Ancient Greece–Ancient India relations

For the Ancient Greeks "India" (Greek: Ινδία) meant only the upper Indus till the time of Alexander the Great. After "India" meant to the Greeks most of the northern half of the Indian subcontinent (including present-day India and Pakistan). The Greeks referred to the Indians as "Indói" (Greek: Ἰνδοί), literally meaning "the people of the Indus River". Indians called the Greeks Yonas and “Yavanas” from Ionians.

Mythology

Megasthenes wrote about the prehistoric arrival of God Dionysus and Herakles (Megasthenes' Herakles) in India.

In addition, the epic poem Dionysiaca by Nonnus, mention about the god Dionysus expedition to India. He also write about the Colletes (Ancient Greek: Κολλήτης) who was huge, immense, formidable and his ancestor was the founder of the Indian race.

Furthermore, Apollodorus in Bibliotheca writes about Dionysus and the Indians.

Polyaenus writes that after Dionysus had subdued the Indians, he formed an alliance with them and the Amazons, and took them into his service. He later used them in his campaign against the Bactria.

Hydaspes personified by the Greeks as a river god. He supported the Indians in their war against the invading armies of the god Dionysus. Ganges was also personified by the Greeks as a river god. Limaee was the Naiad-nymph of a lake in India and daughter of the river Ganges. She had a son named Athis.

In Greek Anthology, Philodemus writes that Perseus was in love with Indian Andromeda.

Apollodorus in Bibliotheca writes that Medus conquered many barbarians and called the whole country under him Media. But when he was marching against the Indians he died.

Dictys Cretensis, author of a pseudo-chronicle of the Trojan War, writes that "Memnon, the son of Tithonus and Aurora, arrived with a large army of Indians and Ethiopians, a truly remarkable army which consisted of thousands and thousands of men with various kinds of arms, and surpassed the hopes and prayers even of Priam."

Apollonius Rhodius in Argonautica mention about the Nysean, son of Zeus, who had left the tribes of the Indians and came to dwell at Thebes.

According to the Latin Letter from Alexander the Great to Aristotle a creature called Odontotyrannos attacked Alexander's men at their camp in India.

Contact, records and influence between the two civilizations

Pataliputra Palace capital, showing Greek and Persian influence, early Mauryan Empire period, 3rd century BC.

The Greek explorer Scylax, in about 515 BC, was sent by King Darius I of Persia to follow the course of the Indus River and discover where it led.

Pāṇini, an ancient Sanskrit grammarian, was acquainted with the word yavana (Greek) in his composition.

Hecataeus of Miletus, wrote a survey of Asia and Africa in his Περιήγησις, now lost, which contained some information on India.

Herodotus in his work Histories, includes important remarks on India.

Ctesias in his work Indika (Greek: Ινδικά), records the beliefs and view of the Persians about India.

Chanakya mentioned Greeks and their polities in his arthashastra.

Aristotle’s knowledge of India came essentially from Scylax and Ctesias. He quoted Scylax to refer to Indian politics and mentions seven Indian animals, by clearly drawing on Ctesias.

In Sophocles work, Antigone, Creon mention about the gold of India.

Xenophon in his work Cyropaedia mention about India and the Indians.

Kātyāyana was Sanskrit grammarian, mathematician and Vedic priest who lived in ancient India. He explains the term yavanānī as the script of the Yavanas. He takes the same line as Pāṇini that the Old Persian term yauna became Sanskrtised to name all Greeks.

Clearchus of Soli, traveled to the east to study Indian religions.

At the Battle of Gaugamela, Darius also used Indian troops against Alexander the Great. Later, Alexander's army fought the Indian army of King Porus at the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great. Plutarch writes about the battle at his work Parallel Lives, "Life of Alexander". The Indian King Ambhi (Greeks called him Taxiles in their scripts) supported Alexander with his forces. Philostratus the Elder in the Life of Apollonius of Tyana writes that in the army of Porus there was an elephant who fought brave against Alexander's army and Alexander dedicated it to the Helios (Sun) and named it Ajax, because he thought that a so great animal deserved a great name. The elephant had gold rings around its tusks and an inscription was on them written in Greek: "Alexander the son of Zeus dedicates Ajax to the Helios" (ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ Ο ΔΙΟΣ ΤΟΝ ΑΙΑΝΤΑ ΤΩΙ ΗΛΙΩΙ). Alexander, also met and talked with Indian philosophers, such as Dandamis and Kalanos.

Pyrrho accompanied Alexander in his campaign, According to Diogenes Laërtius, Pyrrho developed his skeptical philosophy in India when Pyrrho was there during the conquest of Alexander the Great. It is speculated he was influenced by early Buddhism and/or Ajñana philosophy.

Nearchus, describe and give information about the India and the people living there.

Onesicritus, also give information regarding the people and the landscape of India.

Theodectes, thought that the dark color of some Indians were because of the sun.

Aristobulus of Cassandreia, give a lot of information about the customs and the animals.

At the Anuradhapura Kingdom in Sri Lanka, there was a Greek settlement. Professor Merlin Peris, former Professor of Classics at the University of Peradeniya, writes that “The Greeks whom King Pandukabhaya settled in the West Gate of Anuradhapura were not second or third generation of Greeks who arrived in NW India but were men who, just two decades ago at the most, left Greek homelands as Alexander’s camp followers and come to Sri Lanka with or in the wake of Alexander’s troops. When their fellow Greeks showed reluctance to push further south, these Greeks apparently had done so.” Greeks called Sri Lanka as Taprobana.

Cleitarchus, probably did not travel to India, but his account of the country, based on Onesicritus’ and Nearchus’ reports, gained much popularity.

Theophrastus, in his book on history of plants contains an excursus on Indian species. Also, in his work "On stones" describe rocks, stones and gems that are produced in India.

Indo-Greek kingdoms founded by the successor of Alexander the Great. (Greek conquests in India)

Polybius writes about the use of Indian elephants in battles and also about the alliance between the Indian king Sophagasenus and Antiochus III the Great.

Pseudo-Scymnus writes in Circuit of the Earth that Indians occupy almost all the land toward the East.

According to Indian sources, Greek troops seem to have assisted Chandragupta Maurya in toppling the Nanda Dynasty and founding the Mauryan Empire.

Later, Seleucus I army encountered Chandragupta army. Chandragupta and Seleucus finally concluded an alliance. Seleucus gave him his daughter in marriage, ceded the territories of Arachosia, Herat, Kabul and Makran and he received 500 war elephants.

The Greek ethnographer and explorer of the Hellenistic period, Megasthenes was the ambassador of Seleucus I at India. In his work, Indika (Greek: Ινδικά), he wrote the history of Indians and their culture. Megasthenes also mentions about the prehistoric arrival of God Dionysus and Herakles (Megasthenes' Herakles) in India.

The successor of Megasthenes, Deimachus, also wrote about India.

Eratosthenes attempted to calculate the exact size and shape of the country, relying on reports written by travellers.

Dionysius Periegetes, describe how Indians looked like.

Arrian, in his work Indica (Greek: Ἰνδική) has written about India.

Dionysius was a Greek ambassador at India, sent by Ptolemy Philadelphus.

The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 110 BCE in present-day central India in Vidisha near modern Besnagar, by Heliodorus (Greek: Ἡλιόδωρος), a Greek ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to the court of the Shunga king Bhagabhadra. The site is located only 5 miles from the Buddhist stupa of Sanchi.

The Greek historian Apollodorus and the Roman historian Justin, affirm that the Bactrian Greeks conquered India. Justin, also describe Demetrius I as "King of the Indians". Greek and Indian sources indicate that the Greeks campaigned as far as Pataliputra until they were forced to retreat following a coup in Bactria in 170 BC.

Eudoxus of Cyzicus and Hippalus traveled to Indian with their ships.

The Isidore of Charax in his work "The Parthian Stations" (Ancient Greek: Σταθμοί Παρθικοί) describe the trade route between the Levant and India in the 1st century BC.

The Greek sophist Philostratus, in his work Life of Apollonius of Tyana (Greek: Βίος Απολλωνίου του Τυανέως), mention that the Greek philosopher Apollonius have travelled to India.

The King Phraotes received a Greek education at the court of his father and spoke Greek fluently.

Diodorus, quoting Iambulus mention that the king of Pataliputra had a "great love for the Greeks".

Ptolemy, wrote about the Brahmanas (Greek: Βραχμάναι Μάγοι), Narmada River and more.

Eusebius mentions that, according to Aristoxenus, Indians went to Athens and conversed with Socrates.

Buddhism flourished under the Indo-Greeks, leading to the Greco-Buddhist cultural syncretism. The arts of the Indian sub-continent were also quite affected by Hellenistic art during and after these interactions. (Hellenistic influence on Indian art). The iconography of Vajrapani is clearly that of the hero Heracles, with varying degrees of hybridization. Menander I was one of the patrons of Buddhism, he also was the subject of the Milinda Panha.

Dharmaraksita was a Greek who was converted to Buddhism. He was one of the missionaries sent by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka to proselytize Buddhism.

Mahadharmaraksita was a Greek Buddhist master.

The Kandahar Greek Edicts of Ashoka, which are among the Ashoka's Major Rock Edicts of the Indian Emperor Ashoka were written in the Greek language. In addition, the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription was written in Greek and Aramaic.

Strabo describe India in his work Geographica. He refers to India several times during the course of the Geography and he devotes book 15 to an extended description of the country.

Zarmanochegas, met Nicholas of Damascus in Antioch and later he also traveled to Athens where he burnt himself to death.

Varāhamihira, in a passage where he calls on the people to honour the Brahmans, said: “the Greeks, though impure, must be honoured, since they are trained in sciences, and therein excelled others. What, then are we to say of a Brahman, if he combines with his purity the height of science?”

The Yuga Purana mention about the Greeks.

The Kushan Empire used the Greek alphabet and on their coins they used Greek legends. They also adopted other elements of the Greek culture of the Hellenistic Kingdoms. Art themes derived from Greek mythology were common initially but later Buddhist imagery dominated.

During the Roman and Byzantine period there were trade relations. (Indo-Roman trade relations)

The Roman Emperor Augustus received envoys from the Saka King, and they gave him a letter which was written in Greek and asked for some diplomatic requests.

The so-called Muziris papyrus which is written in Greek, contains crucial information regarding the cargo of a ship named the Hermapollon that sailed back to Egypt from the Muziris in India. Muziris is also mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as one of the Indian ports that Greek ships were sailing.

Some of the Indian ports that Greek merchants were visiting where Muziris, Barygaza, Barbarikon, Minnagara, Ujjain and Ariaca.

The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea was a manual written in Greek for navigators who carried trade between Roman Empire and other regions, including ancient India. It gives detailed information about the ports, routes and commodities.

Dio Chrysostom mention about India in his work "Discourses". He even writes that Homer's poetry is sung in India.

Claudius Aelianus wrote about the animals in India. He also mention that there were Macedonians who settled in India, in the cities founded by Alexander.

Lucian writes that Indians get drunk very easy with wine and they get worse than any Greek or Roman would be.

The Rabatak inscription uses Greek script, to write a language described as Arya. The inscription relates to the rule of the Kushan emperor Kanishka.

Pantaenus traveled to India.

Procopius writes that, when Byzantines didn't want to purchase, any longer, their silk from the Persians, due to their conflicts, some monks coming from India, who had also spent a long time in a country called Serinda (Ancient Greek: Σηρίνδα) and was beyond India, talked with the Emperor Justinian and promised to settle the silk question and the Byzantines would not need to buy again the silk from the Persians.

Suda Encyclopedia mention that when Theophilos the Indian returned from India, he spent time in Antioch and the Emperor Constantius II treated him with all honor and respect.

Ammianus Marcellinus, in his work History writes about India.

The Christian Topography by Cosmas Indicopleustes was an essay in scientific geography written in Greek with illustrations and maps. The work mention India and the writer Cosmas Indicopleustes had actually made the journey and he described and sketched some of what he saw in his Topography. Indicopleustes means "Cosmas who sailed to India".

Jordanes at the Getica also write some things regarding India.

Sibylline Oracles mention about India.

In Greek Anthology, India and Indians are mentioned in many occasions.

The Unani System of Medicine which is a traditional system of medicine practiced in India refers to Graeco-Arabic medicine, which is based on the teachings of Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen. The ancient Greek medical system enriched with local elements encountered a large response to the Indian people and to the physicians.

Astronomy/Astrology

Greek astronomical texts were translated into Sanskrit. Yavaneśvara, translated the Yavanajataka, one of the earliest writings of Indian astrology, from Greek to Sanskrit. The zodiac signs introduced into India by the Greeks.

Later, the Romaka Siddhanta is based on the astronomical learning of the Byzantine Empire.

The Gargi Samhita states: "The Yavanas (Greeks) are barbarians, yet the science of astronomy originated with them and for this they must be honored".

Modern Archaeological Evidence

Bronze Age paintings in a building at Akrotiri (Akrotiri was a Minoan settlement), depicted monkeys. Most of the monkeys have been identified as Egyptian species. But there was a species that was harder to identify. Archaeologists teamed up with primatologists in order to re-examine the monkey paintings. The team has identified the monkey as a grey langur. Grey langurs live in southern Asia in what is now Nepal, Bhutan and India, particularly in the Indus Valley. Researcher say that Mesopotamia may have functioned as an intermediary that enabled the movement of goods, raw materials, people, and iconography between the east and west. Mesopotamia may have even afforded an opportunity for Aegean peoples to encounter the creatures themselves, first-hand.