Battle of Ipsus, fought in 301 BCE, was one of the major turning points in the history of ancient Europe and Asia-minor. The battle was one of the many 'Wars of Diadochi' - the wars of succession between Alexander's generals for the huge empire he left behind after his death. Battle of Ipsus was one such battle among them that turned the then superpower of Asia minor, the Antigonid Empire, to lose all its territory, and give rise to a new superpower - the Seleucid Empire.
Just look at the political maps of Asia Minor before and after the battle of Ipsus, to get an idea of the impact the battle had had:
1. Before Battle of Ipsus. The Antigonid Empire had control over the land routes connecting its rival powers. These regions were also among the very wealthy ones.
2. After the battle of Ipsus: The Antigonid Empire was reduced only to a part of Greece as the Emperor, Antigonus died in the battle and his heir had to flee to mainland Greece to save himself.
But then, how exactly did India play a role in all this? Seleucus Nicator the first (whose empire we see in the above diagram as the easternmost one) shared border of his empire with that of Mauryans in India. Initially, he tried to conquer a part of it, only to fail in his attempts. On the contrary, he had to secede a large part of the territory to the then Mauryan Emperor Chandragupt, and give a daughter in marriage to him, to cement an alliance. (This part of the video covers these events). In return, he received 500 Indian war elephants from Chandragupt, which he used in the Battle of Ipsus mentioned above.
Now the role of these elephants in the battle was decisive.
During the battle, both sides had their phalanxes (greek infantry units with very long spears) placed in the center. Demetrius (Antigonus' son) was leading the cavalry unit in the right flank, while Antigonus himself was in the left flank. Lysimachus (one of the opponents of Antigonus) was leading the infantry, and Seleucus, keeping his elephants probably as a reserve, was in the rear. Refer to the image below for the formations and progress of the battle.
Below events are numbered in accordance with markings in the above diagram.
As the battle began, both infantries, hugely numbered on both sides, were engaged.
Demetrius, with his elite cavalry in right flank, attacked the enemy's left flank (composed also of cavalry) and crushed it.
But during this, he chased the fleeing horsemen and this took him away from the battle site.
Now, this rendered the Antagonid infantry exposed! Being engaged in battle with enemy phalanxes, it was now immobile. Seeing this opportunity, the allied force sent ranged cavalry to decimate this infantry. Now, at this moment, Demetrius with his elite cavalry attempted to return to his infantry's aid. But his path was blocked. How? With the elephants! The ancient sources believe that the horses of the cavalry used to get alarmed by the smell and noise of elephants and loath approach them. Also, it was not possible for Demetrius to get through the elephants or maneuver his forces around such a large force of them. Basically, a very important portion of the Antigonid force was now cut off from the main battle.
With a large section of their force now isolated, the Antigonid force was slaughtered by their enemies, and for them, the battle was lost. Antigonus, who was leading the left flank, held on hoping that Demetrius will return to battle. He refused to flee and was killed in the battle. The Antigonid Empire had lost.
The whole battle is illustrated very effectively by 'Kings and Generals' in this video
Thus, although indirectly, India played an important role in a major turning point in the history of the west. Battle of Ipsus marked the end of ambitions of Alexander's rival generals, of reuniting the whole empire into one and ruling it. The Empire of Alexander was permanently divided. And Indian elephants provided by Chandragupt played a decisive role in marking out the boundaries of these new empires.
Comments