Controversial though this post may seem,
there are certain facts which can not be dismissed,
that run contrary to the prevalent opinion that
Alexander defeated Porus (King Puru).
Alexander in his bid to conquer the entire world came to
and defeated the Indian ruler Porus,
so says our history text books.
But it is not so.
This is coming to be known
as we go deeper into the issue of what happened then.
Megasthanes who came to
has recorded that this country (
which was never invaded by any and
which never invaded any.
If Alexander’s victory had been true,
why did this historian from
It had also been recorded in the famous medieval epic,
Shahnameh by the Persian poet Firdausi that
Alexander was defeated by Porus and
they became friends.
The territories conquered earlier by Alexander were left to Porus.
Why should Alexander,
known for his conquering ambitions leave them to Porus
if not defeated by him?
“Alexander himself was a myth which was promoted
by the British some 150 years ago. All our ancestors had no idea of Alexander
or his invasion of
Alexander myth was necessary for the British
to justify the colonial domination” – says Mr. GP. Srinivasan
Prof Rao has taken up this issue and revealed
how this story of Alexander’s invasion of
has no basis in contemporary writings of his times
and also from Indian works.
Looking from the available records in Jyothish books too,
it is seen that no battle scuffles had taken place
in the period between 4th to 1 st century BC.
An important source of astrology of the Yavanas (Greeks) is
Varahamihira’s Pancha Siddhanthika.
This Siddhanthika was based on Romaka Sidhantha
and Paulisa Sishantha
(among the 5 siddhanthas of this book by Varahamihira)
which have been written by a Roman and a Greek respectively.
The Yavanas had been frequent visitors to India
in the 400 years before the Christian era,
and there had been exchange of views in astrology and astronomy
between Indian rishis and the yavanas.
Such exchange can not have happened in an oppressed atmosphere of invasion.
The Indian authors of astrology had talked
about the yavanas, their roots and their contribution in good length.
But there is no mention of any invasion.
Meena Raja’s “Vriddha yavana Jataka”
is an important book dealing with the astrology of the yavanas.
This was written in the 4th century BC in the opinion of David Pingree,
based on the details in the book.
There are others too like, Varahamihira, Bhattotpala and Kalyana varma
who have written about Yavanas and their contributions.
From their writings it appears that
there had been a free movement of scholars between Greece and India.
No where is a mention of one country on a military expedition on the other.
It has been observed by scholars that Alexander did not reach India proper
though he thought that he had reached India.
The river he was said to have reached was not the Indus, but the Nile (Nil)
as he was said to have sighted crocodiles in that river.
More details in the following links containing the research findings of Prof Rao.
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/history/research/alexandermyth.asp
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/history/alexander.asp
