Phalia, Pakistan

History

Alexander the Great and his army crossed the Jhelum River (Hydaspes) in July 326 BC at the Battle of the Hydaspes River where he defeated king Porus.

According to Arrian (Anabasis, 29), Alexander built a city in the place whence he started to cross the river, which he named Bukephala or Bucephala to honour his dead horse Bukephalus or Bucephalus. It is thought that ancient Bukephala was near the site of modern Jhelum City but that is wrong. Phalia was named after Bucephalus, the name of the Alexander's dead horse, and presently a tehsil of Mandi Bahauddin District. Beyond Taxila, Alexander opted for an alternative route instead of the traditional route i.e. today's Grand Trunk Road (link through Pakistan between Afghanistan and Bangladesh) and built two cities on opposite banks of the Jhelum on the route between Bhera and Mong.

In AD 997, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi took over the Ghaznavid dynasty empire established by his father, Sultan Sebuktegin. In 1005 he conquered the Shahis in Kabul and followed it by the conquests of Punjab region. The Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire ruled the region. The Punjab region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot the landscape of Punjab region.

From the History section of Phalia on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.