Abstract
The epic of Alexander the Great is one of the most fascinating aspects of human history and it has transpired
historians for the last two millennia to try to create a picture of him and his exploits, using patchy historical
references, in the greater part of Asia Minor, Persia and South Asia. The present paper, based upon historical
literature and two seasons of fieldworks in northern Pakistan, is an attempt to investigate the exact location
and battle of Aornos. The fieldworks were carried out in 2017 and 2018 in the Districts Swat, Lower Dir,
Buner and Shangla of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. Alexander invaded these regions of
northern Pakistan in 327 BCE and had major battles and killing sprees at the ancient towns of Massaga (a
still unidentified site), Bazira (modern Barikot or Barikot-ghwandai) and Ora (modern Odigram). Fearing
the onslaught of Alexander and the imminent massacre, the inhabitants of the towns of Bazira, Ora and
other regions of upper Swat valley fled to the legendry mount Aornos. Alexander followed and massacred
them there. Using the accounts of historians Arrian, Plutarch, Diodorus, Curtius and Justin and archaeology
of the region, Aornos have been identified with two different mountains that are Mount Illum in District
Buner and Mount Pir-Sar in District Shangla. Using these sources and data from the current fieldwork, the
authors identified, following Sir Aural Stein, Mount Pir-Sar as the Aornos of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Kimotoshi Moritani, Muhammad Zahir. (2018) Alexander the Great at Aornos (Mount Pir-Sar), District Shangla, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan: Report on Historical and Archaeological Field Investigations (2017 – 2018), Pakistan Heritage, Volume 10 , Issue 1 .
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