The Gangaridai Civilization of Ancient Bengal

"India... is inhabited by very many nations among which the greatest of all is that of the Gangaridai (Γανγαρίδαι), against whom Alexander did not undertake an expedition, being deterred by the multitude of their elephants. This region is separated from Further India by the greatest river in those parts, for it has a breadth of 30 stadia, but it adjoins the rest of India which Alexander had conquered."

Gangaridai in Ptolemy's Map

The river mentioned in this passage as having "a breadth of 30 stadia" and forming the boundary between Further India and the Gangaridai is doubtless the Ganges. In the light of this evidence it is more reasonable to identify the stream which, according to a passage quoted earlier, forms the boundary towards the east of the tribe of the Gandaridae, with the easternmost branch of the Ganges rather than with the westernmost mouth of the river. Incidentally the passages quoted from Diodorus seem to imply

that the famous Sicilian writer uses the term Gandaridai (Gangaridaj) in two different senses. In its restricted sense he confines it to the easternmost part of India, while in its wider sense he means by it the whole country between the part of "India which Alexander had conquered" and Further India. It is the restricted sense of the term which alone is known to the natural historians and geographers of classical antiquity. Pliny tells us that the final part of the course of the Ganges is through the country of the Gangarides. Ptolemy says that "all the country about the mouths of the Ganges is occupied by the Gangaridai." He mentions Tamalites separately in a way that implies connection with the territory of the Mandalai and Palibothra (Pataliputra) rather than with the Gangaridai. (The truth seems to be that while Greek and Latin historians and geopraphers in general restricted the dominion of the Gangaridai to the territory about the mouths of the Ganges (Gangasroto'ntara of the Raghuvasiga of Kalidasa), and one great authority seems to distinguish it from Tamalites (Tamralipti), Diodorus sometimes uses the term in an extended sense to mean the entire territory between the Hyphasis (Beas) and the borders of Further India or the Trans-Gangetic peninsula. This peculiar use of the term by the Sicilian writer explains why in certain passages the king of the Prasioi" and the Gandaridai is sometimes referred to simply as the king of the Gandaridai. The reference to the possession of 4,000 elephants by the king of the Prasioi and the Gandaridai in Book xvii, and by the Gangaridae in Book 11, Ch. 37, suggests that the Gangaridae of Book 11 are not the Gangaridae proper of the lower Ganges valley, but the united nation of the Prasioi and the Gandaridai of Book xvII. The extended meaning given to the name Gandaridai (Gangaridai) by Diodorus may have been due in part to the presence in upper India of a city called Gange whose existence is vouched for by Artemidoros and Strabo. This city must be carefully distinguished from Gange, the royal residence of the Gangaridai, mentioned by Ptolemy and apparently by the author of the Periplus.

It is not easy to determine the precise boundary line between the Gangaridai proper and the people styled the Prasioi who had their capital at Pataliputra. The evidence of Ptolemy suggests that in his days, or in those of the writers on whom he relies, the kingdom, of which Pataliputra was the royal residence, apparently extended as far as the Ganges and may have included Tamralipti. The Gangaridai lay beyond this territory. The exact political relationship between the Prasioi and the Gangaridai in the days of Alexander is not free from a certain amount of ambiguity. This is due in part to the somewhat equivocal language used by the classical historians or their translators. Curtius refers to the Gangaridae and the Prasioi as two nations under one king, Agrammes, but immediately afterwards makes Poros testify to the "strength of the nation and kingdom" which words imply a united realm and not a dual monarchy. 'Diodorus, too, speaks of the nation of the Prasioi and the Gandaridai whose king was Xandrames. The people over whom this prince ruled is farther on represented simply as the Gandaridai, a use of the term whose significance has been sought to be explained above. Plutarch refers to "the kings of the Gandaridai and the Prasioi" implying the existence of a plurality of such rulers. They were reported to be waiting for Alexander with an army of 80,000 horse, 200,000 foot, 8,000 war chariots, and 6,000 fighting elephants. As the king mentioned by Curtius and Diodorus had only 20,000 horse, 200,000 infantry, 2,000 four-horsed chariots and 3,000 or 4,000 elephants, the additional forces mentioned by Plutarch may, in the opinion of some, point to an extra contingent furnished by a second prince who may be identified with the king of the Gangaridae proper if the first ruler was the monarch of the Prasioi It is, however, worthy of notice that the number of foot soldiers remains constant in the three accounts. As regards the number of elephants, the discrepancy between the accounts of Curtius and Diodorus suggests divergence of tradition rather than reinforcement by an additional contingent. The bloated number of chariots and horses in the pages of Plutarch is capable of a similar explanation. It is significant that a few lines farther on Plutarch, too, like Curtius and Diodorus, speaks of the "whole country" beyond the Ganges which "Alexander could easily have taken possession of" as the domain of "the king" who "was hated and despised by his subjects for the wickedness of his disposition and the meanness of his origin"-characteristics which cannot fail to recall the famous description of Agrammes by Curtius and of Xandrames by Diodorus.

"When he (Alexander) moved forward with his forces certain men came to inform him that Porus, the king of the country, who was the nephew of his more famous namesake Porus the elder. Whom he had defeated, had left his kingdom and fled to the nation of Gangaridai." - R.C Majumdar.

~ 4000 Trained War Elephants ready to rip apart Alexander's army. Backed by 20,000 horse, 200,000 infantry, 2,000 chariots and extra 15,000 Archers. We just had to win.

~ Indian elephant (Elephas maximus) was used for military purposes. The plan was simple, charge the opposition, particularly the enemy’s cavalry, crushing all who got in the way. Nanda Empire in relation to Gangaridai empire used elephant tusks as a weapon,  mounting em with spikes. Inflict even more damage. Our elephants were about 11-22 feet tall.

■ References :

1】 M'Crindle, Invasion of India by Alexander the Great, 221, 310; Megasthenes and Arrian (1926), p. 160. 11. 37. XVIII. 6, XVII. 93.

2】 Megasthenes and Arrian, 137; Monahan, EHB. 5. New edition, p. 172.

3】 The name appears in various slightly differing forms in classical writings (cf. CHI. 1. 468, f.n. 5). The form 'Prasioi' is adopted in this chapter. E.g. XVII. 93. 

4】 Ancient India as described in Classical Literature, 77.