Qualla: Battle of the Uxian Defile https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-uxian-defile en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:31 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/d/r/battle-of-the-uxian-defile-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of the Uxian Defile https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-uxian-defile Battle of the Uxian Defile: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-uxian-defile/ Photo credit Stephen Smith, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Uxians made a simple demand: pay the toll. Every Persian army that wanted to cross the mountain defile between Susa and Persepolis had to pay, and the Uxians saw no reason why the Macedonian conqueror should be any different. They sent ambassadors to Alexander the Great in late 331 BC, expecting the same tribute the Great King himself had always paid. Alexander agreed. He would come along the main road on the appointed day and settle up. It was a lie -- and the kind of lie that Alexander told best.

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Image: Stephen Smith | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/d/r/battle-of-the-uxian-defile-wp/tjdr-battle-of-the-uxian-defile-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of the Uxian Defile: The Road Between Two Capitals https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-uxian-defile/ Photo credit Stephen Smith, CC BY-SA 3.0. The mountain pass the Uxians controlled sat between two of the most important cities in the Persian Empire. Susa, the winter capital, had just fallen to Alexander without a fight. Twenty days of marching from Babylon -- itself surrendered by the pragmatic satrap Mazaeus -- had br...

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/d/r/battle-of-the-uxian-defile-wp/tjdr-battle-of-the-uxian-defile-the-road-between-two-capitals.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of the Uxian Defile: Toll Collectors of the Zagros https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-uxian-defile/ Photo credit Stephen Smith, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Uxians occupied the rugged highlands of what is now Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran. They had carved out a remarkable independence within the Persian Empire. While other tribes paid tribute to the Great King, the Uxians reversed the arrangement entirely. Persian armie...

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/d/r/battle-of-the-uxian-defile-wp/tjdr-battle-of-the-uxian-defile-toll-collectors-of-the-zagros.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of the Uxian Defile: The Promise and the Ambush https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-uxian-defile/ Photo credit Stephen Smith, CC BY-SA 3.0. Alexander sent word that he accepted their terms. On the appointed day, the Uxians gathered along the main road, waiting for their payment. Instead, Alexander split his forces. He took Craterus and his shield-bearing guards, along with 8,000 soldiers, up a northern route that the...

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/d/r/battle-of-the-uxian-defile-wp/tjdr-battle-of-the-uxian-defile-the-promise-and-the-ambush.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of the Uxian Defile: The Price of Survival https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-uxian-defile/ Photo credit Stephen Smith, CC BY-SA 3.0. The surviving Uxians sued for peace, and the terms Alexander imposed carried a pointed irony. The tribe that had extracted tolls from the Persian Empire for generations would now pay annual tribute to the Macedonians: 100 horses, 500 head of cattle, and 30,000 sheep. The toll col...

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/d/r/battle-of-the-uxian-defile-wp/tjdr-battle-of-the-uxian-defile-the-price-of-survival.mp3 0:06 5 full