on a revelant note... i have just finished reading Arian's "alexandrou Anavasis" and it turns out that Greek knowledge of eastern geography (at the time of Alexander anyway) was pretty distorted. Alexander really believed that crossing the Ganges river and marching some humble distance he would reach the "great ocean" that encircles Asia. Earlier in his campaign when they reached the Caspian Sea they believed they have reached the same "great ocean" that encircled Asia (this time from the north).Obviously they believed that the Scythian nomads inhabited a somehow narrow coastal area of the northern Asian periphery (clearly underestimating the vastness of the central-Asian stepe).When they reached the Hindus river they believed they had actually found the banks of ... Nile!!! (bc both rivers featured crocodiles).What amazed me the most was that the Persians have not corrected the Greeks in their misconceptions (perhaps sharing the same distorted and limited view of geography??? ).

Had Alexander and the Greeks decided to march against the Scythians (past modern-day Afghanistan) or deep past the Ganges river they would be in for some nasty surprises