Massaga
τὰ Μάσσαγα
Massaga (τὰ Μάσσαγα, Arrian, Anab. 4.25, 39), a strongly fortified town in the NE. part of India, between the Cophes and the Indus. It is stated by Arrian (l.c. to have made a desperate defence, and to have withstood Alexander for four days of continued assault. It had been the residence of the Indian king Assacanus, who was recently dead when Alexander arrived there. (Curt. 8.10). This name is written differently in different authors. Thus, Strabo writes it Μασόγα (xv. p. 698); Steph. Byz. and Diodorus, Μασσάκα (xvii. Prooem.); and Curtius, Mazaga (l.c.). It is doubtless the same as the Sanscrit, Maçaka, near the Guraeus (or Gauri). Curtius himself mentions that a rapid river or torrent defended it on its eastern side. (Lassen's Map of India.)
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.