The Battle of Nallihan was a battle fought between the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great and the Persian satrapy of Cappadocia which occurred in 334 BC during his conquest of Anatolia. His army destroyed two Cappadocian armies along the Persian royal road as he advanced on the city of Gordion, clearing the way for his continued advance inland.
Background[]
Alexander's Macedonian army invaded Anatolia in 334 BC, opening the first front of his campaign to conquer the Persian Empire. Alexander's army made great progress within a single year, and, after taking the major Lydian city of Sardis by storm, Alexander began to drive inland with the objective of capturing the Cappadocian city of Gordion, only to find that the Cappadocian general Issaruutunu's fresh army and the battered army of Satrap Labashi had taken up positions along the Persian royal road with the intent to confront him and block his advance. The Macedonian army and the two Persian armies met in a grassy clearing near the Anatolian town of Nallihan, with Alexander's 3,990 troops facing 5,033 Persians.
Battle[]
The two Persian armies arrived on the battlefield from the same direction, joining forces for a combined assault on Alexander's army. When the armies of the two nations met, the Macedonian phalanx infantry held against assaults by numerically-superior and poorly-armored Persian troops as Alexander and his cavalry outflanked the Persian army and attacked it from the flanks and from the rear. The Persians, whose ranks included many unarmored Thracian peltasts, were cut down in their masses by the Macedonian cavalry as their assaults failed to break through the formidable Macedonian spearmen. The Macedonian cavalry pursued the routing Cappadocians and wrought havoc, capturing 958 of them, in addition to the 3,072 Persians who had been slain in the battle. Four-fifths of the Persian army were killed or captured, while Alexander lost less than a quarter of his army.
Aftermath[]
The dead at Nallihan
Labashi again survived a defeat at the hands of Alexander, fleeing towards Gordion with a handful of bodyguards. The remnants of Issaruutunu's army were taken over by Nebuchadrezzar, and they also rallied to the Persian city of Gordion. Shahanshah Darius III and his general Ariarathes soon arrived at Gordion with their massive armies, setting the stage for a major confrontation - the Battle of Issus.
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