Editing Punjab (section)

==== Invasions of Alexander the Great (c.&nbsp;4th century BCE) ====
[[File:Surrender of Porus to the Emperor Alexander.jpg|right|thumb|upright=0.9|One of the first known kings of ancient Punjab, [[King Porus]], fought against Alexander the Great. His surrender is depicted in this 1865 engraving by [[Alonzo Chappel]].]]

The earliest known notable local king of this region was known as [[King Porus]], who fought the famous [[Battle of the Hydaspes]] against [[Alexander the Great]]. His kingdom spanned between rivers ''Hydaspes'' ([[Jhelum River|Jhelum]]) and ''Acesines'' ([[Chenab River|Chenab]]); [[Strabo]] had held the territory to contain almost 300 cities.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Albert Brian |title=Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |pages=125–130 |chapter=The campaign of the Hydaspes}}</ref> He (alongside [[Abisares]]) had a hostile relationship with the Kingdom of [[Taxila]] which was ruled by his extended family.<ref name=":6" /> When the armies of Alexander crossed the Indus in its eastward migration, probably in [[Udabhandapura]], he was greeted by the ruler of Taxila, [[Taxiles|Omphis]].<ref name=":6" /> Omphis had hoped to force both Porus and Abisares into submission leveraging the might of Alexander's forces and diplomatic missions were mounted, but while Abisares accepted the submission, Porus refused.<ref name=":6" /> This led Alexander to seek for a face-off with Porus.<ref name=":6" /> Thus began the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BCE; the exact site remains unknown.<ref name=":6" /> The battle is thought to be resulted in a decisive [[Greeks|Greek]] victory; however, A. B. Bosworth warns against an uncritical reading of Greek sources that were exaggerated.<ref name=":6" />

Alexander later founded two cities—''[[Nicaea, Punjab|Nicaea]]'' at the site of victory and [[Alexandria Bucephalous|''Bucephalous'']] at the battle-ground, in memory of [[Bucephalus|his horse]], who died soon after the battle.<ref name=":6" />{{Efn|Craterus supervised the construction. These cities are yet to be identified.}} Later, [[tetradrachm]]s would be minted depicting Alexander on horseback, armed with a ''sarissa'' and attacking a pair of Indians on an elephant.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Holt |first=Frank Lee |title=Alexander the Great and the mystery of the elephant medallions |publisher=University of California Press |year=2003}}</ref> Porus refused to surrender and wandered about atop an elephant, until he was wounded and his force routed.<ref name=":6" /> When asked by Alexander how he wished to be treated, Porus replied "Treat me as a king would treat another king".<ref>Rogers, p.200</ref> Despite the apparently one-sided results, Alexander was impressed by Porus and chose to not depose him.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Albert Brian |title=Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |chapter=From the Hydaspes to the Southern Ocean}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Anson |first=Edward M. |title=Alexander the Great: Themes and Issues |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2013 |isbn=9781441193797 |page=151}}</ref>{{sfn|Roy|2004|pp=23–28}} Not only was his territory reinstated but also expanded with Alexander's forces annexing the territories of Glausaes, who ruled to the northeast of Porus' kingdom.<ref name=":7" />

After Alexander's death in {{BCE|323}}, [[Perdiccas]] became the regent of his empire, and after Perdiccas's murder in {{BCE|321}}, [[Antipater]] became the new regent.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heckel |first=Waldemar |title=Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire |publisher=Wiley |year=2006 |isbn=9781405112109}}</ref> According to [[Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus]], Antipater recognized Porus's authority over the territories along the [[Indus River]]. However, [[Eudemus (general)|Eudemus]], who had served as Alexander's [[satrap]] in the Punjab region, treacherously killed Porus.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Irfan Habib |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nUvGQgAACAAJ |title=Mauryan India |author2=Vivekanand Jha |publisher=Aligarh Historians Society / [[Tulika Books]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-81-85229-92-8 |series=A People's History of India |page=16 |author1-link=Irfan Habib}}</ref>