Jhelum River

Then when the enemy were at last tricked into relaxing their watch on the roads in front of the Roman advance, he made a sudden dash and effected a crossing.

When Porus, a king of the Indians, was keeping Alexander of Macedon from leading his troops across the river Hydaspes, the latter commanded his men to make a practice of running toward the water.

When by that sort of maneuver he had led Porus to guard the opposite bank, he suddenly led his army across at a higher point of the stream.

The same Alexander, prevented by the enemy from crossing the river Indus, began to send horsemen into the water at different points and to threaten to effect a crossing.

And Rustum seized his club, which none but he could wield.

An unlopped trunk it was, and huge, still rough, like those which men in treeless plains to build them boats fish from the flooded rivers, Hyphasis or Hydaspes, when high up by their dark springs the wind in wintertime hath made in Himalayan forests wrack and strewn the channels with torn boughs.

So huge the club which Rustum lifted now and struck one stroke, but again Sohrab sprang aside, lithe as the glancing snake, and the club came thundering to earth and leapt from Rustum's hand.

And Rustum followed his own blow and fell to his knees and with his fingers clutched the sand.

But one thing is certain: he could not resist the allure of pushing further.

The most famous clash comes at the Hydaspes River in three hundred and twenty-six BCE against King Porus.

The river is swollen, rushing with monsoon rains, its banks guarded by Porus’s army complete with elephants.

Crossing seems impossible.

When asked how he wished to be treated, Porus answered simply, "Like a king." Alexander, delighted, declared it exactly how he would treat him.

Mercy, theater, pragmatism all rolled into one.

Mainstream historical fact: after Hydaspes, Alexander made Porus a loyal ally, recognizing the value of ruling through local kings.

Quirky tidbit: some soldiers whispered that Alexander spared Porus because he was so tall and imposing he looked like a hero from Homer, and Alexander couldn’t resist having one on his side.

Then when the enemy were at last tricked into relaxing their watch on the roads in front of the Roman advance, he made a sudden dash and effected a crossing.

When Porus, a king of the Indians, was keeping Alexander of Macedon from leading his troops across the river Hydaspes, the latter commanded his men to make a practice of running toward the water.

When by that sort of maneuver he had led Porus to guard the opposite bank, he suddenly led his army across at a higher point of the stream.

The same Alexander, prevented by the enemy from crossing the river Indus, began to send horsemen into the water at different points and to threaten to effect a crossing.