7 Alexander the Great 7Persian notables, after which he continued eastward.
Meanwhile, Alexander ruthlessly quashed real or imag-
ined conspiracies among his men. His actions elicited
widespread horror but strengthened his position among
his critics.
Alexander pressed on during the winter of 330–329 up
the valley of the Helmand River, through Arachosia, and
over the mountains past the site of modern Kābul into the
country of the Paropamisadae. There he founded
Alexandria by the Caucasus. Crossing the Hindu Kush
northward over the Khawak Pass, Alexander continued
on to the Jaxartes (modern Syr Darya) River, the boundary
of the Persian Empire. On the site of modern Khujand
(Khojent) on the Jaxartes, he founded a city, Alexandria
Eschate, or “the farthest.” In 328 he attacked the Bactrian
chief Oxyartes and the remaining barons who held out in
the hills of Paraetacene (modern Tajikistan). Among the
captives was Oxyartes’ daughter, Roxana. In reconcilia-
tion Alexander married her, and the rest of his opponents
were either won over or crushed.
Shortly afterward, Alexander embraced Eastern abso-
lutism and adopted Persian royal dress and customs.
Invasion of India
In early summer 327, Alexander left Bactria and recrossed
the Hindu Kush. His advance through Swāt and Gandhāra
was marked by the storming of the almost impregnable
pinnacle of Aornos (modern Pir-Sar), which lay a few miles
west of the Indus and north of the Buner rivers. In spring
of 326, crossing the Indus River near Attock, Alexander
entered Taxila. In June, Alexander fought his last great
battle on the left bank of the Hydaspes (modern Jhelum)
River. He founded two cities there, Alexandria Nicaea (to
celebrate his victory) and Bucephala (named after his horse
Bucephalus, which died there).