Locating Alexandria Nicea and Alexandria Bucephalus

For what it is worth, a monument in honor of Alexander has been erected in today’s Pakistan at the very spot where he and his army camped before his Battle of the Hydaspes. The exact location for this battle seems to have been pinpointed at Mong Village in the Punjab. According to local traditions, it was built on top of Alexandria Nicaea, a city founded by Alexander to celebrate his victory over Porus in 326 BC.

[Picture from Pakistan Geotagging]

The Greek Ambassador in Pakistan officially laid the first stone of this monument on 24 May 1997, and the building was set in a mixture of Greek and modern styles. The intention was a good one, of course, but construction has reached a standstill, and today all doors are locked. The governments of Pakistan and Greece have abandoned the project, which could have attracted many tourists. The few visitors, if any, can no longer genuinely enjoy the decaying map of Alexander’s conquests at the center of the roof. Alexander certainly deserves better!

So far, archaeological excavations have yet to confirm the exact location of Nicaea, and the search is made particularly difficult because the landscape has changed over the centuries. Sir Aurel Stein, who closely explored the area at the beginning of the 20^th century, believed that Alexander would have crossed the Hydaspes River near modern Bhera, close to the village of Mong. His conclusion is based on his analysis of the topography, the river orientation, and other natural features like the nearby salt cliffs, which all match the descriptions from antiquity. What may carry more weight is the fact that the people of Mong claim that theirs is indeed the Hellenistic city of Nicaea. More often than not, the legend may be closer to reality than we like to admit.

[Picture from Phalia, Wikipedia]

Not far from Mong, but on the other side of the Hydaspes (Jhelum) River, the city of Phalia also has a legend of its own as their residents claim that the city is named Alexandria Bucephala after Bucephalus, Alexander’s horse, who died here around the time Alexander was fighting Porus. They even erected a statue in honor of Alexander’s faithful mount in the middle of their city. It is sad to hear that the search for Bucephalus’ grave has been given up and seems no longer to be of interest to the local population.

All in all, the above statements about Alexandria Nicaea and Alexandria Bucephalus locations are far too vague to be truly conclusive. Still, at least the achievements of Alexander and the memory of his dear Bucephalus have not been forgotten – this despite his short-lived passage through Punjab 2,500 years ago.