Alexander and India

Could Alexander have conquered the rest of India if his troops had shared his desire for conquest and curiosity?

Foot-note to question:

"At the battle vs Porus - 1 of the powerful Indian leaders - the Indians were defeated (even though they fought with war elephants, which the Macedonians didn't have).  Alexander captured Porus & (like other rulers he defeated) allowed him to continue ruling his kingdom. Alexander also conquered an independent province & granted it to Porus as a gift.

His next goal was to reach the Ganges River.  His troops, however, had other thoughts...

...they had heard tales of powerful Indian tribes living on the Ganges and remembered the difficulty of the battle with Porus.

...they felt that the continuation of the Indian campaign was unnecessary - it's only cause being Alexander's curiosity.

...they had left Macedonia (too many years ago) to punish Persia (for previous atrocities), & they had not only punished it, they had even conquered it.  It was time to go home.

...they had seen their king start to behave like a Persian & tolerated his behavior.  Now he was starting to become enamored with India.

...they had invaded India & conquered Gandara & Pauravas, but now were being asked to fight in faraway Magadha (which had never belonged to the Achaemenid empire) & was thought to be situated at the edge of the earth.

So, they refused to go any farther east.

Along the rivers they stopped to conquer territories.  1 of the territories at which the army stopped belonged to the Malli, who were said to be one of the most warlike of the Indian tribes.  Alexander was wounded several times in this attack, most seriously when an arrow pierced his breastplate and his ribcage.

During this trip, Alexander sought out the Indian philosophers (the Brahmins) who were famous for their wisdom, & debated them on philosophical issues.

Alexander & his army reached the mouth of the Indus in July 325 BC, and turned westward for Babylon."