Was Alexander defeated in India?
Ava Arnold
Updated on January 20, 2026
The fight on the banks of the Hydaspes River in India was the closest Alexander the Great came to defeat. His feared Companion cavalry was unable to subdue fully the courageous King Porus . Hydaspes marked the limit of Alexander's career of conquest; he died before he could launch another campaign.
Hydaspes
Jhelum River, river of northwestern India and northern and eastern Pakistan. It constitutes the westernmost of the five rivers of the Punjab region that merge with the Indus River in eastern Pakistan. Jhelum River.
› place › Jhelum-River
King Porus
Porus, (flourished 4th century bce), Indian prince who ruled the region between the Hydaspes (Jhelum) and Acesines (Chenab) rivers at the time of Alexander the Great's invasion (327–326 bce) of the Punjab. Unlike his neighbour, Ambhi, the king of Taxila (Takshashila), Porus resisted Alexander.
› biography › Porus