Who led Alexander's fleet from the Indus to the Persian Gulf?

Nearchus led Alexander's fleet from the Indus River to the Persian Gulf. A Cretan officer and trusted Macedonian commander, he served as the fleet's admiral during one of antiquity's most difficult naval expeditions.

The voyage began after Alexander's Indian campaign in 326–325 BCE. While Alexander marched west through the harsh Gedrosian region, Nearchus took the fleet along the coast from the Indus delta, across the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf, and toward the Tigris. The journey involved monsoon winds, scarce fresh water, unfamiliar coastlines, and difficult harbours.

Nearchus later wrote an account of the expedition called the Indike, which is now lost. Much of its information survives through Arrian's Indica and accounts by Strabo. Onesicritus also held an important naval role and later wrote about the voyage, but Nearchus was the commander. After reaching the Persian Gulf, he reunited with Alexander in Carmania and received royal recognition for the expedition.