947 
G R E 
Sangala, two days march from the Hydraotes ; and, in- 
ftead of a breaft-work, had fortified themfelves wirli a 
triple row of carriages. Alexander advanced with his 
cavalry ; the Indians fiirred not from their pofi, but, 
tnounting their carriages, poured forth a fliower of tnif- 
file weapons. Alexander perceiving tiie cavalry unfit 
for fuch an att.ick, immediately difmounted, and coti- 
dmited a battalion of foot againli: tiie enemy. The lines 
were attacked, where weakeft; fimie palTages were 
opened ; the Macedonians nilhed in; and the Indians, 
being fiicceirivcly driven from tiicir triple barrier, fled 
in precipitation to Sangahi. Alexander invefied the 
greatefi part of the town with a rampart and a ditch, 
and prepared to advance his engines to batter the walls, 
wlien he was informed by fome deferters, tliat tire ene¬ 
my refolvcd, that very night, to force their vray out 
with their wliole (Irength. Upon this intelligence lie 
polted Ptolemy, the fon of Lagus, with tliree thoufand 
targeteers, one troop of archers, and all the Agrians, 
upon- the fpot where he conjedtured that the belieged 
would attempt to force their palfage. At the firfl: found 
of the trumpet, the otiicr commanders were to advance 
to tlie afllftance of Ptolemy. Alexander declared his 
intention to lliare' the common danger. By this judici¬ 
ous difpolition the enemy were fuccefsfully repelled, 
after leaving five hundred men dead on the fpot. Mean- 
w'hile king Purus arrived in the campi with five thou¬ 
fand Indians, and a confulerable number of elephants. 
Encouraged by this reinforcement, the Macedonians 
prepared to terminate the fiege. The engines were got 
ready ; tlie fcaling ladders were fixed ; feveral breaches 
were made ; and the town was taken by a inoft fangui- 
iiary alfault. Seventeen thoufand Indians are faid to 
have perilhed in the fack of Sangala ; above feventy 
tlioufand were taken prifoners; and Sangala wuis razed 
to the ground. Above an hundred Macedonians fell in 
the affaiilt i twelve hundred were wounded. 
The perfevering intrepidity of Alexander thus ren¬ 
dered him mafier of the valuable country, now called 
the Panjab, or Laliore, watered by the five great dreams 
whofe confluence forms the Indus- The banks of the 
Ilyphafis, the mod eadern of thefe rivers, w'hich he ac¬ 
tually intended to crofs, allured by the flattering de- 
feription of tlie adjoining territory, were adorned by 
twelve Macedonian altars, equal in lieight, and exceed¬ 
ing in bulk, the greated towers in that country. Thefe 
monuments, eredfed midw'ay between Delhi and Lahore; 
marked the extremity of Alexander’s empire; an ein- 
])ire thus limited, not by the difficulties of the country, 
or tlie oppofition of enemies, but by the immoveable 
and unaniinous refolution of ids European troops. In. 
vincible by his enemies, Alexander fubmitted to his 
friends, at whofe defire he fet bounds to his trophies in 
the Eall. But his redlefs ciiriofity prepared new toils 
and dangers for the army and himl'elf. Maving return¬ 
ed to tlie cities of Nicasa and Bucephalia, he divided 
his forces, for the fake of exploring more carefully the 
unknow n regions of India. Two divifions, refpedtively 
commanded by Craterus and Hephaeltion, (for Caenus 
was now dead,) had orders to march Ibuthward along 
the oppo/ite banks of the Hydafpes ; his brother Philip 
Arida:us, to whom he had committed the government 
of the provinces adjacent to Bacti ia, v.'as recalled with 
the troops under his command ; and the whole Mace¬ 
donian conquefls in India, including feven nations and 
above tvvo thoufand cities, were fubjeiled to tlie domi¬ 
nion of Poms. Meanwhile the lonians,. Cyprians, Phoe¬ 
nicians, and other maritime nations wlio followed the 
llandard of Alexander, built or colledted above two 
tliouland vell'els, for failing dpvvn the Hydafpes till its 
junction with the Indus, and thence along that majeitic 
ftream to the Indian ocean. On-board this fleet the 
king embarked in perfon with the third divilion of his 
forces. His navigation employed feveralmonths, being 
frequently retarded by hoftilities wirit the natives, par¬ 
ticularly the warlike tribe of the Malii. Thefe barbri- 
2 
E C E. 
rians were driven from the open country ; tlicir cities 
were fiicceffively befieged and taken ; but, at tlie fiorm 
of tlieir capit 1, a feene was tranfaCfed, wliicli betrayed 
temerity even in Alexander. 
When their ftreets were filled with the enemy, the 
Mali! took refuge in the citadel. This fortrefsw s de¬ 
fended by a thick wall, which being thrown around the 
declivity of a mountain, was extremely lofty without, 
but towards the inner circumference of an inconfidera- 
ble lieiglit. Alexander, provoked by the obftinacy of 
tlie Indians, commanded the fcaling-laddersAo be ap¬ 
plied with all poflible expedition. But this fervice be¬ 
ing perfor.ned more tardily than iifual, the king, in his 
anger, fnatched a ladder from one wIio carried it, and 
having faliened it to the wall, mounted with rapidity 
in defiattee of the enemy’s weapons. The Macedonians, 
alarmed by the danger of their general, followed in fitch 
numbers, that the ladder broke as Alexander reached 
the fummit ; tlie fame accident happened to other lad¬ 
ders which were haftily applied, and injudicioufly 
crowded. For fome moments, the king thus remained 
aloiie on tlie wall, confpicuous by tlie brightnefs of his 
arms, and expofed to thick voHies of hoftile darts from 
the adjacent towers. His refolution was more than 
daring. At one bound he fprang into the place, and 
pofting liimfelf at the wall, flew the chiel of the Malii, 
and tliree others, wlio ventured to aflTault him. Meaa- 
while Abreas, Leonnatus, and Peucellas, the only 
Macedonians who had reached the top of the w'all, imi¬ 
tated the example of Alexander. Abreas was wounded 
and fell; bis companions, regardlefs of their own fiifety, 
defended the king, whofe bread had been pierced with 
an arrow. They W'ere foon covered with w'ounds, and 
Alexander feeined ready to expire. By this time, the 
Macedonians had burfl: through the gates of tlie fortrefs. 
Their firfl: concern was to carry off the king ; the fecond 
to revenge liis death, for they believed the wound to be 
mortal. Some report, that tlie weapon was extratled 
by Critodenuis of Cos; others, that no furgeon being 
near, Perdiccas, of the life-guards, opened the wound 
with his fword, by his mafler’s coniinand. The great 
etfufion of blood tlireatened his immediate dillblution; 
while the affectionate admiration in wliich he was held 
by the troops, appeared in their gloomy fadnefs during 
his danger, and their immoderate joy at his recovery. 
Alexander having accompliflied his voyage to the In¬ 
dian Ocean, determined to proceed towards Perfepolis, 
through the barren fblitudes of Gedrolia. This ardu¬ 
ous defign was not infpired by an idle ambition to fur- 
pafs the exploits of Cyrus and Semiraniis, vvliofe armies 
were faid to have periflied in thofe delerts, but wms 
prompted by nobler views, while the firft European 
fleet which navigated the Indian fea, explored tlie Per- 
fian gulph, and examined the mouths of the Euphrates 
and the Tigris. This important voyage was perform¬ 
ed by Nearchus, whofe enterpi ifing genius was worthy 
of the mafier whom he ferved. In difeovering the fea 
and the land, the fleet and army of Alexander mutually 
affilled each other. By the example of the king, both 
were taught to defpife toil and danger. On foot, and 
encumbered with iiis armour, he traverfed the tempef- 
tuous fands of the Perfian coafi, fliaring the hunger, 
thirfi, and fatigue, of the iiieaiieft foldier ; nor was it 
till after a march of two months, difiinguifhed by unex¬ 
ampled hardfhips, that the army emerged into the cul¬ 
tivated province of Carmania. Here Alexander was 
met by a divilion of his forces, which he had fent under 
the command of Craterus through the territories of tlie 
Arii and Drangae. Stafanor and Phrataphernes, gover¬ 
nors of thofe warlike nations, and of tlie more northern- 
provinces of Partliia and Hyrcaiiia, brought a fealoiia- 
ble fupply of camels and otlier beaits of burtlien, to re¬ 
lieve the exigencies of an army enfeebled by dileafe and 
exhaufied by fatigue. The wafie of men occaiioned by 
this defirudljve expedition, was repaired by the arrival 
of numerous battalions from Media, which rendered 
the 
