Boukephala and Nikaia

Alexander the Great, king of Macedon, had invaded the Achaemenid Empire in 334 BC. Within a few years he had defeated the Achaemenid armies, first at Issus and then at Gaugamela, while his enemy Darius III was murdered by Bessus, the satrap of Bactria, in 330 BC. Alexander moved through Ariana and Arachosia to confront Bessus, who had declared himself Artaxerxes V, and soon subdued him and his Bactrian forces; he then moved southwards towards the Indus river to confront local rulers. After capturing the fortress of Aornos, in present-day northern Pakistan in April 326 BC, Alexander crossed the Indus to begin campaigning in northern India, executing a series of manouevres to cross the Hydaspes river (the modern-day Jhelum River) and defeat the Indian king Porus at the Battle of the Hydaspes.[1][2]

Accounts of the founding of two cities after the battle appear in the records of all five of Alexander's chroniclers—Arrian, Plutarch, Diodorus, Curtius Rufus, and Justin. All five agree that Alexander founded two cities, one on each side of the Indus, naming one Nikaia and the other Boukephala.[3] Craterus, one of Alexander's leading generals, was appointed to construct and fortify the new cities, a task he had perfomed previously at Arigaion—Perdiccas, another general, may have done the same duty at Gerasa and Samareia in the Levant. Diodorus additionally records that the settlements were built quickly, as many workers were available.[4] Before moving onwards to continue his Indian campaign, Alexander celebrated his victory and foundations with "a gymnastic and horse contest" near the western city.[5][6] Unused to the South Asian monsoon, the cities' builders failed to provide enough strengthening against the rains: when Alexander returned a few months later, after his troops had mutinied at the Hyphasis (modern-day Beas River), he used his army to repair damage caused by the monsoon.[7]

There is some dispute as to whether Alexander intended his foundations to be rapidly developing cities or military garrisons which would control the conquered territory; N. G. L. Hammond theorises that Boukephala and Nikaia, founded on the banks of a major river, must have been established with trade routes in mind.[8] According to Arrian, Alexander may have initially established the port at Boukephala, although Curtius Rufus implies otherwise.[9] Boukephala and Nikaia were also exceptional among the many cities founded by Alexander in not being at or near an existing fortress or provincial capital.[10]

Craterus, builder of Nikaia and Boukephala, depicted in a lion hunt alongside Alexander

However, the sources are unclear on the details of the foundation and naming of the cities. Arrian separates the clauses detailing the location and naming of the cities, so that although the reader knows that of the two cities, one was founded on the battlefield on the eastern bank of the Hydaspes, one was established on the western bank where Alexander began to cross, one was called Nikaia, and one named Boukephala, it is unclear which name corresponds to which city. Though critical opinion has tended towards Nikaia being the eastern city, the historian Albert Brian Bosworth has noted that this conclusion is quite tentative due to grammatical uncertainties.[11][12] None of the other sources give any more clarity to the situation, and it is possible that Arrian himself did not know which city was under which name.[3]

There is also confusion on the timing of the death of Bucephalus. Justin records that he fell at the beginning of the battle on the Hydapses.[13] Plutarch however specifically mentions that Bucephalus died "not at once, but some time afterwards", either from wounds or simple old age.[14][3] Arrian, meanwhile, emphasises that Bucephalus died not wounded but from simple old age, being around thirty years old.[15][3] As both Diodorus and Curtius Rufus separate the foundation of the cities from their naming, it is probable that the horse only died after Alexander's eastward departure, and that the settlements were named upon Alexander's return to the region.[3]

Boukephala appears to have survived for some centuries; it was probably under the rule of the Mauryan Empire (c. 320–185 BC), while the later presence of the Indo-Greek kingdom (c. 170 BC–10 AD) in the area would have helped it to survive.[16] The Indian historian A. K. Narain questioned whether Boukephala still existed by the time of Menander I (c.150 BC), but this uncertainty is dispelled by the city's presence in the 1st-century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a guide for Roman merchant sailors.[17][18] The classicist William Woodthorpe Tarn claimed that the settlement was the capital of the Indo-Greek king Hippostratus, due to the presence of a symbol on his coinage which could only have been minted at a Greek city; however, as no such coins have been found near the Hydaspes, this theory is considered flawed.[17][19]

Boukephala appears in many other Greco-Roman texts, including various recensions of the Alexander Romance, Ptolemy, and Pliny the Elder, who notes that the city was the chief of three controlled by the Asini tribe. It also appears on the Tabula Peutingeriana, and in the writings of Yaqut al-Hamawi, a 13th-century AD Islamic scholar.[20] Nikaia appears far less frequently in the ancient sources: it is possible that the name Alexandria for Porus, which is mentioned frequently, in fact refers to Nikaia.[21][22]

Ancient sources are generally consistent in the naming of the cities. Boukephala is less frequently named "Boukephalia", or, in the Byzantine period, "Alexandria Boukephalos".[3] Alexander, who often founded cities after winning military victories, had a short time previously founded another settlement named "Nikaia" to the east of Paropamisadae. Tarn suggested that all of Alexander's foundations were called "Alexandria" and that any other names were merely nicknames;[23] this conclusion is generally considered unfounded.[24]

• Arrian. The Anabasis of Alexander. Translated by Chinnock, Edward James – via www.gutenberg.org/.
• Justin. Epitome of Pompeius Trogus. Translated by Watson, John Selby – via www.attalus.org.
• Plutarch. Parallel Lives. Translated by Perrin, Bernadotte – via penelope.uchicago.edu.

• Bosworth, Albert Brian (1980). A Historical Commentary on Arrian's History of Alexander. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780198148289.
• Bosworth, Albert Brian (2014). "Alexander the Great". The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198706779.
• Cohen, Getzel (2013). The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520953567. JSTOR 10.1525/j.ctt2tt96k.
• Cunningham, Alexander (2023) [1871]. Archaeological Survey of India. Vol. 2. Anatiposi Verlag. ISBN 978-3-382-11661-3.
• Eggermont, P. H. L. (1993). Alexander's campaign in Southern Punjab. ISBN 90-6831-499-8.
• Hammond, N. G. L. (1998). "Alexander's Newly-founded Cities". Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. Duke University Press. 39: 243–269. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
• Fraser, Peter M. (1996). Cities of Alexander the Great. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 6610763887.
• Lane Fox, Robin (1986) [1973]. Alexander the Great. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-102076-1.
• Tarn, William Woodthorpe (1948). Alexander The Great. Vol. II: Sources and Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521225847.
• Wood, Michael (1997). In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great: A Journey from Greece to Asia. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23192-4.