Alexander the Great and the Kambojas Greek historians refer to three warlike peoples - the Astakenoi , the Aspasioi and the Assakenoi , living to the northwest of the river Indus , whom Alexander encountered during his campaign from Kapisi through Gandhara . The Aspasioi were related to the Assakenoi and were a western branch of them . Both the Aspasioi and Assakenoi soldiers earned the admiration of the Greeks for their fighting ability . Alexander personally directed operations against these clans who stubbornly resisted from their mountain strongholds . The Greek names Aspasioi and Assakenoi derive from the Sanskrit " Ashva " ( or Persian " Aspa " ) . They appear as Ashvayanas and Ashvakayanas in Pāṇini ' s Ashtadhyayi and Ashvakas in the Puranas . The Kambojas were famous for their excellent horse breeding as well as their riding skills , hence they were also commonly known as Ashvaka s . The Ashvayana and Ashvakayana clans fought the Macedonians fiercely with even the Ashvakayana Kamboj women taking up arms and fighting alongside their husbands , preferring " " a glorious death to a life of dishonor " " . Alexander crosses Hindu Kush . In the spring of 327 BCE Alexander set out on the road to the Indus . He invited the chieftains of the former Achaemenian Satrap of Gandhara to submit and join him . ( Gandhara was the first kingdom of ancient India and is in the north of modern day Pakistan ) . Ambhi ( Greek : Omphis ) , the ruler of Taxila , whose kingdom extended from the Indus to the Jhelum ( Greek : Hydaspes ) complied , as well as some others , " Sangaeus " ( Sanjaya ) of Peucalaotis ( Pushkalavati ) , " Cophaeus " of the Kabul region and " Assagetes " ( Ashvajit ) , chief of a part of west Gandhara , and " Sicicottos " ( Shashigupta ) from a hill state , south of the Hindu Kush . However most of the highland chieftains refused to submit - including the " Astekenoi " , " Aspasioi " and " Assakenoi " , known in Indian texts as Hastinayanas , Ashvayanas and Ashvakayana s . Alexander ' s campaign against the Kambojas . At Nikaia , near modern Jalalabad , Alexander divided his army into two parts , one under Hephaistion and Perdiccas was ordered to proceed through Kabul to Gandhara . Alexander personally took command of the second part , which included a select force of shield - bearing guards , foot - companions , archers , Agrianians and mounted javelin - men , marching against the Kamboja clans — the Aspasioi of the Kunar / Alishang valleys , the Guraeans of the Guraeus ( Panjkora ) valley and the Assakenoi of the Swat and Buner valleys . These highlanders , designated as " " parvatiya Ayudhajivinah " " in Pāṇini ' s Astadhyayi , were rebellious , fiercely independent clans who resisted subjugation by anyone . " " It was indeed a hard work for Alexander to take their strongholds , of which Massaga and Aornus need special mention " " . " " And it is also a tribute to the vision and sagacity of Alexander that he realised that without reducing these highlanders , his march into India would neither be secure nor effective " " . Battle with Ashvakayanas ( Assakenoi ) . Arrian ' s account . According to Arrian ( " Lucius Flavius Arrianus ' Xenophon " ' ) ( circa 86 – 160 CE ) , Assakenos , the leader of the Assakenoi , fell on the fifth day of fighting and the Ashvakayanas sent an envoy to Alexander for peace talks . The two sides came to an agreement ensuring the safe exit of the tribesmen , provided they joined the Macedonians as mercenaries . The Ashvakayanas then left their citadel and camped on a hill facing the Macedonian camp . Arrian added however , " they had no wish to fight against their own countrymen and resolved to arise by midnight and flee to their homes " . When Alexander was informed of this , he surrounded the hill that same night with all his troops and cut the tribesmen to pieces . Curtius ’ account . Curtius ( " Quintus Curtius Rufus " ) , a Roman historian belonging to the latter half of the first century CE , does not refer to any such train of events . However , Curtius states that " " Alexander not only massacred the entire population of Massaga , but also vented his rage upon the buildings " " . Diodorus ’ account . Diodorus ( " Diodorus Siculus " ) ( fl . 30 – 60 BCE ) , differs from Arrian in his account . He does not mention any agreement between tribesmen and Alexander and a later change of mind to flee in the dead of night . But he does state that the tribesmen evacuated the city , according to the terms of an agreement , and retired to a distance of 80 stadia , without harboring any thought of treachery . Alexander " " who was actuated by an implacable enmity " " , and who " " had kept his troops under arms ready for action " " , suddenly attacked the tribesmen and " " made a great slaughter of their ranks " " . Baffled by this behavior , which flouted all rules of right and dignified conduct , the tribesmen loudly protested that they were being attacked in violation of sworn obligations , and also reminded Alexander of the Greek gods in whose names he had taken oaths to faithfully observe the terms of the agreement . But Alexander retorted : " " His covenant merely bound him to let them depart from the city , and ( was ) by no means a league of perpetual amity between them and the Macedonians " " . Diodorus details the final encounter of the Ashvakayanas ( Assakenoi ) with Alexander - women taking over as their menfolk fell until all were overpowered and killed . Plutarch ' s account . Plutarch ( " Mestrius Plutarchus " ) ( 46 c CE 127 c CE ) gives a different version of the events . He says that Alexander " " incurred serious losses and accordingly , concluded a treaty of peace with them but , afterwards , as they were going away , set upon them while they were on the road and killed them all " " . He clearly suggests that the peace proposal was initiated by Alexander , following five days of heavy fighting ( nine days according to Curtius ) , where despite heavy losses he failed to take the Massaga citadel . After reaching a peace treaty with the Ashvakayanas that included them vacating the city , he then attacked them . Plutarch denounced Alexander , saving that " " this rests as foul blot on his martial fame " " . On the credibility of Arrian . The accuracy of Arrian ' s account of Alexander ' s campaigns has been questioned by scholars such as WW Tarn , Buddha Prakash and AB Bosworth . Writing some 400 years after the events they consider that Arrian was more concerned with creating a legend of Alexander than historical accuracy . Battle of Ora and Bazira . Battle of Aornos . Writing on Alexander ' s campaign against the Assakenoi , Victor Hanson comments : " " After promising the surrounded Assacenis ( Ashvakayanas ) their lives upon capitulation , he executed all their soldiers who had surrendered . Their strongholds at Ora and Aornus were also similarly stormed . ( The ) Garrison s were probably all slaughtered " " . Tragedy of Afrikes and invasion of Dyrta . Alexander got the news that one of the three sons of Cleophis ( and the brother of the deceased war leader , Assaeknos of Massaga ) , was hovering in the mountains with an army of 20 , 000 and a fleet of 15 war elephants waiting for the right opportunity for a showdown with the Macedonians . Didorus calls this Ashvakayana chieftain as " Afrikes " while Curtius refers to him as " Erix " . Scholars state that the name " Afrikes " seems to contain reference to " Aprita " or " Afridi " , thereby , linking the Afridis with the Ashvakayanas . Alexander proceeded against Afrikes . However , at the critical juncture , a dispute arose among Afrikes ' followers and some deserters assassinated him and presented his head to Alexander and joined his ranks . After this tragic event , Alexander proceeded against the Ashvakayanas of Dyrta ( " Sanskrit Darteya or Dharteya " ) , north of Mahaban , near the point of issue of the Indus from the mountains . This section of the Ashvakayanas is known as " Dharteyas " to Pāṇini and like other Ashvakayanas , have been styled as " Ayudhajivin Samgha " ( Warlike republics ) in the Ganapatha of Pāṇini . But the " Dharteya " Ashvakayas deserted their habitats and disappeared into the mountains . Alexander ordered the area to be combed and himself proceeded towards the Indus . Nothing more is known about the fate of the Dharteyas . Aftermath of the war campaign . Arrian reports that Sicicottos , who had helped Alexander in this campaign against the Ashvaka Kshatriyas was made the governor of Aornos . Alexander ' s victory at Aornos was fleeting , with the Ashvakas defeated but not crushed . Only a few months later the Ashvakayanas revolted against their rulers - assassinating Nicanor , the Greek governor of Massaga . Sicicottos sent word to Alexander who was still in north Punjab ( at Glansai ) , asking for immediate assistance . Alexander sent Phillipos and Tyriaspes to quell the Ashvakayana rebellion - how far they succeeded is not known , but Tyriaspes was soon replaced by Alexander ' s father - in - law Oxyartes , which may indicate that things had not gone well . Lack of confederacy led to debacle . It is obvious that although individually the former Kamboja constituents had offered stubborn resistance , they failed to create a united front against Alexander . It seems that the ancient custom of forming leagues or confederacies amongst the Kambojas had temporarily been abandoned after the disintegeration of the Kamboja and Gandhara Mahajanapada s following the Achaemenid occupations of Cyrus and Darius . Alexander ' s companions do not record the names of Kamboja and Gandhara and rather locate numerous small political units in their territories . No doubt Alexander easily conquered these isolated political units , most of which were Ganas or Samghas ( republics ) of free people . Each constituent did offer resistance , but disunity and dissension meant that one by one , all the units fell to a better organised and unified enemy with superior numbers .