14 Facts About Nearchus

Nearchus was almost certainly older than Alexander, as were Ptolemy, Erigyius, and the others of the 'boyhood friends'; so depending on when Androtimus came to Macedonia Nearchus was quite possibly born in Crete.

However, his trierarchy was a financial responsibility – that is, Nearchus put up the money for the boats ; and there were plenty of other trierarchs in the Indus fleet who were not natural-born sailors.

Some ships were damaged, and Nearchus was instructed to remain behind to oversee repairs, before continuing down the river.

Nearchus was not the only Greek naval officer to have pursued a voyage down the Indus River—this was done by Scylax of Caryanda under the commission of Darius the Great, according to Herodotus.

Nearchus remained in command of the fleet for the voyage from the Indus to the Persian Gulf, which he recorded in detail.

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Nearchus compiled the story of his expedition into a written work—the Indike—which is lost but informs some of the content in Arrian's Indica and Strabo's Geographica.

Nearchus described, according to Arrian, how commodities like rice, sugarcane and cotton fabrics and textiles were cultivated, manufactured and traded in the Indus Valley.

Nearchus began by setting out from Patala, although monsoon rains and heavy winds delayed his reaching the Arabian Sea.

Resupplied, Nearchus reached the Hingol River and destroyed the native population.

Nearchus continued on to the Persian Gulf at the Straits of Hormuz.

Nearchus's visit marked the start of Bahrain's inclusion within the Hellenic world, which culminated in the worship of Zeus and Greek being spoken as the language of the upper classes.

Nearchus recorded that Bahrain was a prosperous commercial island, stating:.

Nearchus had a place in Alexander's final plans, as he was to be the admiral of the fleet to conquer Arabia, a land Alexander wished to conquer to fortify trade and transportation in the Persian Gulf between Babylon and India.

Nearchus wrote a history of his voyages together with a description of India entitled Indica.