Where did Bucephalus die?

The question whether Alexander’s dear mount died on the Battle of the Hydaspes or at another location around that time has been discussed at length and obviously without any conclusive result.

Today, I have been wondering where Bucephalus actually died. It so happened that a friend of mine forwarded me an article about Bufliaz, a town on the foothill of the Peer Rattan Range in India that claims to be the place where Alexander’s horse died.

Bufliaz, according to the locals is named after Bucephalus (Bunifales) to commemorate the death. The town is located 39 kilometers east of Poonch or Punch, roughly some 120 km northeast of Taxila. This sounds pretty odd because it is generally accepted that from Taxila, Alexander marched to the southeast to the banks of the Hydaspes where his famous battle against Porus was fought.

Although Bucephalus may have died at Bufliaz that does not exclude that a city in his honor could have been built on the banks of the Hydaspes near modern Mong (see: Locating Alexandria Nicaea and Alexandria Bucephala).

Opinions about the burial site of Alexander’s prized horse vary widely. Jona Lendering cites Jhelum and G. Huntingford identifies a mound west of Jhelum as Alexandria Bucephala. Sir Aurel Stein tends to believe that Alexander went south from Taxila and crossed the Hydaspes near modern Behra. This town is close to Mong and could be the very site where the Battle of the Hydaspes took place. Michael Wood, although he agrees with Stein to identify Mong as ancient Alexandria Nicaea, suggests Garjak as Alexandria Bucephala. Garjak is said to have its own legend of a magical horse. Last but not least, Mansoor Behzad, a local historian supports the idea that Bucephalus was buried in Jalalpur Sharif, which lies 75 km northeast of Bhera.

Clearly, the possibilities are endless and in the end, we could only establish that Bucephalus died and was buried in that general area.