Sikander Biography - Birth date, Achievements, Career, Family, Awards

On 10 or 11 June 323 BC, Alexander died at the age of 32 in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon. There are two different versions of Alexander's death.

The first is that about 14 days before his death, according to the historian Plutarch, Alexander entertained Admiral Nearchus and spent the night and the next day drinking with Medius of Larissa, and the very next day Alexander contracted a fever, which It got worse until he was unable to speak.

On the other hand, the historian Diodorus told that after downing a large bowl of unmixed wine in honor of Heracles, Alexander suffered pain and then 11 days of weakness; He did not get fever, but died after some agony. The historian Arrian of Nicomedia also mentioned this as an option, but the historian Plutarch specifically refuted this claim.

When Alexander was 13 years old, his father Philip began looking for a teacher, and called upon such academics as Isocrates and Speusippus. But both later refused. In the end, Father Philip selected Aristotle and provided the Temple of the Nymphs in Meiza as a classroom to study.

Meza was like a boarding school for the children of Alexander and the Macedonian nobles. Many students from this same school became his friends and future generals, and are often referred to as "companions". Aristotle taught Alexander and his companions about medicine, philosophy, ethics, religion, logic, and the arts.

Alexander's education under Aristotle ended at the age of 16. Philip II waged war against the Thracians in the north, which put Alexander in charge as regent and heir apparent. During the absence of Father Philip, the Thracian tribe of the Medes rebelled against Macedonia. Alexander responded immediately and drove them from their territory. The area was colonised, and a city named Alexandropolis was founded.

In 336 BC, at the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra in Aegea, Philip was assassinated by Pausanias, the commander of Philip's bodyguards, after which Alexander, at the age of 20, was proclaimed king by the nobles and the army. As soon as he became king, he eliminated his rivals by killing a cousin, the former Amyntas IV, two Macedonian princes from the Lancastese region.

As news of Father Philip's death spread, several kingdoms began to revolt, including Thebes, Athens, Thessaly, and the Thracian tribes north of Macedon. After which Alexander himself started capturing everyone one by one to end the rebellion.

Alexander's Balkan campaign

Alexander, before crossing to Asia, began to secure the northern frontiers of his kingdom. For which he fought three battles in 335 BC, the first was the Battle of Mount Haemus, the second was the Siege of Pelium and the third was the Battle of Thebes. The end of Thebes silenced Athens, and peace came over all of Greece, if only temporarily. Alexander then went on his Asian campaign, leaving Antipater as regent.

Alexander's Indian campaign

Alexander's Indian campaign started in 327 BC and lasted till 325 BC. After conquering the Achaemenid Persian Empire, the Macedonian army launched a campaign in the Indian subcontinent. Within two years, Alexander expanded the Macedonian Empire to include present-day Punjab and Sindh in modern-day Pakistan, surpassing earlier borders established by the Persian conquest of the Indus Valley.

Alexander fought four main battles during the India campaign which included the Kophen campaign, the siege of Arnos, the battle of the Hydaspes and the siege of Multan.

Kofen Campaign May 327 - March 326 BC. In which present day Afghanistan and Pakistan countries were included. Here he captured 40,000 men and 230,000 oxen. Massaga's Ashvakayanas fought them with 30,000 cavalry, 38,000 infantry, 30 elephants and 7,000 mercenaries under the command of their queen, Cleophis. Other areas that fought Alexander here were Abhisar, Arnos, Bazira and Ora or Dirata.

The Siege of Eronos was carried out in April 326 BC. After the general slaughter and arson committed by Alexander at Massaga and Ora, many Ascaeans had fled to a high fortress called Aornos. Alexander followed them and besieged the strategic hill-fort. According to Robin Lane Fox, the Siege of Aronos was Alexander's last siege, having been called "the climax of Alexander's career as the greatest besieger in history". After reducing Arnos, Alexander crossed the Indus to launch a campaign in the Punjab region.

The Battle of the Hydaspes took place in May 326 BC. The Battle of the Hydaspes River was fought by Alexander against King Porus (possibly Paurava) on the Hydaspes River (Jhelum River) near Bhera in Punjab. The Hydaspes was the last major battle fought by Alexander. Alexander was victorious in this too.

The Siege of Multan also known as the Mallian campaign was conducted by Alexander the Great against the Malli people of Punjab from November 326 to 325 BC. Alexander was defining the eastern boundary of his power by moving along the Hydaspes up the river as far as the Aesin (now Jhelum and Chenab). But the Malli and the Oxydraci jointly refused to pass through their territory. Alexander tried to prevent their armies from meeting, and launched a swift campaign against them which successfully pacified the area between the two rivers. Alexander was seriously wounded during the campaign.