Return from India

Nearchus · 325 BCE – 324 BCE · Earth

Guide the fleet from the Indus back to Persia.

Historical context

Alexander's army refused to march back through the desert, so his fleet had to find the coast route home. Nearchus's log gave the Greek world its first detailed picture of the northern Indian Ocean.

The voyage, step by step

1. The fleet puts to sea

   325 BCE

   Nearchus leads Alexander's fleet west from the mouth of the Indus.

2. The whales scattered

   325 BCE

   A school of whales blows ahead of the line and the rowers nearly break formation in panic.

3. The Fish-Eaters

   325 BCE

   At the headland the Greeks meet people who grind dried fish into flour and roof their huts with whale bone.

4. The Gedrosian coast

   325 BCE

   Along a barren shore the crews run short of food and water.

5. The narrows at Harmozeia

   324 BCE

   The fleet turns north into a strait, and a scouting party finds Alexander's camp five days inland.

6. Into the Persian Gulf

   324 BCE

   The fleet reaches the Persian Gulf and rejoins the army, its log preserved by Arrian.

Outcome

Reached the Persian Gulf after a hazardous coastal voyage.

Nearchus

Admiral of Alexander the Great who commanded the fleet from the Indus to the Persian Gulf, charting the northern Indian Ocean.

Read on Wikipedia

Sources

• Nearchus — Wikipedia

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