Were it only for the fun of it, it may be interesting to take a closer look at the name of Alexander the Great, who became king of Macedonia in 336 BC and died as king of Asia in 323 BC.
The very name derives from the Greek “alexo” meaning “refuge/defence/protection”, and “ander” meaning “man”.
Because of his consecutive conquests to the east, it is inevitable that Alexander’s name was corrupted or that some additional qualifier was used as an extension.
So, for instance, his name as “Alexander the Accursed” was given to him by the Persians after he conquered their empire and burnt Persepolis to the ground. In that country, he is also known as Eskandar-e Maqduni (= Alexander of Macedonia). The Alexander Romance from Persian literature has contributed to twist history into legend where Alexander is known as the Iskandarnamah.
The Arabic language mentions him as Al-Iskander Al-Makadonia (= Alexander of Macedonia) and he is also mentioned in the Quran. The Hebrews knew him as Alexander Mokdon (also = Alexander of Macedonia). In India, Hindi and Urdu languages used the name Sikandar-e-azam meaning as much as “expert” and “extremely skilled”. In Egypt, as well as in Aramaic language, he is known as the Tre-Qarnayia (= the Two-Horned One), based on the image of Alexander with the two ram’s horns, the emblems for the Egyptian god Amon.
Interestingly, India made a movie about Alexander the Great, called ‘Sikander’ in 1941, and Prithviraj Kapoor, the actor playing his role, is said to be very much like Alexander the real Alexander according to Indian standards (in spite of him being 1,90 meter tall).
‘Sikander’ is also the title of a Bollywood film from 2009 but has nothing to do with “our” Alexander.
