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The Mallian campaign was conducted by
Alexander the Great from November 326 to February 325, against the Malli of the
Punjab. Alexander was defining the eastern limit of his power by marching
down-river along the Hydaspes to the Acesines (now the Jhelum and Chenab), but
the Malli and the Oxydraci combined to refuse passage through their territory.
Alexander sought to prevent their forces meeting, and made a swift campaign
against them which successfully pacified the region between the two rivers.
Alexander was seriously injured during the course of the campaign, almost
losing his life.
Opponents: Macedon and League of Corinth versus Malli
Commanders and leaders:
Alexander the Great Hephaestion Peithon versus various
Background:
The campaign against the Malli (identified with the Malavas occurred a year
after Alexander crossed the Hindu Kush, and eight years after the start of his
campaigns against the Persian Empire. At this time, his conquests stretched
from Greece into India; some of the Indian tribes had previously been part of
the Persian Empire. The political situation in Greece was quiet. Alexander had
defeated King Porus at the Battle of the Hydaspes in May 326, and then stayed
in his territory for thirty days. During this time, he reconciled King Porus
and his other vassal, Taxiles, with each other, as they were both to be his new
vassals. Alexander achieved this by arbitrating their disputes and then
arranging a family alliance. He then marched north-east toward the Glaukanokoi,
and received the submission of their thirty-seven cities. Abisares of Kashimir
submitted to the Macedonians as well, and gave them many gifts, including forty
elephants. Alexander proposed to march further east to the River Ganges and
fight the powerful empires of the Nanda and the Gangaridai. According to
Arrian, he expressed his thoughts thus; Now if anyone desires to hear where our
warfare will find its end and limit, let him know that the distance from where
we are to the river Ganges is no longer great; and this you will find is
connected to the Hyrcanian sea; for the great sea surrounds the entire earth. I
will also demonstrate to the Macedonians and their allies not only that the
Indian gulf is confluent with the Persian, but the Hycranian gulf is confluent
with the Indian.
Alexander the Great beneath the Mallian walls:
At the Beas River, his army mutinied. They did not share his ambition and
wished to return home. It had been raining for the last seventy days. At the
Battle of Hydaspes they had suffered many casualties. The Nanda Empire was
rumoured to be even more powerful than Porus, who was only a princeling.
Coenus' spoke on behalf of the troops and pleaded with Alexander to allow them
to return, to the agreement of the other officers. Alexander finally gave in.
Shortly after this, Memnon brought up reinforcements of 6,000 cavalry from
Thrace, and 7,000 infantry. The reinforcements brought with them twenty five
thousand suits of armour. After uniting with Memnon's forces, Alexander decided
to head south, following the river Hydaspes, after the omens ostensibly
declared it unfavourable to march further east. Initially, the fleet and army
just sailed down the river, occasionally marching short distances inland. Only
slight opposition was experienced. Alexander received news that the Mallians
and the Oxydracians had decided to trade hostages with each other, and moved
all their valuables into their fortified cities. They decided to combine their
forces in order to prevent him from marching through their territory. Reports
suggested that they had a total of 90,000 foot, 10,000 horse and 900 chariots.
In spite of the fact that the two had traditionally been enemies, it was
reported that they had laid aside their disputes to fight the Macedonians.
Alexander decided to prevent them from joining their forces. It was Alexander's
habit, as with his father, to campaign in all seasons of the year. In Greece,
this meant the winter, but in India, it meant the rainy season or cold season.
The Mallian alliance was unaware of this practice, and therefore might have
expected more time to prepare for Alexander's advance. Throughout his career,
Alexander made many celebrated marches in spite of difficult conditions.
After the Battle of Gaugamela Alexander and his forces are alleged to have
reached the Great Zab, 34 miles (55 km) from the battlefield, only one day
later.
Phases:
First:
Upon receiving the news of the alliance in November, Alexander raced out to
prevent the junction of the two tribes. He reached the area in five days by
sailing down the Hydaspes with the fleet he had recently built. The boats had
been built to be taken apart and put back together, so that they could be
conveyed across the Punjab. There were, as there are now, five rivers in the
Punjab - it is sometimes referred to as "The Valley of the Five
Rivers" - so it was necessary to drag the boats from one to the next. The
Hydaspes and Acesines were dangerous to sail down in this area, and the
Macedonians sustained considerable damage to some of their ships, in addition
to some casualties. They used two sorts of vessels, warships and the transport
ships known as "round vessels". The transport ships were not damaged,
as their round hulls helped them navigate the difficult channels. By contrast,
the warships had considerable difficulties, and many were destroyed. Their
double rows of oars meant that the bottom row of oars would get caught on the
river bank. At one point Alexander even took off his armour, preparing to jump
in the water, for fear that his ship was going to sink. However, the
Macedonians got through. Arriving in the confederacies' territory, they set
about the task of pacification. While their ships were undergoing repairs, the
Macedonians first attacked a tribe to the west called the Sibea. This tribe,
alleged to have 40,000 warriors, was on the right bank, and thus the
Macedonians had to cross the river in order to attack them. The Macedonians
destroyed their capital city and burned their crops, slew all the males, and
enslaved the women and children. Previously, Alexander had been scrupulous
about being merciful towards the inhabitants of his newly conquered
territories. This marked change in policy was intended as an example to the
other tribes. It was done, allegedly, to secure the Macedonians' line of
communications, which, being already over-extended, were at a serious risk of
being cut. They extended all the way from Babylon to the Punjab, if they were
cut anywhere the entire expedition could have been compromised. No half
measures were taken in securing the lines of communications in their extended
condition. Alexander was determined not to let the Mallians escape him, and
therefore he planned a sophisticated campaign that allowed him to retain the
interior lines, so that he could reinforce himself at any threatened point. He
added Philip's corps, Polyperchon's brigade, the horse-bowmen and the elephants
which had been marching down the river, to Craterus' force. He then ordered
Nearchus to sail down the river with the fleet and establish a base to conduct
further operations at the junction of the Acesines and the Hydraotis. In
addition, the base would be used to catch any escaping Mallians. Three days
later, Alexander ordered Craterus to follow him down the river on the right
bank.
Alexander divided his army into three parts and crossed over onto the left
bank. His own force was to march directly across the desert, and was to take
upon itself the most difficult work, as was his habit. His force consisted of
hypaspists, archers, Agrianians, Peithon's brigade of the phalanx, the horse
archers and half the Companion cavalry. While it was a difficult march across
the desert, the march was to serve two purposes; first it was to surprise the
Mallians, secondly it was to afford him a strategic position from which he
could drive them to the south, so that they would be pressed towards the rest
of his forces. Hephaestion's force was ordered to march opposite Craterus'
force, on the left bank of the same river. He was sent five days ahead of
Alexander, in order to ensure that any retreating forces Alexander impelled
would be easily caught if they managed to evade Craterus. Ptolemy I Soter's
force was ordered to follow Alexander's march three days later, in order to
ensure that any Mallians that did escape to the north were still captured and
slaughtered.
Second Phase:
At this point, the tentative alliance between the Mallians and the Oxydracians
began to break down. The two tribes could not agree on who was to lead them,
and their forces retreated to their strongholds, each group to fend for
themselves. After starting across the desert, Alexander marched continuously,
with only a single half-day halt at a place where water could be obtained. His
detachment of the army marched 45 miles (72 km) in about 24 hours. Arriving
near the city of Kot Kamalia at daybreak, Alexander rode ahead with his
Companion cavalry and totally surprised the Mallians — so much so that
many of them were still outside the city. As Alexander had expected, they did
not think he would cross the desert. A vast number of them were slain, and
Alexander chased those whom he could not massacre into the city. He then
created a cordon of cavalry around this relatively small town, and awaited the
arrival of his infantry. When the infantry arrived, Alexander detached
Perdiccas with the cavalry of Cleitus the White and his own cavalry, and
ordered him to surround another Mallian city to the south-east. However, he
gave him specific instructions not to actually besiege the city, for fear that
some of the inhabitants would flee and give news of what was going on to others
in the area, giving them time to escape. Alexander desired that Perdiccas
should await his own arrival with the rest of the force. This is another
example of Alexander taking up each and every task he deemed to be important in
person, this was a practice he repeated throughout all of his campaigns. It was
soon after this that Alexander took the city that he was currently besieging,
employing siege equipment such as the torsion catapult. The torsion catapult
was the most powerful of the era, and had revolutionised siege warfare;
Alexander would use it to capture all the other cities in the region.
Alexander's army then overcame the city's garrison, two thousand strong, and
killed them all. When Perdiccas arrived at the town he was supposed to take, he
found it empty; he chased down the survivors and put them to the sword.
Alexander allowed his men to rest until the first watch of the night. After
this, the Macedonians continued to pursue the Mallians, the next town being the
modern Brahmin town of Atari. Upon arriving, Alexander immediately sent his
phalanx forward and prepared to undermine the city walls. However, the Indians,
who were by now familiar with Alexander's expertise in besieging, decided they
could hold out better in the citadel. The Macedonians followed. Alexander led a
siege of the citadel, bringing his phalanx up towards the walls. The citadel
was burnt, and five thousand Mallians died within its walls. After taking a
single day's rest, Alexander headed for the city of Mallians (this city has
been identified as present-day Multan, although this identification is not
certain). However, the Mallians had crossed the river already, and were
awaiting his arrival on the western bank.
Final phase:
Before continuing his campaign against the Mallians, Alexander sent Peithon and
Demetrius back towards the river, the forests, and the desert. Their orders
were to kill anyone who did not submit. The reason was that so many of the
cities were deserted when Alexander's forces reached them. Refugees from these
cities had been taken prisoner in the forests in the area alongside the
Hydraotis. The Malli offered battle to Alexander on the high ground of the
western bank of the Hydraotis. However, Alexander and his army had become such
an object of fear in their eyes that he decided to charge them across the
river. This was not a new tactic, as his father Phillip II had perfected the
cavalry arm of Macedon to such an extent that the infantry, on many occasions,
would only attack after the cavalry. The Mallians fled without the Macedonian
infantry even joining battle. Alexander pursued them with his cavalry for 5
miles (8.0 km).
Cavalry attack:
The Mallians, realising how small the number of Macedonian cavalry was, chose
to stop and fight them. Arrian estimated that there were fifty thousand
Mallians at this point. As expert as the Companion cavalry was, Alexander had
placed himself in a vulnerable situation. However, the Macedonians formed up
and circled around the Mallians, attacking them in the flank and rear.
Eventually, the Macedonian light infantry came up, and the Mallians lost heart
and fled to the city of Mallians. Alexander followed them to the city, and then
rested his columns for the rest of the day.
Siege of the citadel:
Alexander arranged two separate forces, one to be led by himself and the other
by Perdiccas. The Indians almost immediately retreated into the main citadel.
The citadel was substantial, with its walls a mile around. But Alexander was
able to force one of the gates, and made his way into the outer parts of the
citadel. There the Macedonians began to undermine the next layer of walls.
Alexander quickly became impatient at the pace of the siege, so he grabbed a
ladder and went up it himself. He was followed by only two soldiers. The rest
of the soldiers, nervous about the safety of their king, crowded the ladders to
get up so that they could protect him. There were too many of them, and the
ladders collapsed under the weight. The Mallians realised who Alexander was,
and focused their energies on him. Many of Alexander's men held out their arms
and called for him to jump down to them. The King, however, would not.
Alexander leaped into the inner area of the citadel. There, he killed the
Mallians' leader. But an arrow penetrated Alexander's lung, and he was severely
wounded. The Macedonians believed Alexander dead. After gaining entrance to the
city, they planned to kill everyone in revenge.
Result:
When the Macedonians reached Alexander, some of them placed him on a shield and
quickly ran back with him to a tent. An incision had to be made in order to get
the arrow out, however everyone was afraid to make the incision themselves.
Perdiccas came forward and volunteered to make the incision. An incision was
made and the arrow head was withdrawn from the wound. The soldiers were very
anxious about his health, since they believed he was the only one who could
lead them back home. For some days he hovered between life and death. The main
body of the army, four days away from Alexander's location, heard that he was
dead. Rumours spread like wildfire, and when reports came in that he was alive
and was recovering, they would not believe it. He was eventually placed upon a
boat where he could see the troops, and the troops could see him. However, his
health was in such a delicate state that during his course down the river they
would not even row the boat, for fear that the oars slapping the water would
disturb him. Four days afterwards, the Macedonians reached a fertile country
which the natives had completely deserted. Alexander was confronted by some of
his close companions. They told him that he should not expose himself so
recklessly in battle. Alexander received the final submission of the Malli, who
had submitted after the capture of their capital city. He sent their
ambassadors away, and they returned later with 300 four horse chariots. In
addition to this, Alexander also received 1,000 Indian shields, a number of
lions and 100 talents.
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