About 179 years after the invasion of this mo- 

 narch, however, Antiochu* the Great made a abort in* 

 1 



