Seleucid–Mauryan War
| Seleucid–Mauryan War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Conquests of Maurya Empire | |||||||||
 Alexander the Great's Eastern Satrapies in South Asia | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Maurya Empire | Seleucid Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Chandragupta Maurya Chanakya | Seleucus I Nicator | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| unknown | unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| unknown | unknown | ||||||||
The Seleucid–Mauryan War was fought between 305 and 303 BCE. It started when Seleucus I Nicator of the Seleucid Empire sought to retake the Indian satrapies of the Macedonian Empire, which had been occupied by Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, of the Maurya Empire.
The war ended in a Mauryan victory[3] resulting in the annexation of the Indus Valley region and part of Afghanistan to the Maurya Empire,[b] with Chandragupta securing control over the areas that he had sought, and a marriage alliance between the two powers. After the war, the Maurya Empire emerged as the dominant power of the Indian subcontinent, and the Seleucid Empire turned its attention toward defeating its rivals in the west.
Background
[edit]
Chandragupta Maurya established himself as Emperor of Magadha around 321 BC, defeating the Nanda Dynasty, rulers at the time of the Gangetic Plain. He fought the empire for eleven years with successful guerrilla campaigns, and captured the Nanda capital of Pataliputra. This led to the fall of the empire and the eventual creation of the Maurya Empire with Chandragupta Maurya as its emperor.
The Persian provinces in what is now modern Afghanistan, together with the wealthy kingdom of Gandhara and the states of the Indus Valley, had all submitted to Alexander the Great and become part of his empire. When Alexander died, the Wars of the Diadochi ("Successors") split his empire apart; as his generals fought for control of Alexander's empire. In the eastern territories one of these generals, Seleucus I Nicator, was taking control and was starting to establish what became known as the Seleucid Empire. According to the Roman historian Appian, History of Rome, Seleucus was
Always lying in wait for the neighboring nations, strong in arms and persuasive in council, he acquired Mesopotamia, Armenia, 'Seleucid' Cappadocia, Persis, Parthia, Bactria, Arabia, Tapouria, Sogdia, Arachosia, Hyrcania, and other adjacent peoples that had been subdued by Alexander, as far as the river Indus, so that the boundaries of his empire were the most extensive in Asia after that of Alexander. The whole region from Phrygia to the Indus was subject to Seleucus.[6]
Alexander had appointed satraps in control of his territories, including those of the Indus Valley. The Mauryans annexed the areas governed by Nicanor, Phillip, Eudemus and Peithon. This established Mauryan control all the way to the banks of the Indus. Chandragupta's victories convinced Seleucus that he needed to secure his eastern flank. Seeking to hold the Macedonian territories there, Seleucus thus came into conflict with the emerging and expanding Mauryan Empire over the Indus Valley.[7]
The Roman historian Justin described how Sandrocottus (Greek version of Chandragupta's name) conquered the northwest:
"India, after the death of Alexander, had assassinated his prefects, as if shaking the burden of servitude. The author of this liberation was Sandracottos [Chandragupta], but he had transformed liberation in servitude after victory, since, after taking the throne, he himself oppressed the very people he has liberated from foreign domination."
— Junianus Justinus, Histoires Philippiques Liber, XV.4.12-13 [8]
War
[edit]Details of the conflict are lacking. According to Appian,
[Seleucus] crossed the Indus and waged war with Sandrocottus [Maurya], king of the Indians, who dwelt on the banks of that stream, until they came to an understanding with each other and contracted a marriage relationship. Some of these exploits were performed before the death of Antigonus and some afterward.
It is unknown if there was in fact a pitched battle.[7] Military historian John D. Grainger has argued that Seleucus, upon crossing the Indus, "would find himself in a trap, with a large river at his back and a hostile continent before him," and consequently could not have advanced much farther than the Indus. According to Grainger, the details of the conflict are unclear, but the outcome clearly must have been "a decisive Indian victory," with Chandragupta driving back Seleucus' forces as far as the Hindu Kush and consequently gaining large territories in modern-day Afghanistan.[9] Wheatley and Heckel suggest that the degree of friendly Maurya-Seleucid relations established after the war implies that the hostilities were probably "neither prolonged nor grievous".[10]
Treaty
[edit]
The confrontation was followed with a treaty, as recorded by the Greek historians Justin, Appian, and Strabo, and contained three main terms.[12] Seleucus Nicator ceded the Hindu Kush, Punjab and parts of Afghanistan to Chandragupta Maurya.[13][b] In consequence of their arrangement, Seleucus received 500 war elephants from Chandragupta Maurya, which subsequently influenced the Wars of the Diadochi in the west. Seleucus and Chandragupta also agreed to a marriage alliance, probably the marriage of Seleucus' daughter (named Berenice in Indian Pali sources) to Chandragupta.
While Seleucus surrendered territory west of the Indus and in Afghanistan, he was accepted by satraps of the eastern provinces in present-day Iran. His Iranian wife, Apama, may have helped him implement his rule in Bactria and Sogdiana.[14][15]
Terms of the treaty
[edit]The terms of the peace treaty are given by Justin,[12], Appian 'Syr. 55 and Strabo XV 2,9.[16][17] Kosmin:
The ancient historians Justin, Appian, and Strabo preserve the three main terms of what I will call the Treaty of the Indus:
(i) Seleucus transferred to Chandragupta's kingdom the easternmost satrapies of his empire, certainly Gandhara, Parapamisadae, and the eastern parts of Gedrosia, and possibly also Arachosia and Aria as far as Herat.
(ii) Chandragupta gave Seleucus 500 Indian war elephants.
(iii) The two kings were joined by some kind of marriage alliance (ἐπιγαμία οι κῆδος); most likely Chandragupta wed a female relative of Seleucus.[12]
Strabo describes a number of tribes living along the Indus, and states that "The Indians occupy [in part] some of the countries situated along the Indus, which formerly belonged to the Persians,"[18]:
The geographical position of the tribes is as follows: along the Indus are the Paropamisadae, above whom lies the Paropamisus Mountains: then, towards the south, the Arachoti: then next, towards the south, the Gedroseni, with the other tribes that occupy the seaboard; and the Indus lies, latitudinally, alongside all these places; and of these places, in part, some that lie along the Indus are held by Indians, although they formerly belonged to the Persians. Alexander [III 'the Great' of Macedon] took these away from the Arians and established settlements of his own, but Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus [Chandragupta], upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange five hundred elephants.[19]
Gedrosia
[edit]| Malan mountain range (V.A. Smith) and Hingol river (Hingol National Park) | |
|---|---|
  | |
| Location | Lasbela, Baluchistan |
| Coordinates | 25°36′N 65°40′E / 25.600°N 65.667°E |
| Area | 6,100 square kilometres (2,400 sq mi) |
V.A. Smith (1914), Early History of India,[20]:
The satrapy of Gedrosia (or Gadrosia) extended far to the west, and probably only the eastern part of it was annexed by Chandragupta. The Malin range of mountains,[c] which Alexander experienced such difficulty in crossing, would have furnished a natural boundary.
Pierre Eggermont describes the area, stating that the Malan range is an offshoot of the Makran Coastal Range, which was explored by Sir Aurel Stein, who found out that "the Buzelak, or "Goat's Pass", leading from the Malan plain across the Malan range into the plain of Ormara proved to be very steep," concluding that it was unlikely that Alexander had passed over the Malan range.[21] Lewis Vance Cummings also gives a description of the struggles of Alexander's army at hteir retreat from India:
They turned west, reaching the mouth of the Tomerus (Hingol) River [...] Alexander, true to his tactical principles, prepared to advance along the coast [...] An unexpected obstacle arose to the continuance of the line of march. On the other side of the river loomed the utterly impossible barrier of the Malan (modern name) mountain range, its seaward end dropping abruptly and precipitately into the ater, and barring passage.[22]
Lasbela District, where the Hydaspes/Purali probably was (Tarn) | |
|---|---|
.png) Map of Balochistan with Lasbela District highlighted | |
| Coordinates: 20°13′38″N 66°18′22″E / 20.22722°N 66.30611°E |
Tarn further refers to Eratosthenes, who states (in Tarn words) that
Alexander [...] took away from Iran the parts of these three satrapies which lay along the Indus and made of them separate [...] governments or province; it was these which Seleucus ceded, being districts predominantly Indian in blood. In Gedrosia the boundary is known: the country ceded was that between the Median Hydaspes[d] (probably the Purali[e]) and the Indus."[24]
With regard to Gedrosia, more recent authors mention either "Gedrosia" or '[the eastern] part of Gedrosia', without giving a rationale. According to Thapar (1963), referring to Smith (1914), History of India,
"Certain areas in the north-west were acquired through the treaty with Seleucus. There is no absolute certainty as to which these areas were and it has been suggested[f] that the territory ceded consisted of Gedrosia, Arachosia, Aria [modern-day Herat], and the Paropamisadae."[25]
According to Grant, Seleucus Nicator ceded the Hindu Kush, Punjab and parts of Afghanistan to Chandragupta Maurya.[13] According to Kosmin, "Seleucus transferred to Chandragupta's kingdom the easternmost satrapies of his empire, certainly Gandhara, Parapamisadae, and the eastern parts of Gedrosia, and possibly also Arachosia and Aria as far as Herat."[12]
Aria
[edit]The acquisition of Aria (modern Herat) is disputed. Smith included a large part of Aria.[26] According to Tarn, explicitly criticising Smith for his interpretation of the extent of Aria[g] the idea that Seleucus handed over more of what is now southern Afghanistan is an exaggeration originating in a statement by Pliny the Elder in his Geographia VI, 69, referring not specifically to the lands received by Chandragupta, but rather to the various opinions of geographers regarding the definition of the word "India."[27] Pliny the Elder:
Most geographers, in fact, do not look upon India as bounded by the river Indus, but add to it the four satrapies of the Gedrosia, the Arachotë, the Aria, and the Paropamisadë, the River Cophes, thus forming the extreme boundary of India. According to other writers, however, all these territories, are reckoned as belonging to the country of the Aria.[28]
According to Raychaudhuri & Mukherjee (1996), p.594, it "has been wrongly included in the list of ceded satrapies by some scholars [...] on the basis of wrong assessments of the passage of Strabo [...] and a statement by Pliny." According to John D Grainger (2014, p. 109), "Seleucus "must [...] have held Aria", and furthermore, his "son Antiochos was active there fifteen years later".
Military consequences
[edit]The arrangement proved to be mutually beneficial.[7] The border between the Seleucid and Mauryan Empires remained stable in subsequent generations, and friendly diplomatic relations are reflected by the ambassador Megasthenes, and by the envoys sent westward by Chandragupta's grandson Ashoka. Chandragupta's gift of war elephants "may have alleviated the burden of fodder and the return march"[7] and allowed him to appropriately reduce the size and cost of his large army, since the major threats to his power had now all been removed.[9]
With the war elephants acquired from the Mauryas, Seleucus was able to defeat his rival, Antigonus, along with his allies at the Battle of Ipsus. Adding Antigonus's territories to his own, Seleucus would found the Seleucid Empire, which would endure as a great power in the Mediterranean and the Middle East until 64 BC.
Mauryan control of territory in what is now Afghanistan helped guard against invasion of India from the northwest.[9] Chandragupta Maurya went on to expand his rule in India southward into the Deccan.[13]
See also
[edit]- Kalinga War
- Nanda-Mauryan War
- Mauryan conquest of Greek satrapies
- Shunga–Greek War
- First Battle of Jhelum
- Greek campaigns in India
- List of wars involving India
- Military history of India
Notes
[edit]- ^ Thapar (1966, p. 70) : "Chandragupta soon conquered the whole of the Punjab. Some of the land in the extreme north was held by the Greek general Seleucus Nicator. Chandragupta fought a long campaign against him and finally defeated him in 303 B.C. He acquired the territory across the Indus in part of what is now modern Afghanistan. There was also a marriage alliance between the two families. In addition Chandragupta had conquered parts of Central India, so that by the time his reign ended northern India was under the Mauryas.
- ^ a b c Ceded territories:
- V.A. Smith and Tarn agree that the Malan mountain range and the Porali river, a tributary of the Hingol river, formed the western limit of the part of Gedrosia (Baluchistan) ceded to Chandragupta.
- Thapar (1963, p. 16): "Certain areas in the north-west were acquired through the treaty with Seleucus. There is no absolute certainty as to which these areas were and it has been suggested [Smith (1914), Early History of India, p.159] that the territory ceded consisted of Gedrosia, Arachosia, Aria [modern-day Herat], and the Paropamisadae."
- ^ Nothing can be found out about "Malin", but there is a "Malan" mountain range, that is described as "an offshoot of the Makran Coastal Range", and it was a barrier to Alexander's passage; see Pierre Eggermont (1975), Alexander's Campaign in Sind and Baluchistan and the Siege of the Brahmin Town of Harmatelia, p.58. It seems to be a little to the west of Hingol National Park and Hinglaj Mata Temple.
- ^ The "Median Hydaspes" river is not the Jhelum here. The Purali/Porali river seems to be this river of the Lasbela District, which is prone to devasting floods in the rainy season but running almost dry at other times of the year. If that is correct, Tarn/Eratosthenes are telling us that the extent of the land ceded by the Seleucids to the Mauryas went barely farther west than Karachi, obviously nowhere near Iran.
- ^ Porali, a tributary of the Hingol river.[23]
- ^ Smith (1914), early History of India Third Edition, p.149: Appendix F, The Extent of the Cession of Ariana hy Seleukos Nikator to Chandragupta Maurya; Smith notes that he was criticised by a Mr.Bevan.
- ^ Tarn (1922, p. 100, and note 1): "Extravagant ideas have been put forard as to what Seleucus did cede [...] The worst has been that of V. A. Smith, who gave Chandragupta the satrapies of Gedrosia, Arachosia, Paropamisadae, and Aria on the strength of Pliny VI, 69, a historical absurdity of unknown origin."
References
[edit]- ^ Thapar 1966, p. 70.
- ^ Kistler 2007, p. 64.
- ^ "How Seleucus Nicator gave away most of Pakistan and Afghanistan for 500 elephants". The Indian Express. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
- ^ Mørkholm, Otto (1991). Early Hellenistic Coinage: From the Accession of Alexander to the Peace of Apamea. Cambridge University Press. p. 73f.
- ^ Curtis, John; Tallis, Nigel; André-Salvini, Béatrice (2005). Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia. pp. 258–59, fig. 454, Silver tetradrachm of Bagadates.
- ^ a b "Appian, the Syrian Wars 11 - Livius".
- ^ a b c d Kosmin 2014, p. 33–34.
- ^ Justin XV.4.12-13[usurped]
- ^ a b c Grainger 2014, pp. 108–110.
- ^ Wheatley & Heckel 2011, p. 296.
- ^ Bernard, Paul; Pinault, Georges-Jean; Rougemont, Georges (2004). "Deux nouvelles inscriptions grecques de l'Asie centrale". Journal des Savants. 2 (1): 301 ff. doi:10.3406/jds.2004.1686.
- ^ a b c d Kosmin 2014, p. 33.
- ^ a b c Grant 2010, p. 50.
- ^ Vincent A. Smith (1998). Ashoka. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-1303-1.
- ^ Walter Eugene Clark (1919). "The Importance of Hellenism from the Point of View of Indic-Philology", Classical Philology 14 (4), p. 297-313.
- ^ Sherwin-White & Kuhrt 1993, p. 93.
- ^ Grainger 2014, p. 66.
- ^ Strabo, Geography, XV, 2, 9
- ^ Strabo, Geography, xv.2.9
- ^ V.A. Smith (1914), Early History of India, p.151
- ^ Eggermont 1975, p. 58.
- ^ Cummings 2004, p. 395-396.
- ^ Narmeen Taimor (2023), An Overview of Rivers of Balochistan, Graana.com
- ^ Tarn 1922, p. 100.
- ^ Thapar 1963, p. 16.
- ^ Smith 1914, p. 149.
- ^ Tarn 1922, p. 100, and note 1.
- ^ Pliny, Natural History VI.(23).78. Pliny, Natural History VI.(23).78
Sources
[edit]- Cummings, Lewis Vance (2004). Alexander the Great. Grove Press.
- Eggermont, Pierre (1975). Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan and the Siege of the Brahman Town of Harmatelia. Peeters Publishers.
- Grainger, John D. (2014), Seleukos Nikator: Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-317-80099-6
- Grant, R. G. (2010). Commanders: History's Greatest Military Leaders. DK Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7566-7341-3.
- Kistler, John M. (2007). War Elephants. Bison Books. ISBN 9780803260047.
- Kosmin, Paul J. (2014), The Land of the Elephant Kings: Space, Territory, and Ideology in Seleucid Empire, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-72882-0
- Sherwin-White, Susan; Kuhrt, Amelie (1993). From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire. University of California Press.
- Tarn, W. W. (1922). The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press.
- Thapar, Romila (1963). Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas. Oxford University Press.
- Thapar, Romila (1966). Ancient India: A Textbook of History for Middle Schools. National Council of Educational Research and Training.
- Wheatley, Pat; Heckel, Waldemar (2011), ""Commentary (Book 15)"", Justin: Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus: Volume II, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-927759-9