For the Ancient Greeks, "India" meant only the upper Indus till the time of Alexander the Great. After that, "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 "Indoi", literally meaning "the people of the Indus River". Indians called the Greeks Yonas and “Yavanas”from Ionians.
Contacts, writings and traditions
The epic poem Dionysiaca by Nonnus, talks about the campaign of Greek God Dionysos to India. It also talks about the Colletes (Ancient Greek: Κολλήτης) who was huge, formidable and his ancestor was the founder of the Indian race.
Furthermore, Apollodorus in Bibliotheca writes about Dionysos and the Indians.
Polyaenus writes that after Dionysos 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 Bactria.
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| Ancient India as Described by Megasthenes |
Hydaspes was personified by the Greeks as a river god. He supported the Indians in their war against the invading armies of Dionysos. 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, while 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 mentions the Nysean, son of Zeus, who had left the tribes of the Indians and came to dwell at Thebes.
In Sophocles' work, 'Antigone', King Creon mentions the gold of India.
The Greek explorer Scylax, in about 515 BCE, was sent by King Darius I of Persia to follow the course of the Indus River and discover where it led.
Hecataeus of Miletus, wrote a survey of Asia and Africa , 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.
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| Megasthenes |
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.
Xenophon in his work Cyropaedia talks about India and the Indians.
Clearchus of Soli, traveled to the east to study Indian religions.
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 that he was influenced by early Buddhism and/or Ajñana philosophy.
Nearchus, describes and gives information about India and the people living there.
Onesicritus, also gives information regarding the people and the landscape of India.
Theodectes, thought that the dark color of some Indians was because of the sun.
Aristobulus of Cassandreia, gives a lot of information about Indian customs and animals.
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 the history of plants contains an excursus on Indian species. Also, in his work "On stones",he describes rocks, stones and gems that are produced in India.
Hstorical events and accounts from the Indo-Greek kingdoms
Pseudo-Scymnus writes in Circuit of the Earth that Indians occupy almost all the land toward the East.
The army ofSeleucus I encountered the army of Chandragupta. 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.
Megasthenes, the Greek ethnographer and explorer of the Hellenistic period, 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 Dionysos and Heracles (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, describes how Indians looked like.
Arrian, in his work Indica (Greek: Ἰνδική) writes 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 BCE.
The Isidore of Charax in his work "The Parthian Stations" (Greek: Σταθμοί Παρθικοί) describes the trade route between the Levant and India in the 1st century BCE.
The Greek sophist Philostratus, in his work Life of Apollonius of Tyana, mentions that the Greek philosopher Apollonius had travelled to India.
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.
Strabo describes 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.
SOURCE: Wikipedia
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