BBC - In the footsteps of Alexander (climbing pir sar) 24

In the footsteps of Alexander the Great

In this award winning adventure Micheal Wood embarks on a 2000 mile journey in the foot steps of Alexander's triumphal march from Greece to India. Travelling with Lebanese traders, Iranian pilgrims and Afghan guerillas, by jeep, train, boat, camel and on foot, he interweaves the momentous events of the past with present day reality and brings us new insights into a man whose myth and acheivements still resonate down the centuries

"We saw things I can scarcely believe. We took shelter for the night with an Afghan warlord who had delivered pizzas in the United States, and were hauled off to jail more than once. It was one of the great experiences of my life" - Michael Wood

After the death of Spitamenes and his marriage to Roxana (Roshanak in Bactrian) to cement his relations with his new Central Asian satrapies, Alexander was finally free to turn his attention to the Indian subcontinent. Alexander invited all the chieftains of the former satrapy of Gandhara, in the north of what is now Pakistan, to come to him and submit to his authority. Omphis (whose actual name is Ambhi), ruler of Taxila, whose kingdom extended from the Indus to the Hydaspes, complied, but the chieftains of some hill clans, including the Aspasioi and Assakenoi sections of the Kambojas (known in Indian texts also as Ashvayanas and Ashvakayanas), refused to submit.[107]

A painting by Charles Le Brun depicting Alexander and Porus (Puru) during the Battle of the Hydaspes

In the winter of 327/326 BC, Alexander personally led a campaign against these clans; the Aspasioi of Kunar valleys, the Guraeans of the Guraeus valley, and the Assakenoi of the Swat and Buner valleys.[108] A fierce contest ensued with the Aspasioi in which Alexander himself was wounded in the shoulder by a dart but eventually the Aspasioi lost the fight. Alexander then faced the Assakenoi, who fought bravely and offered stubborn resistance to Alexander in the strongholds of Massaga, Ora and Aornos.[107] The fort of Massaga could only be reduced after several days of bloody fighting in which Alexander himself was wounded seriously in the ankle. According to Curtius, "Not only did Alexander slaughter the entire population of Massaga, but also did he reduce its buildings to rubbles".[109] A similar slaughter then followed at Ora, another stronghold of the Assakenoi. In the aftermath of Massaga and Ora, numerous Assakenians fled to the fortress of Aornos. Alexander followed close behind their heels and captured the strategic hill-fort after the fourth day of a bloody fight.[107]

After Aornos, Alexander crossed the Indus and fought and won an epic battle against a local ruler Porus, who ruled a region in the Punjab, in the Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC.[110] Alexander was greatly impressed by Porus for his bravery in battle, and therefore made an alliance with him and appointed him as satrap of his own kingdom, even adding land he did not own before. Additional reasons were probably political since, to control lands so distant from Greece required local assistance and co-operation.[111] Alexander named one of the two new cities that he founded on opposite sides of the Hydaspes river, Bucephala, in honor of the horse that had brought him to India, and had died during the battle[112] and the other Nicaea (Victory) at the site of modern day Mong.

Additional Tags:
Megas Alexandros Makedonia Macedonians Northern Hellas Greeks Hellenism Hellenistic Literature Arts Culture Language Weapons Origin Myth Legend Gods Zeus Ares Apollo Oracle Olmypian Religion Expedition Conqueror Conquest Battle Phalanx Battle of Issus Granicus Hydaspes Gaugamela Empire Iran Snow Peak Mountain Pir Sar Karakoram Aornos Swat

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Documentary
• BBC
• History
• Ancient
• Greece
• Macedonia
• Alexander
• The
• Great
• Greeks
• Empire
• Hindu
• Kush
• Punjab
• Pakistan
• Swat
• India
• War

[Vrohopoios]

Alexandre, as Greek to Greek i would like to express my deepest gratitude for this documentary.

It provides an excellent insight on the greatest Greek hero, Alexander "the Great" of Macedon and the way that his actions, spread the Hellenic spirit, shaped history and created the Hellenistic era.

Looking forward for the rest of the documentary...

[alexandros1821]

Thanks for the kind words file, hope you enjoyed it as much as I have.

[ESALDOELMASMALO]

michael wood gets mad respect

[s4099274]

I haven't seen this for so long... michael woods does fantastic documentaries.

[wigarmy]

thanks so much for posting

[302acr43]

OMG. Pakistan is soooo beautiful.

[MandaNS93]

Does anyone know what happened with Greek colonists in Taksila?Who ruled with these areas after Alexander's death?Is there any descendants of Greeks in Taksila and in the other areas of today's Pakistan?Cheers! :)

[RigamortisTortoise]

Poor donkeys...carrying all that stuff on that knobby little trail

[2112Benny]

@ foonty- their is still a ridiculous amount of people who worship Hitler. Although Hitler an Alexander shared a lot of views an beliefs, Alexander wanted to join the countries in a world empire with everyones different beliefs intact. Hitler wanted to destroy anyone that wasn't German.

[YoungNubb]

@Giorikas86 um.... they are not pro-islam at all. Are you insane? Their religion existed for centuries before islam ever existed and even after islam has tried for centuries to convert them they are still not muslims. Who cares if they aren't Greek? Stop being racist! They are people and they have their own traditions that Muslims hate! Fuck off

[SPARTANsenator7]

@Giorikas86

The religion of the Kalash has ancient Greek elements and especially from the feasts of Dionysos!

[Graham6762]

Yeah this is incredibly interesting. I concur

[evaberlin]

@CorpusChristi83 have you seen the beginning of this documentary?