Greek conquests in India

Campaigns and landmarks of Alexander's invasion of India.

During the ancient period before Christ, trade between India and Greece flourished especially silk, spices and gold. The Greeks invaded India several times, starting with the conquest of Alexander the Great.

Conquests of Alexander The Great (327-326 B.C.E.)

A painting by Andre Castaigne depicting the phalanx attacking the center during the Battle of the Hydaspes

In 327 B.C.E. Alexander the Great began his foray into Punjab. King Ambhi, ruler of Taxila, surrendered the city to Alexander. Many people had fled to a high fortress/rock Aornos which Alexander took by siege. Alexander fought an epic battle against the Indian monarch Porus in the Battle of Hydaspes (326). After that victory, Alexander made an alliance with Porus and appointed him satrap of his own kingdom. Alexander continued his successful conquest throughout the headwaters of the Indus River.

East of Porus' kingdom, near the Ganges River, the powerful kingdom of Magadha reigned. Exhausted and frightened by the prospect of facing another giant Indian army at the Ganges River, his army mutinied at the Hyphasis (modern Beas), refusing to march further East. Alexander, after the meeting with his officer, Coenus, determined turning back toward Greece the best course of action.

Turning south, Alexander conquering his way down the Indus to the Indian Ocean. He sent the largest part of his army to Carmania (modern southern Iran) under his general Craterus, and commissioned a fleet to explore the Persian Gulf shore under his admiral Nearchus. In the meantime, Alexander led the rest of his force back to Persia by the southern route through the Gedrosia (modern Makran in southern Pakistan).

Coin of Sophytes (305-294 B.C.E.)

Hellenistic satrapies in India after Alexander.

Alexander left behind a contingent of Greek forces which established themselves in the city of Taxila, now in Pakistan. Several generals, including Eudemus and Peithon, governed the newly established province until around 316 B.C.E. Sophytes (305-294 B.C.E.), one of the governors, established himself as independent Greek prince in the Punjab.

Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan Empire apparently met with Alexander in Taxila:

"Androcottus, when he was a stripling, saw Alexander himself, and we are told that he often said in later times that Alexander narrowly missed making himself master of the country, since its king was hated and despised on account of his baseness and low birth." Plutarch 62-3

The Macedonians (described as Yona or Yavana in Indian sources) may also have assisted, in league with Indian tribes, in the uprising of Chandragupta against the Nanda Dynasty. The Mudrarakshasa of Visakhadutta, as well as the Jain work Parisishtaparvan, discuss Chandragupta's alliance with the Himalayan king Parvatka, often identified with Porus. That Himalayan alliance gave Chandragupta a powerful army comprised of Yavanas (Greeks), Kambojas, Shakas (Scythians), Kiratas (Nepalese), Parasikas (Persians) and Bahlikas (Bactrians) who took Pataliputra (also called Kusumapura, "The City of Flowers"):

"Kusumapura was besieged from every direction by the forces of Parvata and Chandragupta: Shakas, Yavanas, Kiratas, Kambojas, Parasikas, Bahlikas and others, assembled on the advice of Canakya" Mudrarakshasa 2

With the help of those frontier martial tribes from Central Asia, Chandragupta defeated the Nanda/Nandin rulers of Magadha, leading to the founding of the powerful Maurya empire in northern India.

Seleucid Invasion (304 B.C.E.)

Seleucus I Nicator founder of the Seleucid dynasty and one of Alexander's former generals. He invaded India (modern Punjab in northern India and Pakistan) in 304 B.C.E. It is said that Chandragupta Maurya put an army of 100,000 men and 9,000 war elephants and forced Seleucus to conclude an alliance. Seleucus gave him his daughter in marriage, ceded the territories of Arachosia, and received from Chandraguta 500 war elephant which he used decisively at the Battle of Ipsus.

Seleucus also sent an ambassador named Megasthenes to Chandragupta's court, who repeatedly visited Pataliputra (modern Patna in Bihar state), capital of Chandragupta. Megasthenes has written detailed descriptions of India and Chandragupta's reign. Continued diplomatic exchanges and good relations are between the Seleucids and the Mauryan empirors are then documented throughout the duration of the Mauryan empire.

Indo-Greek rule (180 B.C.E.-10 C.E.)

The founder of the Indo-Greek Kingdom Demetrius I (205-171 B.C.E.), wearing the scalp of an elephant, symbol of his conquests in India.

In 180 B.C.E., the Indo-Greeks, invaded parts of northwest and northern India and ruled in the Punjab region. They are an extension of the Greco-Bactrian dynasty of Greek kings (the Euthydemids) located in neighbouring Bactria.

The invasion of northern India followed the destruction of the Mauryan dynasty by the general Pusyamitra Sunga, who then founded the new Indian Sunga dynasty (185 B.C.E.-78 B.C.E.). The Indo-Greek king Menander may have campaigned as far as the capital Pataliputra in eastern India (today Patna): "Those who came after Alexander went to the Ganges and Pataliputra" (Strabo, XV.698). The Indian records also describes Greek attacks on Saketa, Panchala, Mathura and Pataliputra (Gargi-Samhita, Yuga Purana chapter). The Indo-Greeks ruled various parts of northwestern India until the end of the 1st century B.C.E., when they were conquered by the Scythians and Kushans.

Legacy

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.

See Also

• Indo-Greek Kingdom
• Roman trade with India
• The Greeks
• Out of India theory
• Alexander the Great

Notes

External links Retrieved December 1, 2008.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Draper, G.I.A.D., Michael A. Meyer, and H. McCoubrey. 1998. Reflections on law and armed conflicts: the selected works on the laws of war by the late professor colonel G.I.A.D. Draper, OBE. The Hague: Kluwer Law International. ISBN 9789041105578.
• Hogarth, D. G. 1897. Philip and Alexander of Macedon: two essays in biography. New York: C. Scribner's Sons. OCLC 1535188.
• Marshall, John Hubert. 1960. A guide to Taxila. Cambridge [Eng.]: For the Dept. of Archeology in Pakistan at the University Press. OCLC 833691.
• Shastri, Ajay Mitra. 1999. The age of the Sātavāhanas. Great ages of Indian history. New Delhi: Aryan Books International. ISBN 9788173051593.
• Wood, Michael. 2001. In the footsteps of Alexander the Great: a journey from Greece to Asia. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520231924.

External Links

Links retrieved December 2, 2008.

• On the Shores of the Great Sea, by M. B. Synge. The Conquest of India
• The Chronology of Classical Indian Civilization
• Master Mind: Greek Conquests in India
• Alexander the Great of Macedon: from history to eternity, by John J. Popovic (web by Massimo Aquila)
• Alexander "The Great" (356-323 B.C.E.) Alexandros by Plutarch
• Alexander the Great sites

Middle kingdoms of India
Timeline:	Northern Empires	Southern Dynasties	Northwestern Kingdoms
6th century B.C.E.  5th century B.C.E.  4th century B.C.E.  3rd century B.C.E.  2nd century B.C.E.  1st century B.C.E.  1st century CE  2nd century  3rd century  4th century  5th century  6th century  7th century  8th century  9th century 10th century 11th century	Magadha Shishunaga dynasty Nanda empire Kalinga Maurya Empire Sunga Empire Kuninda Kingdom Western Satraps Gupta Empire Harsha Pala Empire Solanki Sena dynasty	Pandyan Cholas Chera Satavahana empire Kalabhras Kadamba Dynasty Pallava Chalukya Rashtrakuta Western Chalukyas Hoysala Empire	Gandhara (Persian rule) (Greek conquests) Indo-Greeks Indo-Scythians Indo-Parthians Kushan Empire Indo-Sassanids Kidarite Kingdom Indo-Hephthalites (Islamic invasions) Shahi (Islamic empires)

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