A village with historical links to Alexander

Bandala, 20 kilometers away from Amritsar and close to the River Beas is like any other village of Punjab, but for an interesting historical link attached to it.

Amritsar, Sept. 6 : Bandala, 20 kilometers away from Amritsar and close to the River Beas is like any other village of Punjab, but for an interesting historical link attached to it.

Residents of the village claim that in 326 BC, Alexander, the Great camped at Bandala while on a campaign to conquer India.

The Macedonian King's visit is substantiated by the existence of period structures, inscriptions and faded paintings.

Historians and archaeologists, however, assert that more research is needed to unearth the truth of Alexander's camp."There is a need for deeper research from three angles. One, from documentary angle, second a proper research on these buildings, and third, material from here should be properly tested to find out how old are they," said Professor Balwinder Singh, an expert in historical archaeology, at the Guru Nanak Dev University.

Some villagers are so eager to strengthen the tale of Alexander that they term the village to be thousands of years old.

"Our village is very old and the buildings are almost 1000 to 1500 years old," said Amarjeet, a villager.

Further these votaries of Macedonian links relate how the Maharaja of Kapurthala, on the basis of the Serai and the remnants of the old buildings and the pictures inscribed on the walls of those buildings, had subscribed to the belief of Bandala being the place where Alexander and his army had camped.

The local Panchayat has identified the village as the place where Alexander was defeated.

"About Alexander, it has been said that he faced a strong resistance from rulers. It is also said that Alexander wasn't able not cross the Beas River and was defeated here," said Kahan Singh Pannu, Dthe eputy Commissioner of Amritsar.

ANI