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'{{use dmy dates|date=February 2016}} {{use Indian English|date=February 2016}} {{Infobox royalty | name = Ambhi | image = Taxiles offering presents to Alexander.jpg | caption = Ambhi offering presents to Alexander the Great | succession = King of [[Takshashila]] (Taxila) | reign = c. 331 BCE to 305 BCE | coronation = c. 331 | predecessor = King Ambhiraj (rule from 360 BCE to 331 BCE) | successor = King Ambhik | birth_date = 359 BCE | birth_place = [[Taxila]] | death_date = 305 BCE | death place = Patliputra, [[Magadha]] (today [Bihar]]) | father = King Ambhiraj (born 380 BCE, died 326 BCE) | mother = Queen Alka | spouse = Queen Alkakumari (his mother's namemate) | issue = King Ambhik }} '''Taxiles''' (in [[Greek language|Greek]] Tαξίλης or Ταξίλας; lived 4th century BC) was the [[Greece|Greek]] chroniclers' name for the prince (later king) who reigned over the tract between the [[Indus River|Indus]] and the [[Jhelum River|Jhelum]] (Hydaspes) Rivers in the [[Punjab]] region of the [[Indian subcontinent]] at the time of [[Alexander the Great]]'s expedition. His real name was '''Ambhi'''<ref name="Heckel2002">{{cite book | author=Waldemar Heckel | title=The Wars of Alexander the Great, 336-323 B.C. | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DO6QMPLRiEUC&pg=PA48 | year=2002 | publisher=Taylor & Francis | isbn=978-0-415-96855-3 | pages=48 }}</ref> (Greek: '''Omphis'''), and the [[Greeks]] appear to have called him Taxiles or Taxilas, after the name of his capital city of [[Taxila]], near the modern city of [[Attock]], [[Pakistan]].<ref name="Diodorus_17_86">[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Bibliotheca'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Diod.+17.86.1 xvii. 86]</ref><ref>[[Quintus Curtius Rufus|Curtius Rufus]], ''Historiae Alexandri Magni'', [http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/historiens/quintecurce/huit.htm viii. 12]</ref> ==Life== Ambhi ascended to throne of [[Taxila|Takshasila]] after his father Ambhiraj.{{sfn|Sastri|1988|p=55}} He sent an embassy to [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] along with presents consisting of 200 [[Talent (measurement)|Talents]] of silver, 3,000 fat oxen and 10,000 sheep or more ( both are estimated around 600 talents of silver), 30 elephants and a force of 700 horsemen and offered for surrender.{{sfn|Sastri|1988|p=55}} He appears to have been on hostile terms with his neighbour and cousin brother, [[Porus]], who held the territories east of the [[Jhelum River|Hydaspes]].{{sfn|Sastri|1988|p=46}}<ref name="KenoyerHeuston2005">{{citation | author=Jonathan Mark Kenoyer | author2=Kimberly Burton Heuston | title=The Ancient South Asian World | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7CjvF88iEE8C&pg=PA110 | date=1 October 2005 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-522243-2 | page=110 }}</ref> It was probably with a view to strengthening himself against this foe that he sent an embassy to Alexander, while the latter was still in [[Sogdia]]na, with offers of assistance and support, perhaps in return for money.{{sfn|Sastri|1988|p=46}} Alexander was unnerved by the sight of Ambhi's forces on his first descent into India in 327 BC and ordered his own forces to form up.{{sfn|Sastri|1988|p=56}} Ambhi hastened to relieve Alexander of his apprehension and met him with valuable presents, placing himself and all his forces at his disposal.{{sfn|Sastri|1988|p=56}} Alexander not only returned Ambhi his title and the gifts but he also presented him with a wardrobe of "Persian robes, gold and silver ornaments, 30 horses and 1000 talents in gold".{{sfn|Sastri|1988|p=56}}{{sfn|Sastri|1988|p=36}}<ref>[[Quintus Curtius Rufus]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=oxyz0v9T74sC&pg=PA99]</ref> Alexander was emboldened to divide his forces, and Ambhi assisted [[Hephaestion]] and [[Perdiccas]] in constructing a bridge over the Indus where it bends at Hund (Fox 1973), supplied their troops with provisions, and received Alexander himself, and his whole army, in his capital city of Taxila, with every demonstration of friendship and the most liberal hospitality.<ref>[[Arrian]], ''[[Anabasis Alexandri]]'', [http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/book4a.asp iv. 12], [http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/book5a.asp v. 3, 8]</ref><ref name="Curtius_huit"/><ref name="Diodorus_17_86"/><ref>[[Plutarch]], ''[[Parallel Lives]]'', "Alexander", [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Caes.+59.1 59], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Caes.+65.1 65]</ref> On the subsequent advance of the [[Macedon]]ian king, Taxiles accompanied him with a force of 5000 men and took part in the [[Battle of the Hydaspes]]. After that victory he was sent by Alexander in pursuit of Porus, to whom he was charged to offer favourable terms, but narrowly escaped losing his life at the hands of his old enemy. Subsequently, however, the two rivals were reconciled by the personal mediation of Alexander; and Taxiles, after having contributed zealously to the equipment of the fleet on the Hydaspes, was entrusted by the king with the government of the whole territory between that river and the Indus.<ref>Arrian, [http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/book5a.asp v. 8], [http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/book5b.asp 18, 20]</ref><ref name="Curtius_huit">Curtius, [http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/historiens/quintecurce/huit.htm viii. 14], [http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/historiens/quintecurce/neuf.htm ix. 3]</ref> A considerable accession of power was granted him after the death of [[Philip (son of Machatas)|Philip]], son of Machatas; and he was allowed to retain his authority at the death of Alexander himself (323 BC), as well as in the subsequent partition of the provinces at [[Partition of Triparadisus|Triparadisus]], 321 BC.<ref>[[Photius I of Constantinople|Photius]], ''Bibliotheca'', [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_03bibliotheca.htm cod. 82], [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_03bibliotheca.htm cod. 92]</ref><ref>Diodorus, xviii. 3, 39</ref><ref>[[Junianus Justinus|Justin]], ''Epitome of Pompeius Trogus'', [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/justinus_04_books11to20.htm xiii. 4]</ref> [[Plutarch]], giving an exaggerated estimate of the size of the realm of Taxiles, says that it was "as large as [[Egypt]], with good pasturage, too, and in the highest degree productive of beautiful fruits".{{sfn|Sastri|1988|p=35}} [[Strabo]] refers to its "most excellent laws" and speaks of it as spacious and very fertile, adding that "some say that this is larger than Aegypt."{{sfn|Sastri|1988|p=36}} Later Eudemus took over Taxila briefly, after which [[Chandragupta Maurya]] conquered Alexander's satraps in the sub-continent by 317 BC. It is unknown what happened to Taxiles, and whether he was deposed or assassinated.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=taxiles-bio-1 William Smith. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. London. John Murray: printed by Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square and Parliament Street.]</ref> ==Notes== {{reflist|24em}} ==References== * Robin Lane Fox, 1973. ''Alexander the Great'', Chapters 24 ff * {{citation |editor-last=Sastri |editor-first=K. A. Nilakanta |editor-link=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri |title=Age of the Nandas and Mauryas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoAwor58utYC |date=1988 |orig-year=1967 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |location=[[Delhi]] |isbn=81-208-0465-1 |edition=Second }} * [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]] (editor) 1867. ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', [http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/3318.html "Taxiles (1)"], ([[Boston]]) {{DGRBM |title=Taxiles |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=taxiles-bio-1 |author=WS}} [[Category:Taxila Tehsil]] [[Category:Satraps of the Alexandrian Empire]] [[Category:4th-century BC Indian monarchs]] [[Category:4th-century BC births]] [[Category:Traitors in history]]'