Ancient Greece–Ancient India relations in the context of "Pataliputra capital"

The Republic of India is principally known by two official short names: India and Bharat. An unofficial third name is Hindustan, which is widely used throughout North India. Although these names now refer to the modern country in most contexts, they historically denoted the broader Indian subcontinent.

"India" (Greek: Ἰνδία) is a name derived from the Indus River and remains the country's common name in the Western world, having been used by the ancient Greeks to refer to the lands east of Persia and south of the Himalayas. This name appeared in Old English by the 9th century and re-emerged in Modern English in the 17th century.

The Battle of the Hydaspes also known as Battle of Jhelum, or First Battle of Jhelum, was fought between the Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great and the Pauravas under Porus in May of 326 BC. It took place on the banks of the Hydaspes River in what is now the Punjab province of Pakistan, as part of Alexander's Indian campaign. In what was possibly their most costly engagement, the Macedonian army secured a decisive victory over the Pauravas and captured Porus. Large areas of Punjab were subsequently absorbed into the Macedonian Empire; Alexander spared Porus and made him a satrap, effectively reinstating him as the region's ruler.

Despite close surveillance by the Pauravas, Alexander's decision to cross the monsoon-swollen Hydaspes to catch Porus' army in the flank has been called one of his "masterpieces" in combat. The Macedonians' engagement with the Indians at Hydaspes remains a very significant historical event during the Wars of Alexander the Great, as it resulted in the exposure of Greek political and cultural influences to the Indian subcontinent, which would continue to affect Greeks and Indians for centuries to come.