imported>Gre regiment at 11:08, 4 August 2021

2021-08-04T11:08:12Z

New page

[[Image:AlexanderIndiaMap.jpg|thumb|250px]]
'''Nicaea''' or '''Nikaia''' ({{lang-grc|Νίκαια}})<ref>Arrian 5.19; Curt. 9.3.23; {{Cite Strabo|xv. p. 698}}</ref><ref>[https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/nu/380 Suda, nu, 380]</ref> was a city in what is now the [[Punjab]], one of the two cities founded by [[Alexander the Great]] on opposite sides of the [[Hydaspes]] river. The second city founded by Alexander on the Hydaspes was [[Alexandria Bucephalous|Bucephala]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=OiM51I7_A1gC&pg=PA175&dq=Alexander+Nicaea+Punjab&hl=en&ei=6RM3TMPYMsH6lweKuODTBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Alexander%20Nicaea%20Punjab&f=false Alexander the Great: a reader] Author Ian Worthington Editor Ian Worthington Edition illustrated, reprint Publisher Routledge, 2003 {{ISBN|0-415-29186-0}}, {{ISBN|978-0-415-29186-6}} Length 332 pages p. 175</ref><ref>[https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z2.html Alexander the Great: his towns]</ref> It was at Nicaea or Bucephalia, which appears to have been on the opposite bank, that Alexander (according to [[Strabo]])<ref name=Strabo>{{Cite Strabo|xv. p.698}}</ref> built the fleet which [[Nearchus]] subsequently commanded, the country in the immediate neighbourhood having abundance of wood fit for shipbuilding.<ref>{{Cite DGRG|title=Nicaea}}</ref>

Following the [[Battle of the Hydaspes]], Alexander founded two cities. One of the sites of the battle he named Alexandria ''Niceae'' meaning ''Victory''. The site of that city is still undetermined.<ref name="Eggermont1993"/> Any attempt to find the ancient battle site is doomed, because the landscape has changed considerably.<ref name="Eggermont1993"/>

A reference to Nicaea may appear in the [[Mulasarvastivada|Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya]], a Buddhist text of the early centuries CE. This text refers to two cities called Ādirājya ("Place of the First Kingship") and Bhadrāśva ("Place of the Good Horse") located on the Vitastā (i.e., Hydaspes) River along the road from [[Gandhara|Gandhāra]] to [[Mathura|Mathurā]]. The Buddhists attributed these two cities to the mythical king [[Mahāsammata]], but some modern scholars propose to identify them as the two cities founded by Alexander the Great, Nicaea and Bucephala.<ref name="Eggermont1993"/><ref name="Lamotte1988">{{cite book|author=Etienne Lamotte|title=History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the Saka Era|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sJwEAAAAYAAJ|year=1988|publisher=Université catholique de Louvain, Institut orientaliste|isbn=978-90-6831-100-6|pages=335,429}}</ref>

A number of candidates have been put forward for the location:

* For the moment, the most plausible location is just south of the city of Jhelum, where the ancient main road crossed the river, and where a [[Buddhist]] source indeed mentions a city that may be Nicaea.<ref name="Eggermont1993"/> Huntingford identifies this Alexandria with a large mound west of [[Jhelum]] city,{{citation needed|date=September 2013}} while [[Jona Lendering|Lendering]] cites [[Jhelum]] in more general terms{{citation needed|date=September 2013}}.
* The nineteenth-century [[British people|British]] traveller [[Alexander Burnes]], visiting the region in 1831, suggests the "extensive [[ruins]] called Oodeenuggur" 15 miles south of Jhelum are the remains of Nicaea, with a mound at [[Mong, Punjab|Mong]] on the opposite bank of the [[Hydaspes]] being the site of [[Alexandria Bucephalous|Bucephalia]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Travels into Bokhara|last=Burnes|first=Alexander|publisher=Eland Publishing Limited|year=2012|isbn=978-1-906011-71-0|location=London|pages=106–107}}</ref>
*[[Alexander Cunningham]],<ref>Alexander Cunningham, The Ancient Geography of India vol 1Trübner and Company, 1871 p177.</ref> writing in 1871 was in support of Mong as the site of the town and wrote "The old ruined mound on which Mong is situated is 600 feet long by 400 feet broad and 50 feet high and is visible for many miles on all sides. It contains 975 houses built of large old bricks and 5000 inhabitants who are mainly Jats. The old wells are very numerous, their exact number according to my information being 175... [[Coin]]s of all the [[Indo-Scythian]] princes are found at Mong in considerable numbers, and I see no reason to doubt that the place is as old as Alexander."<ref>Alexander Cunningham, The Ancient Geography of India vol 1Trübner and Company, 1871 p178.</ref>
* The identification of the battle site near modern [[Jalalpur Sharif|Jalalpur]]/Haranpur is certainly erroneous, as the river, in the ancient times, meandered far from these cities.<ref name="Eggermont1993">P.H.L. Eggermont, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Brg7MFO-1SQC&pg=PA12 Alexander's campaign in Southern Punjab]'' (1993), p. 12.</ref>
* The [[Hungarians|Hungarian]] [[archaeologist]] and [[Silk Road]] expert [[Aurel Stein|Sir Marc Aurel Stein]] believed that instead of using the [[Grand Trunk Road|road]] from [[Taxila (modern)|Taxila]] to [[Jhelum]] which dates from [[medieval]] times, Alexander's army would have gone [[south]] to cross the [[Jhelum River|river]] near modern [[Bhera]]{{citation needed|date=September 2013}}. At this site the [[battle]] would have happened near the town of [[Mong, Punjab|Mong]]. The [[topography]], river orientation and natural features including [[Salt Range|salt cliffs]] in this vicinity match closely the description given in ancient sources. To further support this claim, the residents of Mong and nearby [[Phalia]] have a traditional claim that Mong is [[Hellenistic]] Nicaea.

==See also==
*[[List of cities founded by Alexander the Great]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Mandi Bahauddin District]]
[[Category:Cities founded by Alexander the Great]]
[[Category:320s BC establishments]]
[[Category:Lost ancient cities and towns]]

Nicaea, Punjab - Revision history

imported>Gre regiment at 11:08, 4 August 2021