INTRODUCTION

Among the many strange stories which the companions of the great Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great brought home from the Land of the Five Rivers the Punjab region, those relating to serpents of gigantic size were not the least wonderful. Nearchos, the admiral of Alexander’s fleet, according to Strabo a Greek geographer,¹ expresses his surprise at the large number and the hostility of the reptile species. “They retreat from the plains to the villages which do not disappear under water during the floods, and they fill the houses. For this reason, the people raise their beds to a great height from the ground and are sometimes forced to abandon their homes because of the overwhelming number of these pests. In fact, if a great portion of the species were not destroyed by the waters, the country would be turned into a desert. The tiny size of some and the immense size of others are sources of danger: the former because it is difficult to guard against their attacks, the latter because of their strength, for snakes are seen that are sixteen cubits about 24 feet or 7.3 meters in length.”

Onesikratos, whom Strabo ² somewhat unfairly calls “the master storyteller as well as the master pilot of Alexander,” says that the king of Abhisāra the hill region south-west of Kashmir kept two serpents, according to the envoys who came from him. One of these was 80 cubits long and the other 140 cubits approximately 120 and 210 feet respectively. Other Greek writers mentioned that the natives used to hunt serpents among the Emodoi mountains original: Emōdoı; the Himalayas and raise them in caves.

Ælian,³ in his account of India, also refers to “the plague of snakes.” He speaks of the herbs which serve as antidotes against the bite of any snake and refers to the curious belief that if a snake kills a man, it cannot creep back into its underground home, “the earth refusing to accept it, casting it out from her household, and banishing it, so to speak, from her bosom.”

“When Alexander was attacking some of the cities in India,” the same author ⁴ relates, “and capturing others, he found in many of them, besides other animals, a snake which the Indians regarded as sacred. They kept it in a cave and worshipped it with great devotion. The Indians, therefore, with every kind of plea implored Alexander to let no one disturb the animal, and he consented to this. Now, when the army was marching past the cave, the snake heard the noise (as that kind of animal has very acute hearing and sight) and hissed so loud and breathed out such gusts of rage that everyone was terrified and quite confused. It was said to be seventy cubits about 105 feet long, and yet the whole of—”

¹ J. W. M'Crindle, Ancient India as described in classical literature, Westminster, 1901, pp. 51 ff.
² In the same work original: Ibid., pp. 34 f.
³ In the same work, p. 140.
⁴ In the same work, p. 145.