Battle of Marathon 490 BCE

[AUSTERLITZ]

The only places darius failed were against athenians and scythians.Otherwise he conquered all the rest he fought.He also built excellent construction projects like the persian royal road and the canal over the red sea.He is called darius the great actually.

 

[ExtraOdinary]

The only places darius failed were against athenians and scythians.Otherwise he conquered all the rest he fought.He also built excellent construction projects like the persian royal road and the canal over the red sea.He is called darius the great actually.

I read somewhere that Indian recruits/mercenaries and elephants were used during the Greco-Persian wars.

Persian invasion of Scythia

The Scythians were a group of north Iranian nomadic tribes, speaking an Indo-Iranian language who had invaded Media, killed Cyrus in battle, revolted against Darius and threatened to disrupt trade between Central Asia and the shores of the Black Sea as they lived between the Danube river, river Don and the Black Sea.

Darius crossed the Black Sea at the Bosphorus Straits using a bridge of boats. Darius conquered large portions of Eastern Europe - even crossing the Danube to wage war on the Scythians. Darius invaded Scythia, where the Scythians evaded Darius's army, using feints and retreating technique eastward while wasting the countryside, by blocking wells, intercepting convoys, destroying pastures and continuous skirmishes against Darius's army. Seeking to fight with the Scythians, Darius's army chased the Scythian army deep into Scythian lands, where there were no cities to conquer and no supplies to forage. In frustration Darius sent a letter to the Scythian ruler Idanthyrsus to fight or surrender. The ruler replied that he would not stand and fight with Darius until they found the graves of their fathers and tried to destroy them - until then, they could continue their current technique as they had no cities or cultivated lands to lose. Darius ordered a halt at the banks of Oarus, where he built eight frontier fortresses spaced at intervals of eight miles. After chasing the Scythians for a month, Darius's army was suffering losses due to fatigue, privation and sickness. In fear of losing more troops, he halted the march at the banks of the Volga River and headed towards Thrace. He had conquered enough territory of Scythia to force the Scythians to respect the Persian forces.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Yes but he never defeated them and brought them to subjagation.Cyrus was killed battling the scythians.Only alexander defeated the scythians in their own territory and recieved formal subjagation.

 

[BeyondHeretic]

Yes but he never defeated them and brought them to subjagation.Cyrus was killed battling the scythians.Only alexander defeated the scythians in their own territory and recieved formal subjagation.

Though if scythians killed cyrus indeed , one could easily wonder it was indo-scythians , who were already established there , that made alexander retreat form india , not a Sikh like portrayed in the movie alexander

 

[ExtraOdinary]

Though if scythians killed cyrus indeed , one could easily wonder it was indo-scythians , who were already established there , that made alexander retreat form india , not a Sikh like portrayed in the movie alexander

Alexander fought battle with King Porus of Punjab (present day pakistan). Even though Porus had a smaller army and was defeated, his tenacity impressed Alexander. Also his army was weary and tired and was on the verge of rebellion. Plus he had intelligence reports suggesting a huge army of the Magadha Empire (centred in modern day Bihar state) waiting for him.

 

[BeyondHeretic]

Alexander fought battle with King Porus of Punjab (present day pakistan). Even though Porus had a smaller army and was defeated, his tenacity impressed Alexander. Also his army was weary and tired and was on the verge of rebellion. Plus he had intelligence reports suggesting a huge army of the Magadha Empire (centred in modern day Bihar state) waiting for him.

Ok , my bad then ; alexander must have been easily impressed then

 

[ExtraOdinary]

Ok , my bad then ; alexander must have been easily impressed then

You should read about Battle of Hydaspses and understand why he was impressed.

Though I think being the great resourceful general that he was, he would have defeated the Magadha forces had he advanced. His army was however not ready.

Aftermath (Battle of Hydaspes)

The bravery, war skills and princely attitude of Porus greatly impressed Alexander, who allowed him to rule Hydaspes in Alexander's name. Wounded in his shoulder, standing at over 2.1 m (7 feet) tall, he was asked by Alexander how he wished to be treated. "Treat me, O Alexander, like a king" Porus responded. Alexander would indeed treat him like a king, allowing him to retain his kingship.

The Macedonian regent founded two cities, one at the spot of the battle called Nicaea (Greek for Victory) in commemoration of his success and one on the other side of the Hydaspes called Alexandria Bucephalus, to honor his faithful steed, which died soon after this battle.

In 326 BC, the army of Alexander the Great approached the boundaries of the Nanda Empire. This happened at the Hyphasis (modern Beas), the exact spot being believed to be at 'Kathgarh' in Indora tehsil of Himachal Pradesh with nearest rail head at Pathankot, Punjab). Alexander finally gave in and turned south, along the Indus, securing the banks of the river as the borders of his empire.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Hydaspes#Aftermath

 

[Gandhi G in da house]

Persian Empire was superpower of that age. Damn! Darius even conquered Indus Valley

Iranian invasion of Indus Valley

Iranian invasion of Indus Valley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wiki says they conquered the West of Indus Valley and not the East.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Ok , my bad then ; alexander must have been easily impressed then

He was impressed because unlike the coward darius 3 who wouldn't even stand and fight porus refused to surrender and fought on while wounded.
In any case cyrus was killed against the massagatae tribesmen a section of indo scythians of central asia.Some historians have traced them to modern day jats of indo-pak region though this is debatable.

I think persian army's complete rout to alexander had much to do with having such a coward commander,if they had a rustam like commander they would have had much better chance.Their best hope memnon of rhodes died from natural causes after giving alexander a bloody nose at halicarnassus,that was another heavy blow.

 

[BeyondHeretic]

He was impressed because unlike the coward darius 3 who wouldn't even stand and fight porus refused to surrender and fought on while wounded.
In any case cyrus was killed against the massagatae tribesmen a section of indo scythians of central asia.Some historians have traced them to modern day jats of indo-pak region though this is debatable.

I think persian army's complete rout to alexander had much to do with having such a coward commander,if they had a rustam like commander they would have had much better chance.Their best hope memnon of rhodes died from natural causes after giving alexander a bloody nose at halicarnassus,that was another heavy blow.

Though imo , one cannot deny the close kinship between scythians and Persians at the time , of course Scythian is too broad a term , but there was this recent documentary on BBC about cyrus , and he was shown accompanied by Scythian warriors in his conquest of Babylon , not the common light armormed "Persian" soldier that historians imagine.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Yes large numbers of scythian/saka mercenaries served under the persian empire.Persia was the richest empire on earth and payed well.

 

[BeyondHeretic]

Though imo , still , I believe the Scythian defeat at the hand of alexander is fictitious , just like the rest of Greco-Roman history , scythains had their homeland in Scythia and the nomads they were they would always return there , be it during the greek incursions or the arab ones.

 

[ExtraOdinary]

Scythians were Kushans who came to rule over India later. They were excellent horsemen and their most famous king was Kanishka the great.

 

[BeyondHeretic]

Yes large numbers of scythian/saka mercenaries served under the persian empire.Persia was the richest empire on earth and payed well.

Yes , and thank you , I think the saka formed the bulk of cavalry back then , but like I suggested I think there's a close kinship between the saka and Persians , Persians were descendants of sakas who migrated into the Iranian plateau during the so called Iranian heroic age.

Scythians were Kushans who came to rule over India later. They were excellent horsemen and their most famous king was Kanishka the great.

pardon me , but I think the kushanis only formed part of the scythians , they were indo-scythians , the saka for example had their roots in current central asia so one could say they were not indo scythians.

 

[ExtraOdinary]

Though imo , still , I believe the Scythian defeat at the hand of alexander is fictitious , just like the rest of Greco-Roman history , scythains had their homeland in Scythia and the nomads they were they would always return there , be it during the greek incursions or the arab ones.

He defeated them in Battle of Jaxartes and employed a very unique strategy to defeat their cavalry archers. No wonder he was the greatest general who ever lived.

Yes , and thank you , I think the saka formed the bulk of cavalry back then , but like I suggested I think there's a close kinship between the saka and Persians , Persians were descendants of sakas who migrated into the Iranian plateau during the so called Iranian heroic age.



pardon me , but I think the kushanis only formed part of the scythians , they were indo-scythians , the saka for example had their roots in current central asia so one could say they were not indo scythians.

Maybe. In our history books we are taught Sakas were a race of people who invaded us from Central Asia or Iran. They converted to Buddhism and assimilated into our culture.