Alexander the Great also known as Sikander was on his quest to conquer India. But as we know King Porus aka Maharaj Purushotam of Paurav Rashtra stopped him.
The tale goes like this :
In 326 BCE the battle between Sikander and Porus also known as the battle of Hydaspes was happening.
Alexander the great and his army were fighting to conquer India, their soldiers were shook as they for the first time saw Elephants fighting in a war.
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But Alexander was called great for a reason, he finally defeated Porus and then asked, "How should I treat you ?"
"Treat me like a King." Said Maharaj Purushotam.
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Being so impressed by his answer Alexander the great went back. The end.
We were taught that it was Porus's answer that saved India, it was Alexander's mercy that he went back other wise the Greeks would have colonized us.
But what if I told you, that even if Alexander wouldn't have gone back, he couldn't have conquered the rest of India. You know why ? Magadh was in his way.
Magadh was one of the 16 Mahajanpadas and the most powerful of them all. Ruled by none other that Mahapadma nand aka the ruthlessly ambitious Dhananad himself, who wouldn't have given up Magadh without a war.
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The army of Alexander the great was not even 1/10 of Magadh's army.
Elephants were an integral and most powerful part of ancient Indian armies, and the forest of Magadh had abundant amount of elephants.
Magadh even had iron ore mines (Jharkhand), so there was no shortage for weapons and tools.
Magadh was prosperous in terms of agriculture so no shortage of food for soldiers.
The capital of Magadh at that time, Rajagah (it was later shifted to Pataliputra by Ashok) was a fortified settlement and was almost impossible to conquer.
So Magadh's army would not only have annihilated the entire Greek army but would also have pushed it far away and might have expanded the borders of India till Macedonia and Greece.
So Alexander the great going back was less in India's favour and more in his.
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The history taught to us was always one sided.
We indeed are proud of Maharaj Purushotam but somewhere in our heart there is like we would have been colonized by Greeks if Alexander wasn't impressed.
But now you know that either way the greeks could've have never conquered us. And in this context I am even proud of Dhananad.
