On Alexander's Track to the Indus
Personal Narrative of Explorations on the North-West Frontier of India Carried Out under the Orders of H.M. Indian Government

In this 1929 work, Stein describes an expedition tracing the route of Alexander the Great's invasion of India in 326 BCE.

M. Aurel Stein (Author)

9781108077606, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 November 2014

320 pages, 63 b/w illus. 2 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.47 kg

The Hungarian-born archaeologist Marc Aurel Stein (1862–1943) is probably best remembered today for his explorations in Chinese Turkestan, and especially his discovery of the Buddhist treasure of Dunhuang, described in his earlier works, Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan and Ruins of Desert Cathay (also reissued in this series). Stein was equally interested in the territory north-west of the North-West Frontier, and in this highly illustrated 1929 work he describes an expedition to survey the route of Alexander the Great's invasion of India in 326 BCE. Having long been intrigued by 'that comparatively small area to the west of the Indus which Alexander's march of conquest towards India for a brief span of time illuminates as it were with the light of a meteor', and by archaeological remains showing a blend of Hellenistic and Buddhist art, Stein offers a fascinating account of an ancient clash of civilisations.

Preface
1. An old transborder goal
2. The start from Swat
3. Visits to Buddhist ruins
4. Welcome by an old friend
5. Bir-kot and the ruins around it
6. Alexander's invasion of Swat
7. Past King Uttarasena's stupa
8. Ude-gram and its ancient fastness
9. At the Badshah's capital
10. Buddhist remains about Saidu and Manglawar
11. On the way to the Swat Kohistan
12. The entry into Torwal
13. To the headwaters of the Swat river
14. Across the Swat–Indus watershed
15. Over the Shilkai Pass and down Kana
16. The ascent to Pir-sar
17. In search of Aornos
18. The survey of Pir-sar
19. The story of Alexander's siege of Aornos
20. Aornos located on Pir-sar
21. Ancient remains of Pir-sar and the name of Mount Una
22. Farewell to an historic site and its story
23. Through Chakesar and Puran
24. To Buner and Mount Ilam
25. Departure from Swat
Index.

Subject Areas: Archaeology by period / region [HDD]