Indian campaign of Alexander the Great in the context of "Northwestern South Asia"

Chandragupta Maurya (reigned c. 320 BCE – c. 298 BCE) was the founder and the first emperor of the Maurya Empire, based in Magadha (present-day Bihar) in the Indian subcontinent.

His rise to power began in the period of unrest and local warfare that arose after Alexander the Great's Indian campaign and early death in 323 BCE, although the exact chronology and sequence of events remains subject to debate among historians. He started a war against the unpopular Nanda dynasty in Magadha on the Ganges Valley, defeated them and established his own dynasty. In addition, he raised an army to resist the Greeks, defeated them, and took control of the eastern Indus Valley. His conquest of Magadha is generally dated to c. 322–319 BCE, and his expansion to Punjab subsequently at c. 317–312 BCE, but some scholars have speculated that he might have initially consolidated his power base in Punjab, before conquering Magadha; an alternative chronology places these events all in the period c. 311–305 BCE. According to the play Mudrarakshasa, Chandragupta was assisted by his mentor Chanakya, who later became his minister. He expanded his reach subsequently into parts of the western Indus Valley and possibly eastern Afghanistan through a dynastic marriage alliance with Seleucus I Nicator c. 305–303 BCE. His empire also included Gujarat and a geographically extensive network of cities and trade-routes.

Perdiccas (Greek: Περδίκκας, Perdikkas; c. 355 BC – 320 BC) was a Macedonian general, successor of Alexander the Great, and the regent of Alexander's empire after his death. When Alexander was dying, he entrusted his signet ring to Perdiccas. Initially the most pre-eminent of the successors, Perdiccas effectively ruled Alexander's increasingly unstable empire from Babylon for three years until his assassination, as the kings he ruled for were incapable.

Perdiccas was born to Macedonian nobility. A supporter, somatophylax (bodyguard) and hetairos (elite cavalry commander) of Alexander, he took part in Alexander's campaign against the Achaemenid Persian Empire, distinguishing himself at the battles of Thebes and Gaugamela, and followed Alexander into India. When Alexander died in 323 BC, Perdiccas rose to become supreme commander of the imperial army, as well as regent for Alexander's vast empire, ruling on behalf of Alexander's intellectually disabled heir, King Philip III Arrhidaeus, and Alexander's infant son, King Alexander IV of Macedon.

Alexander the Great (356 – 323 BC), a king of ancient Macedon, created one of the largest empires in history by waging an extensive military campaign throughout Asia. Alexander was groomed for rulership from an early age and acceded to the throne after the assassination of his father, Philip II. After subduing rebellious vassals, he invaded the Persian Achaemenid Empire in 334 BC. Alexander swiftly conquered large areas of Western Asia and Egypt before defeating the Persian king Darius III in battle at Issus and Gaugamela. Achieving complete domination over the former lands of the Achaemenids by 327 BC, Alexander attempted to conquer India but turned back after his weary troops mutinied. Following his death aged thirty-two in Babylon in 323 BC, his empire disintegrated in a series of civil wars fought between his followers.

Alexander founded numerous settlements during his campaigns, naming them after himself or close followers. These have been the subject of intense debate, as the accounts of ancient and medieval scholars differ wildly and are often contradictory. Plutarch provides the maximum estimate of seventy cities in his Life of Alexander, but most texts attest to between ten and twenty foundations. The Greek Alexander Romance lists between nine and thirteen cities, depending on the recension; the Syriac, Armenian, Hebrew, and Ethiopic versions of the Romance also record twelve or thirteen foundations. Persian sources such as al-Tabari, al-Dinawari, Hamza al-Isfahani, and Qudama ascribe between nine and twelve settlements to Alexander. Stephanus of Byzantium recorded around twenty settlements. Some authors additionally document the number of cities established in a specific area: for example, Strabo records that Alexander founded eight cities in Bactria. The accounts of Alexander's campaigns, primarily those of Arrian, Plutarch, Diodorus, Curtius Rufus, and Justin, provide supplementary evidence. Finally, the geographers Eratosthenes, Ptolemy, and Pliny draw upon the otherwise-lost evidence of Alexander's bematist distance-measurers.

Sagala, Sakala (Sanskrit: साकला), or Sangala (Ancient Greek: Σάγγαλα) was a city in Punjab, which is generally identified as the predecessor of the modern city of Sialkot that is located in what is now Pakistan's northern Punjab province. The city was the capital of the Madra kingdom and it was razed in 326 BC during the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great. In the 2nd century BC, Sagala was made capital of the Indo-Greek kingdom by Menander I. Menander embraced Buddhism after extensive debating with a Buddhist monk, as recorded in the Buddhist text Milinda Panha. Sagala became a major centre for Buddhism under his reign, and prospered as a major trading centre.

Nearchus or Nearchos (Greek: Νέαρχος; c. 360 – 300 BC) was one of the Greek officers, a navarch, in the army of Alexander the Great. He is known for his celebrated expeditionary voyage starting from the Indus River, through the Persian Gulf and ending at the mouth of the Tigris River following the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great, in 326–324 BC.

Hindush (Old Persian: 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 Hidūš) was an administrative division of the Achaemenid Empire in modern-day Pakistan. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, it was the "easternmost province" governed by the Achaemenid dynasty. Established through the Persian conquest of the Indus Valley in the 6th century BCE, it is believed to have continued as a province for approximately two centuries, ending when it fell to the Macedonian Empire during the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great.
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Uch (Punjabi: اچ;Urdu: اوچ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf (Punjabi: اچ شریف; Urdu: اوچ شریف; "Noble Uch"), is a historic city in Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Alexander the Great during his invasion of the Indus Valley. Uch was an early stronghold during the Muslim conquest of the subcontinent. It is also known as the home for the Naqvi/Bukharis after the migration from Bukhara. Uch was a regional metropolitan centre between the 12th and 17th centuries, and became refuge for Muslim religious scholars fleeing persecution from other lands. Though Uch is now a relatively small city, it is renowned for its intact historic urban fabric, and for its collection of shrines dedicated to Muslim mystics (Sufis) from the 12th to 15th centuries that are embellished with extensive tile work, and were built in the distinct architectural style of southern Punjab.