Chronology of the expedition of Alexander the Great into Asia
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Chronological summary of the expedition of Alexander the Great into Asia against the Persian Empire of king Darius III, with indication of the countries/places visited or simply crossed, including the most important battles/sieges and the cities founded (Alexandrias). The events of the expedition are shown in chronological order. For each event is given, separated by ― : 1) Date of event, 2) Places/cities crossed, indicated by Ancient name (Present name, Country), 3) Regions, provinces or Persian satrapies of the places/cities crossed, with indication of their capital cities (where appropriate).

Expedition

Date Event Source
April 334 B.C. Departure of the expedition from Amphipolis
Amphipolis
Amphipolis was an ancient Greek city in the region once inhabited by the Edoni people in the present-day region of Central Macedonia. It was built on a raised plateau overlooking the east bank of the river Strymon where it emerged from Lake Cercinitis, about 3 m. from the Aegean Sea. Founded in...

 (Greece)
May 334 Troy (Turkey)―Troades, capital city
May 334 Battle of the Granicus
Battle of the Granicus
The Battle of the Granicus River in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great and the Persian Empire...

 River (Biga Çay, near Dimetoka, Turkey)―Hellespontine Phrygia (capital city Dascylium (Ergili), captured by Parmenion
Parmenion
Parmenion was a Macedonian general in the service of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great, murdered on a suspected false charge of treason....

)
Jun 334 Sardes (near Salihli, Turkey)―Lydia, capital city
Jun 334 Ephesus (Turkey)―Ionia
Jul 334 Siege of Miletus
Siege of Miletus
The Siege of Miletus was Alexander the Great's first naval encounter with the Achaemenid Empire. This minor siege was directed against the inhabitants of Miletus, a city in southern Ionia, in Caria. Which is now located in the Anatolia province of modern-day Turkey. It was captured by Parmenion's...

 (Turkey)―Ionia, capital city
Sep 334 Siege of Halicarnassus
Siege of Halicarnassus
The Siege of Halicarnassus was fought between Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Persian Empire in 334 BC. Alexander, who had no navy, was constantly being threatened by the Persian navy. It continuously attempted to provoke an engagement with Alexander, who would have none of it. Eventually,...

 (Bodrum, Turkey)―Caria, capital city
? Lycia (Turkey)―Lycia (capital city Xanthos)
Dec 334 Phaselis (near Kemer, Turkey)―Pamphylia
? Termessos (Turkey)―Pamphylia
Jan 333 Perge (modern Murtina, near Aksu, Turkey)―Pamphylia, capital city
? Aspendos (near Serik, Turkey)―Pamphylia
? Side (near Manavgat, Turkey)―Pamphylia
? Kelainai (near Dinar, Turkey)―Pisidia (capital city Sagalassos)
Apr 333 Gordion (Yassihöyük, near Polatli, Turkey)―Great Phrygia, capital city
? Ankyra (Ankara, Turkey)―Cappadocia (capital city Comana (Kayseri))
? Cilician Gates (Turkey)―Cilicia
Sep 333 Cydnos River (Tarsus Çayi River, Turkey )―Cilicia
Sep 333 Tarsus (Turkey)―Cilicia, capital city
Oct 333 Soli (Mezetlu, west of Mersin, Turkey)―Cilicia
Nov 333 Battle of Issus
Battle of Issus
The Battle of Issus occurred in southern Anatolia, in November 333 BC. The invading troops, led by the young Alexander of Macedonia, defeated the army personally led by Darius III of Achaemenid Persia in the second great battle for primacy in Asia...

, Pinarus River (Payas River, near Dörtyol, Turkey)―Cilicia
Nov 333 Alexandretta or Alexandria near Issus (Iskenderun, Turkey)―Cilicia
Dec 333 Aradus Island (Arwad, 3 km off the Syrian coastal town of Tartus, Syria)―Phoenicia (Syria)
Jan 332 Byblos (40 km north of Beirut, Lebanon)―Phoenicia (Syria)
Jan 332 Sidon (Lebanon)―Phoenicia (Syria)
Jan 332 Siege of Tyre
Siege of Tyre
The Siege of Tyre was a siege of the city of Tyre, a strategic coastal base on the Mediterranean Sea, orchestrated by Alexander the Great in 332 BC during his campaigns against the Persians. The Macedonian army was unable to capture the city through conventional means because it was on an island...

 (Lebanon)―Phoenicia (Syria)
? Damascus (Syria)―Syria, capital city
Aug 332 Jerusalem (Israel)―Syria
Sep 332 Siege of Gaza
Siege of Gaza
During the Siege of Gaza, Alexander the Great, by utilizing the engines he had employed against Tyre, succeeded in reaching the walls. After three unsuccessful assaults, the stronghold was taken by storm....

 (Palestine)―Syria
Dec 332 Pelusium (Port Said, Egypt)―Egypt
Jan 331 Memphis (Egypt)―Egypt, capital city
Jan 331 Alexandria (Egypt)―Egypt
Feb 331 Siwa, oracle (Egypt)―Egypt
May 331 Tyre (Lebanon)―Phoenicia (Syria)
? Damascus (Syria)―Syria
? Alep (Syria)―Syria
Jul 331 Thapsacus (Tipsah) (Dibsi Faray, Euphrates River, Syria)―Mesopotamia
Jul 331 Harran (Turkey)―Mesopotamia
Jul 331 Edessa or Urhai (Urfa, Turkey)―Mesopotamia
Jul 331 Tigris River (Iraq)―Mesopotamia
Oct 331 Battle of Gaugamela
Battle of Gaugamela
The Battle of Gaugamela took place in 331 BC between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia. The battle, which is also called the Battle of Arbela, resulted in a massive victory for the ancient Macedonians and led to the fall of the Achaemenid Empire.-Location:Darius chose a flat, open plain...

 (Tel Gomel, Iraq)―Mesopotamia
Oct 331 Arbela (Arbil/Irbil, Iraq)―Mesopotamia (ancient Assyria), capital city
Oct 331 Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...

 (on the Euphrates, Iraq)―Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...

, capital city
Dec 331 Susa
Susa
Susa was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires of Iran. It is located in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris River, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers....

 (Iran)―Susiana (Elam), capital city
? Battle of the Persian Gate
Battle of the Persian Gate
The Battle of the Persian Gate was a military conflict between the Achaemenid Empire and Alexander the Great at the Persian Gates. The Achaemenid army was commanded by the satrap of Persis, Ariobarzanes and the invading Macedonian army was commanded by Alexander the Great. In the winter of 330 BC,...

 (Darvazeh-ye Fars, northeast of Yasuj, Iran)―Persia
Jan 330 Persepolis
Persepolis
Perspolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire . Persepolis is situated northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. In contemporary Persian, the site is known as Takht-e Jamshid...

 (Iran)―Persia, capital city
? Pasargad (plain of Morghab, Iran)―Persia
Jun 330 Deh Bid Pass (Zagros Range) to modern Yazd and Esfahan, Iran―Persia/Media
Jun 330 Ecbatana
Ecbatana
Ecbatana is supposed to be the capital of Astyages , which was taken by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great in the sixth year of Nabonidus...

 (Hamadan, Iran)―Media
Medes
The MedesThe Medes...

, capital city
Jun 330 Rhagae (Rey, Iran)―Media
Jun 330 Caspian Gates (between modern Eyvanakey and Aradan or Theran and Semnan, Iran, Media/Parthia border)―Media/Parthia
Jul 330 Alexander's detour from modern Semnan to the Dasht-e-Kavir desert (Iran)―Parthia
Parthia
Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....

 
Jul 330 Thara (near Ahuan, between Semnan and Qusheh, Iran) where the Persian king Darius III was killed―Parthia
Jul 330 Hecatompylos (Shahrud, near Emamshahr, Iran)―Parthia, capital city
Jul 330 Zadracarta (Gorgan, Iran)―Hyrcania, capital city
Aug 330 Hyrcanian campaign (Caspian Sea/Elburz Range, Iran)―Hyrcania
Hyrcania
Hyrcania was the name of a satrapy located in the territories of present day Gilan, Golestan, Mazandaran and part of Turkmenistan, lands south of the Caspian Sea. To the Greeks, the Caspian Sea was the "Hyrcanian Sea".-Etymology:...

 
Sep 330 Susia (Tus, near Mashhad, Iran)―Parthia
? Nisa-Alexandroupolis (Bagir Village, 18 km southwest of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan)???―Parthia
Sep 330 Artacoana, Alexandria in Aria (Herat, Afghanistan)―Aria, capital city
Oct 330 Phrada, Alexandria Prophthasia (Farah, Afghanistan)―Drangiana, capital city
Dec 330 Alexandria in Arachosia (Kandahar, Afghanistan)―Arachosia, capital city
Winter 329 Alexandria (Ghazni, Afghanistan)―Arachosia
Apr 329 Ortospana, Kabura (Kabul, Afghanistan)―Gandara
Apr 329 Cophen River (Kabul River, Afghanistan)―Gandara
Apr 329 Kapisa, Alexandria in the Caucasus (Bagram near Charikar, Afghanistan)―Gandara, capital city
May 329 Paropamisus (Hindu Kush, Afghanistan) (Paropamisus is the western part of Gandara)―Gandara
May 329 Khawak Pass (leading from Badakhshan to Panjshir valley, 100 km northeast of Kabul, Afghanistan)―Gandara
May 329 Drapsaca (Konduz/Kondoz or Qonduz/Qondoz, Afghanistan)―Bactria
May 329 Bactra (Balkh, near Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan)―Bactria
Bactria
Bactria and also appears in the Zend Avesta as Bukhdi. It is the ancient name of a historical region located between south of the Amu Darya and west of the Indus River...

, capital city
May 329 Oxus River (Gozan
Gozan
Gozan may refer to:* The Ancient River Gozan, Amu Darya, The River Amu or Oxus, a river in North Afghanistan & Central Asia.* the Five Mountain System, a Japanese network of Zen temples...

, (Amudar'ja River, Afghanistan/Uzbekistan border)
May 329 Alexandria Tarmita (Termez/Termiz, Uzbekistan)―Sogdia (or Transoxiana)
Jun 329 Nautaca (Uzunkir, near Shakhrisabz, between Samarkand and Karshi, Uzbekistan)―Sogdia
Jun 329 Maracanda (Samarkand, Uzbekistan)―Sogdia, capital city
Jul 329 Jaxartes River (Syrdar'ya River) and Fergana Valley (Uzbekistan/Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan)―Sogdia
Jul 329 Fergana Valley with 7 Achaemenid cities-fortresses, among which Cyropolis or Cyreschata/Kurushkatha (Uroteppa, Tajikistan)―Sogdia
Jul 329 Alexandria Eschate (Leninabad, Khodzent, Khudzhand or Hudzand, Tajikistan)―Sogdia
Oct 329 Sogdians and Scythians Massagetes (Spitamenes' revolt) (north of Jaxartes River)
Nov 329 Maracanda (Samarkand, Uzbekistan)―Sogdia
Nov 329 Tribactra (Bukhara, Uzbekistan)―Sogdia
Nov 329 Bactra (Balkh, near Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan)―Bactria
Spring 328 Alexandria Oxiane/on the Oxus (perhaps Ai Khanum/Ay Khanom???) (confluence of the Amudar'ja and Kowkcheh rivers, near Deshitiqala (Badakhshan region), northern frontier of Afghanistan )―Bactria
? Alexandria in Margiana (Mary/Merv, Turkmenistan) (founded by Craterus and refounded by Antiochus I and called Antiochia)―Margiana, capital city
Summer/Autumn 328 Sogdian campaigns and attack of the Sogdian settlements in the Gissarskiy (or Hissar) Range (Pamiro-Alai region, Tajikistan)―Sogdia
Dec 328 Nautaca (Uzunkir, near Shakhrisabz, between Samarkand and Karshi, Uzbekistan)―Sogdia
Mar 327 Sogdian Rock o Rock of Sisimithres (where Oxyartes and Roxana
Roxana
Roxana sometimes Roxane, was a Bactrian noble and a wife of Alexander the Great. She was born earlier than the year 343 BC, though the precise date remains uncertain....

 were) (Gissarskiy (or Hissar) Range, Pamiro-Alai region, Tajikistan)―Sogdia
Spring 327 Bactra (Balkh, near Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan)―Bactria
Spring 327 Kapisa, Alexandria in the Caucasus (Bagram near Charikar, Afghanistan)―Gandara, capital city
? Cophen River (Kabul River, Afghanistan/Pakistan)―Gandara
Sep 327 Passo Khyber/Khyber Pass (Afghanistan/Pakistan)―Gandara
Autumn 327 Peucelaotis (Charsadda, north of Peshawar, at the Kabul River, Pakistan), occupied by Perdiccas
Perdiccas
Perdiccas was one of Alexander the Great's generals. After Alexander's death in 323 BC he became regent of all Alexander's empire.Arrian tells us he was son of Orontes, a descendant of the independent princes of the Macedonian province of Orestis...

 and Hephaestion―Gandara, Western Punjab
Autumn 327 Arigaeum (Arigaion), capital city of the Aspasians (Nawagai, Pakistan), Alexander campaign against Aspasians and Guraei―Gandara, Western Punjab
Autumn 327 Massaca/Massaga, capital city of the Assacenes (Alexander campaign) (Wuch near Chakdara, lower Swat (Soastus) valley, Pakistan)―Gandara, Western Punjab
Autumn 327 Bazira (Bir-Kot, lower Swat valley, Pakistan)―Gandara, Western Punjab
Autumn 327 Ora (Ude-Gram, lower Swat valley, Pakistan)―Gandara, Western Punjab
Autumn 327 Shang-La Pass, Pakistan (4300m)―Gandara, Western Punjab
Autumn 327 Aornus Rock (Pir-Sar or Pir Sarai, 1600m, at the Indus River, Pakistan)―Western Punjab
Winter 326 Modern Hund, Pakistan (the two Macedonian armies reunited)―Western Punjab
Mar 326 Alexander's detour to Nysa (legend: founded by Dionysius) (near Jalalabad, at the river Chitral or Kunar (Euas) in eastern Afghanistan)―Gandara, Western Punjab
Spring 326 Taxila (Takshaçila, 20 km west from Islamabad, Pakistan)―Western Punjab, capital city
Jul 326 Battle of Hydaspes River against Porus (modern Jhelum, Pakistan)―Eastern Punjab (kingdom of Porus, Pauravas)
Jul 326 Alexandria Nicaea (west bank of Jhelum, Haranpur???, Pakistan)―Eastern Punjab
Jul 326 Alexandria Bucephala
Bucephala
Bucephala may refer to:* Bucephala , the goldeneye, a duck genus* Bucephala is the name of at least two Greek cities:** Bucephala, or Alexandria Bucephalus, a city founded by Alexander the Great and named in honor of his horse, Bucephalus...

 (east bank of Jhelum, Haranpur???, Pakistan)―Eastern Punjab
Aug 326 Acesines River (Chenab, Pakistan) (crossing between Gujrat and Sialkot, Pakistan)―Eastern Punjab
Aug 326 Hydraotes River (Ravi, Pakistan)―Eastern Punjab
Aug 326 Sangala (near Amritsar, India) (siege against the Mallians/Malli
Malli
Mallı is a village in the Goychay Rayon of Azerbaijan. The villages forms part of the municipality of Mallı-Şıxlı....

)―Eastern Punjab
31 Aug 326 Hyphasis River (Bias/Beas, India) (the eastern-most border of Alexander's expedition, mutiny of the army)―Eastern Punjab
Sep 326 Alexandria on the Hyphasis (west bank, eastern border of Alexander's empire, near Amritsar, India)―Eastern Punjab
Sep 326 Return to Hydaspes River (modern Jhelum, Pakistan), Nicaea and Bucephala (Pakistan)―Eastern Punjab
Nov 326 Departure of the fleet at the Hydaspes River (Pakistan)―Eastern Punjab
Nov-Dec 326 Mallians and Oxydracae campaign (Pakistan)―Eastern Punjab
Nov-Dec 326 Town of the Brahmans (Harmatelia???, Pakistan)―Eastern Punjab
Nov-Dec 326 Siege of Multan
Multan
Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...

 (capital city of the Mallians (Malava)), Pakistan (where Alexander was seriously wounded by an arrow)―Eastern Punjab
Nov-Dec 326 Alexandria on the Indus (at the confluence of Indus and Chenab) (Uch, Pakistan) (Alexandria of Opiane???)―Eastern Punjab
Dec 326 Campaigns against the kingdoms of Musicanus (modern Alor, Pakistan) and Sambus (modern Sehwan, Pakistan)―Sind (capital city Thatta)
Dec 326 Patala (modern Hyderabad???, Pakistan)―Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

 
Jul-Dec 325 Expedition of Craterus
Craterus
Craterus was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great and one of the Diadochi.He was the son of a Macedonian nobleman named Alexander from Orestis and brother of admiral Amphoterus. Craterus commanded the phalanx and all infantry on the left wing in Battle of Issus...

 from Patala to Hormuz: Patala, Bolan Pass, between Sibi and Quetta (Pakistan), Kandahar (Afghanistan), Hamun Lake, Hormuz (Bandare Abbas) (Iran)
Aug-Dec 325 The return of Alexander: Patala-Hormuz (with Hephaestion
Hephaestion
Hephaestion , son of Amyntor, was a Macedonian nobleman and a general in the army of Alexander the Great...

)
Aug 325 Arabius River (Hab River, crossing near modern Karachi, Pakistan)―Sind
? Arabitians and Oreitans campaigns, Pakistan―Gedrosia
Autumn 325 Alexandria Rhambacia (Bela, Pakistan)―Gedrosia
? Alexandria in Makarene (120 km west of Karachi, area of Hab River, Pakistan)
Autumn 325 Gedrosian Desert (Baluchistan (Makkran), Pakistan/Iran)―Gedrosia
Gedrosia
Gedrosia from Pashto Gwadar-khua is the hellenized name of an area that corresponds to today's Balochistan. Eastern Balochistan is southwestern province of Pakistan and parts of southwestern and south-central Afghanistan and western Balochistan is divided between Iranian provinces of Hormozgan and...

 
Nov 325 Pura (Bampur, Iran)―Gedrosia, capital city
Dec 325 Alexandria in Carmania (Golashkerd, Iran)―Carmania (capital city Harmozia/Hormuz)
Sep-Dec 325 Expedition of Nearchus
Nearchus
Nearchus was one of the officers, a navarch, in the army of Alexander the Great. His celebrated voyage from India to Susa after Alexander's expedition in India is preserved in Arrian's account, the Indica....

 from Patala to Hormuz: Patala, Karachi, Hab River, Sonmiani Bay, Ormara, Pasni, Gwadar (Pakistan), Jask, Strait of Hormuz, Hormuz (Bandare Abbas) (Iran)
Dec 325 The reuniting at Hormuz
Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow, strategically important waterway between the Gulf of Oman in the southeast and the Persian Gulf. On the north coast is Iran and on the south coast is the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman....

―Carmania
Jan-Feb 324 The return of Alexander from Hormuz to Susa:
Jan 324 Pasargad (plain of Morghab, Iran) (visit to the tomb of Cyrus the Great)―Persia
Feb 324 Persepolis
Persepolis
Perspolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire . Persepolis is situated northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. In contemporary Persian, the site is known as Takht-e Jamshid...

 (Iran)―Persia
Feb 324 Susa (Iran)―Susiana (Elam), capital city
Jan-Feb 324 The return of Hephaestion and Craterus along the coastline of Carmania
Carmania
Carmania may refer to* Carmania, ancient satrapy of the Achaemenid Persian empire.* Carmania - a diecast model producer.* Kermān Province in the south-east of Iran.* RMS Carmania , a Cunard liner built 1905...

 and Persia (from Hormuz to Susa)
Jan-Feb 324 The return of Nearchus from Hormuz to Susa: Hormuz, Qeshm Island, Mand River, Karun River, Susa
Mar 324 The marriages of Susa (Iran)
? Persian Gulf, Mouth of the Tigris (Iraq/Iran)―Susiana
Spring 324 Alexandria in Susiana or Alexandria of Characene, later Alexandria Antiocheia), Karka (Charax, near Al Qurnah, Iraq)―Susiana
Spring 324 Mutiny of the army at Opis (east bank of the Tigris, not far from the confluence of Tigris and Diyala rivers, south of Baghdad, Iraq)―Babylonia
Summer 324 Ecbatana (Hamadan, Iran)―Media, capital city
Oct 324 Death of Hephaestion in Ecbatana (Hamadan, Iran)―Media
Winter 323 Cossaeans campaign (Loristan/Luristan, Zagros Range, Iran)―Media/Babylonia
Spring 323 Babylon (on the Euphrates, Iraq)―Babylonia, capital city
10 or 11 June 323 B.C. Death of Alexander in Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...

 (Iraq)―Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...


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