View source for Ancient Greece Ancient India relations

{{Short description|1=Relations between ancient Greece and India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Use Oxford English|date=June 2021}}
[[File:Pataliputra Palace capital by L A Waddell 1895.jpg|thumb|[[Pataliputra capital|Pataliputra Palace capital]], showing Greek and Persian influence, early [[Mauryan Empire]] period, 3rd century BC.]] For the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]], “India" ({{lang-el|Ινδία}}) referred to the polity situated east of [[Iran|Persia]] and south of the [[Himalayas]] (with the exception of [[Serica]]). Although, during different periods of history, "India" referred to a much wider or much less extensive place.<ref name="William_Smith">[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=india-geo Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, Ed. - India]</ref> The Greeks referred to the [[History of India|ancient Indians]] as "Indói" ({{lang-el|Ἰνδοί|lit=people of the [[Indus River]]}}); the Indians referred to the Greeks as "[[Yona|Yonas (Yavanas)]]"<ref name= "Influence of Greeks on Indian Culture">[http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/HistoryPStudies/PDF_Files/14_V-30-No1-Jun17.pdf The Influence of Greek Classics on Indian Culture in Ancient Era]</ref> in reference to the [[Ionians]].<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44144820?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents YAVANAS IN THE ANCIENT INDIAN INSCRIPTIONS]</ref>

==Mythology and legends==

===Dionysus===
[[File:Nagarjunakonda Dionysus Palace site.jpg|thumb|left|Relief of [[Dionysus]], Nagarjunakonda, Southern India, 3rd century CE]]

[[Megasthenes]] wrote about the prehistoric arrival of the God [[Dionysus]] in India.

According to [[Philostratus]], god Dionysus was called Nysian or Nysean (Νύσιος) by the Indians.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0638.tlg001.perseus-grc1:2.2 Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana, 2.2]</ref> Most probably, because according to legend he founded the city of [[Nagara (ancient city)|Nysa]] in India.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/530#B1329 St. Jerome, Chronicon, B1329]</ref> When [[Alexander the Great]] arrived at the city, representatives of the city met him and told him not to capture the city and the land because the god had founded the city and named it Nysa after [[Nysa (mythology)|his nurse]] and also he named the mountain near the city, Meron (Μηρὸν) (i.e. thigh), because he grew in the thigh of [[Zeus]].<ref name="Arrian 5.1">[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0074.tlg001.perseus-grc1:5.1 Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, 5.1]</ref><ref name="Arrian 5.2">[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0530%3Abook%3D5%3Achapter%3D2 Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, 5.2]</ref><ref>[https://topostext.org/work/148#6.23.5 Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 6.23.5]</ref> More about the city below at the "[[#Cities and places|Cities and places]]" section.

[[Apollonius Rhodius]] in ''[[Argonautica]]'' wrote about the Nysean, son of [[Zeus]], who had left the tribes of the Indians and came to dwell at [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]].<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0001.tlg001.perseus-grc1:2.899 Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 2.904-906]</ref>

In addition, Philostratus mention that at [[Delphi]] there was a disk of silver as an offering bearing the inscription: "Dionysus the son of [[Semele]] and of Zeus, from the men of India to the [[Apollo]] of Delphi" (ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΣ Ο ΣΕΜΕΛΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΔΙΟΣ ΑΠΟ ΙΝΔΩΝ ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝΙ ΔΕΛΦΩΙ).<ref name="Philostratus 2.9">[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0638.tlg001.perseus-grc1:2.9 Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana, 2.9]</ref> Furthermore, he mention that Indians who dwell in the Caucasus and along the river [[Cophen]] said that Dionysus was an Assyrian visitor when he came to them, who knew the religious rites of the Theban (according to some Greek myths god Dionysus was born in Thebes) while Indians who inhabit the district between the Indus and the [[Hydraotes]] and the continental region beyond, which ends at the river Ganges, declare that Dionysus was son of the river Indus, and that the Dionysus of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] was his disciple.<ref name="Philostratus 2.9"/>

The epic poem ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' by [[Nonnus]], talked about the god [[Dionysus]]’ expedition to India. He also wrote about the Colletes ({{lang-grc|Κολλήτης}}) who was huge, immense and formidable and his ancestor was the founder of the Indian race.<ref>[https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/Διονυσιακά/36 Nonnus, Dionysiaca, 36.196]</ref> In addition, in book 14 [[Hera]] transformed into an Indian in order to talk and persuade the Indian chief to fight the Dionysus army.<ref>[https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/%CE%94%CE%B9%CE%BF%CE%BD%CF%85%CF%83%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%BA%CE%AC/14 Nonnus, Dionysiaca, 14.303-14.317]</ref>

[[Apollodorus of Athens|Apollodorus]] in ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' wrote about Dionysus and the Indians.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-grc1:3.5.1 Apollodorus, Library, 3.5.1-2]</ref>

[[Polyaenus]] wrote 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]].<ref>[http://cts.perseids.org/read/greekLit/tlg0616/tlg001/1st1K-grc1/1.1 Polyaenus, Strategems, § 1.1.3]</ref>

===Herakles===
[[File:Mathura Herakles.jpg|thumb|Herakles strangling the [[Nemean lion|Nemaean lion]], [[Mathura]], India]]

Megasthenes wrote about the prehistoric arrival of [[Herakles]] ([[Megasthenes' Herakles]]) in India.

[[Pandaie]] ({{lang-grc|Πανδαίη}}), was a daughter of [[Heracles]] whom he fathered in India. He gave her the southern part of India which is by the sea and she was a queen there.<ref>[http://cts.perseids.org/read/greekLit/tlg0616/tlg001/1st1K-grc1/1.3 Polyaenus, Strategems, 1.3.4]</ref>

===Others===
[[Ganges]] was 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 (mythology)|Athis]].<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0029%3Abook%3D5%3Acard%3D1 Ovid, Metamorphoses 5. 47]</ref>

[[Hydaspes]] was personified by the Greeks as a river god ([[Hydaspes (mythology)]]). He supported the Indians in their war against the invading armies of the god Dionysus. He was the son of [[Thaumas]] and [[Pleiades (Greek mythology)|Elektra]], and brother of the [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]]. In addition, the king of the Indians Deriades (Δηριάδης) was the son of Hydaspes and [[Astris]], who was a daughter of the god [[Helios]].<ref>[https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/%CE%94%CE%B9%CE%BF%CE%BD%CF%85%CF%83%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%BA%CE%AC/26 Nonnus, Dionysiaca, 26.351]</ref>

In [[Greek Anthology]], [[Philodemus]] wrote that [[Perseus]] was in love with the Indian [[Andromeda (mythology)|Andromeda]].<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg7000.tlg001.perseus-grc1:5.132 Greek Anthology, Book 5, 5.132]</ref>

[[Apollodorus of Athens|Apollodorus]] in ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' wrote that [[Medus]] conquered many barbarians and called the whole country under him Media. But when he was marching against the Indians he died.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-grc1:1.9.28 Apollodorus, Library, 1.9.28]</ref>

[[Dictys Cretensis]], author of a pseudo-chronicle of the [[Trojan War]], wrote that "[[Memnon (mythology)|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]]."<ref>[http://digiliblt.lett.unipmn.it/xtf/view?query=;brand=default;docId=dlt000144/dlt000144.xml; Dictys Cretensis, Trojan War Chronicle, 4.4]</ref>

Ancient Greek writers have written about [[Manticore]], a monstrous creature which lived in India.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0545.tlg001.perseus-grc1:4.21 Aelian, Characteristics of Animals, 4.21 - GR]</ref><ref>[https://topostext.org/work/560#4.21 Aelian, Characteristics of Animals, 4.21]</ref><ref>[https://topostext.org/work/213#9.21.4 Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.21.4]</ref>

Greek writers wrote that there were [[Cynocephaly]] (dog-headed) tribes in India.<ref>Ctesias, ''Indica'' §§ 37, 40–3</ref><ref>Megasthenes, ''Indica'', vis-a-vis [[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Historia Naturalis]]'' 7.2: 14–22; Fragments XXX. B. Solin. 52. 26–30.</ref> [[Aulus Gellius]] in ''Attic Nights'' mentioned that some writers wrote also about a tribe in farthest India with bodies that are rough and covered with feathers like birds, who eat no food but live by inhaling the perfume of flowers.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/208#9.4 Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights, §9.4]</ref>

[[Eratosthenes]] said that the Macedonians, seeing a cavern in the land of the Parapamisadians, and hearing a certain legend which was current among the natives, or themselves forming a conjecture, spread the report that this forsooth was the cave where [[Prometheus]] had been bound.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0074.tlg001.perseus-grc1:5.3 Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, 5.3]</ref>

According to the Latin ''Letter from [[Alexander the Great]] to [[Aristotle]]''{{efn|{{lang-la|Epistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem}}}} a creature called [[Odontotyrannos]] attacked Alexander's men at their camp in India.

[[John Malalas]] has mixed the fictionalized work of the [[Pseudo-Callisthenes]], ''[[Alexander Romance]]'', with other materials and wrote about an affair of Alexander the Great with [[Kandake]], adding that they got married. Malalas wrote that Kandake was an Indian queen and Alexander met her during his [[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great|Indian campaign]].<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/792#8.194 Malalas, Chronography, §8.194-195]</ref><ref>{{cite book| last1 = Nawotka| first1 = Krzysztof | last2 = Wojciechowska| first2 = Agnieszka | title = The Alexander Romance: History and Literature| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xOi9DwAAQBAJ&q=Malalas+candace&pg=PA226| publisher = Barkhuis| date= October 2018| page = 226| isbn = 978-9492444714}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = Moore| first = Kenneth Royce | title = Brill's Companion to the Reception of Alexander the Great| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZJJyDwAAQBAJ&q=Malalas+candace&pg=PA464| publisher = BRILL| date= June 2018| page = 464| isbn = 978-9004285071}}</ref>

[[Antigonus of Carystus]],<ref name="sites.google.com">[https://sites.google.com/site/paradoxography/texts/antigonus Antigonus, Compilation of Marvellous Accounts, 66]</ref> [[Aristotle]]<ref>[https://scaife.perseus.org/reader/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg014.1st1K-grc1:2.1/?highlight Aristotle, History of Animals 2.1]</ref> and [[Ctesias]] wrote that there were Indian [[donkey]]s (ἰνδικὸς ὄνος) which were one-horned.<ref name="sites.google.com"/> Animals similar to [[Unicorn]]s.

==Contact, records and influence between the two civilizations==

===Coinage and inscriptions===
[[File:Coin of Kanishka I.jpg|thumb|left|[[Kanishka]] coin with Greek lettering "ΒΟΔΔΟ" (i.e. Buddha), [[Kushan Empire]], 2nd century CE]]

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.<ref>[https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kush/hd_kush.htm Kushan Empire (ca. Second Century B.C.–Third Century A.D.)-The Metropolitan Museum of Art]</ref>

The [[Nahapana]], ruler of the [[Western Kshatrapas]],  established the Kshatrapa coinage, derived from Indo-Greek coinage. The obverse of the coins consists of the profile of the ruler with a legend in Greek while the reverse represents a thunderbolt and an arrow, within Brahmi and Kharoshthi legends.

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

===Art and literature===
{{Infobox artifact
|name=Pompeii Lakshmi 
|image=File:Statuetta indiana di Lakshmi, avorio, da pompei, 1-50 dc ca., 149425, 02.JPG
|image_caption=An ivory statuette of [[Lakshmi]] (1st century CE), found in the ruins of [[Pompeii]] (destroyed in an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE).
|material=Ivory
|discovered_place=[[Pompeii]]
|discovered_date={{circa|1930–1938}}
|location=[[Secret Museum, Naples]], [[Italy]]
|id=149425
|height={{height|cm=24.5}} }}

In [[Sophocles]]' work, ''[[Antigone (Sophocles play)|Antigone]]'', [[Creon of Thebes|Creon]] mentions the gold of India.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Soph.+Ant.+1039&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0185 Sophocles, Antigone, 1039-1040]</ref>

The satirist [[Lucian]] wrote that Indians get drunk very easy with wine and they get worse than any Greek or Roman would be.<ref name = "Rome and the Distant East"/>

In [[Greek Anthology]], India and Indians are mentioned in many occasions.<ref>Greek Anthology</ref>

The Indian theater had adopted some elements of the Greek comedy.<ref>{{cite book| last = Daniélou| first = Alain | title = A Brief History of India| date = 11 February 2003 | isbn = 9781594777943 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xlwoDwAAQBAJ}}</ref>

The ''[[Pompeii Lakshmi]]'', an Indian sculpture of [[Lakshmi]] found in the ruins of Roman [[Pompeii]].

At the [[Nasik Caves]], some of the caves have been built by Greek descents.

===Historians and geographers===
[[Hecataeus of Miletus]], wrote a survey of Asia and Africa in his Periígisis (Greek: Περιήγησις: to browse), now lost, which contained some information on India.<ref name="Strabo_and_India"/>

[[Herodotus]] in his work [[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]], includes important remarks on India.<ref name="Strabo_and_India"/>and also [[Herodotus]] credits the Indians for having the best nation in the world as in his famous quote "Thracian nation is the greatest in the world after the Indians".<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Herodotus/5a*.html]Book V: chapters 1‑27</ref>

[[Ctesias]] in his work ''[[Indica (Ctesias)|Indika]]'' ({{lang-el|Ινδικά}}), records the beliefs and view of the Persians about India.

[[Ephorus]] wrote that the Indians inhabit a country in the east near sunrise.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/490#148 Cosmas Indicopleustes, Christian Topography, 148]</ref>

[[Xenophon]] in his work ''[[Cyropaedia]]'' mentioned India and the Indians.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0032.tlg007.perseus-grc1:1.1.4  Xenophon, Cyropaedia]</ref>

[[Aristobulus of Cassandreia]] wrote  about the customs and the animals of India.<ref name="Strabo_and_India"/>

[[Cleitarchus]], probably did not travel to India, but his account of the country, based on Onesicritus’ and Nearchus’ reports, gained much popularity.<ref name="Strabo_and_India"/>

[[Pseudo-Scymnus]] wrote in ''Circuit of the Earth'' that Indians occupy almost all the land toward the East.<ref>[https://books.google.gr/books?id=HsdAAAAAcAAJ&dq=muller%20geographi%20graeci&pg=PA196#v=onepage&q=muller%20geographi%20graeci&f=false Pseudo Scymnus or Pausanias of Damascus, Circuit of the Earth, 170-171]</ref>

[[Eratosthenes]] attempted to calculate the exact size and shape of India, relying on reports written by travelers.<ref name="Strabo_and_India"/>

[[Dionysius Periegetes]] described how Indians looked like.<ref name = "GREEK IMAGE OF THE INDIAN SOCIETY"/>

[[Arrian]] wrote about India in his work ''[[Indica (Arrian)|Indica]]'' ({{lang-el|Ἰνδική}}).

[[Quintus Curtius Rufus]] wrote about the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great in his work [[Histories of Alexander the Great]].

[[Strabo]] described India in his work ''[[Geographica]]''. He referred to India several times during the course of the book and he devoted book 15 to an extended description of the country.<ref name="Strabo_and_India">[https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/23448/Parmar2016.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y Strabo and India]</ref>

[[Stephanus of Byzantium]] wrote about geographical, mythological, and religious information about India.<ref>Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica</ref>

[[Ammianus Marcellinus]] in his work ''History'' wrote about India.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, History</ref>

[[Jordanes]] at the [[Getica]] wrote about India.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/744#I JORDANES, GETICA, §I]</ref>

===Astronomy and astrology===
Greek [[astronomical]] texts were translated into [[Sanskrit]].<ref>{{cite journal| last = Pingree | first = David | title = The Recovery of Early Greek Astronomy from India| journal = Journal for the History of Astronomy | volume = 7 | issue = 2 | publisher = Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 7 |date = 1976| page = 109| doi = 10.1177/002182867600700202| bibcode = 1976JHA.....7..109P | s2cid = 68858864 }}</ref>
[[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.<ref>{{cite journal| last = Pingree | first = David | title = The Recovery of Early Greek Astronomy from India| journal = Journal for the History of Astronomy | volume = 7 | issue = 2 | publisher = Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 7 |date = 1976| page = 112| doi = 10.1177/002182867600700202| bibcode = 1976JHA.....7..109P | s2cid = 68858864 }}</ref>

Later, the [[Romaka Siddhanta]] is based on the astronomical learning of the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref>Sarma, (2000), p. 158</ref><ref>McEvilley, (2001), p385</ref>

The [[Paulisa Siddhanta]] is also based on Greek source.

The Gargi Samhita states: "The Yavanas (Greeks) are barbarians, yet the science of astronomy originated with them and for this they must be honored".<ref>{{cite book| last = Tandle| first = Sanjeevkumar | title = INDIAN HISTORY| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=I6jzBgAAQBAJ| publisher = Ashok Yakkaldevi |date=July 2014| page = 138| isbn = 9781312372115}}</ref>

The [[Yuga Purana]] mentioned the Greeks.<ref name= "Influence of Greeks on Indian Culture"/><ref>{{cite book| last = Woodthorpe Tarn| first = William | title = The Greeks in Bactria and India | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-HeJS3nE9cAC| publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]|date=June 2010| page = 452| isbn = 978-1108009416}}</ref>

===Philosophy and religion===
[[File:MacedonEmpire.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|Map of [[Alexander the Great]]'s empire and the route he, [[Pyrrho]], [[Anaxarchus]], and [[Onesicritus]] took to India]]

====Pyrrhonism====
{{see also|Similarities between Pyrrhonism and Buddhism}}
The philosopher [[Pyrrho]] accompanied [[Alexander the Great]] on his Indian campaign, According to [[Diogenes Laërtius]], Pyrrho developed his philosophy of [[Pyrrhonism]] in India when Pyrrho was there during the conquest of Alexander the Great. According to [[Christopher I. Beckwith]]'s analysis, Pyrrho's philosophy was strikingly similar to the Buddhist [[three marks of existence]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Beckwith |first=Christopher I. |title=Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2015 |page=28 |url=http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s10500.pdf |isbn=9781400866328}}</ref> indicating that Pyrrho's teaching is based on Buddhism.

Because of the high degree of similarity between [[Nāgārjuna]]'s philosophy and [[Pyrrhonism]], particularly the surviving works of [[Sextus Empiricus]]<ref>Adrian Kuzminski, ''Pyrrhonism: How the Ancient Greeks Reinvented Buddhism'' 2008</ref> [[Thomas McEvilley]] suspects that Nāgārjuna was influenced by Greek Pyrrhonist texts imported into India.<ref>Thomas McEvilley, ''The Shape of Ancient Thought'' 2002 pp499-505</ref>

Diogenes Laërtius wrote that [[Anaxarchus]], [[Pyrrho]]'s teacher, met and spoke with Indian [[gymnosophist]]s and [[magi]].<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0004.tlg001.perseus-grc1:9.11 Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers, 9.61 ]</ref>

====Buddhism====
[[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.<ref>[https://classicalstudies.org/annual-meeting/150/abstract/heraklesvajrapani-companion-buddha Herakles/Vajrapani, the companion of Buddha]</ref>
[[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 [[missionary|missionaries]] sent by the [[Maurya Empire|Mauryan]] emperor [[Ashoka]] to proselytize Buddhism.

[[Mahadharmaraksita]] was a Greek Buddhist master, who according to [[Mahāvaṃsa]] traveled to [[Anuradhapura]] in Sri Lanka together with 30,000 Greek Buddhist monks from [[Alexandria of the Caucasus]].<ref name="Greco-Buddhism">[https://www.historydisclosure.com/greco-buddhism-unknown-influence-greeks/ Greco-Buddhism: The Unknown Influence of the Greeks]</ref>
In addition, Mahāvaṃsa mention how early Buddhists from Sri Lanka went to Alexandria of the Caucasus to learn Buddhism.<ref name="Greco-Buddhism"/>

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]]. Ashoka used the word "[[eusebeia]]" (piety) as a Greek translation for the central Buddhist and Hindu concept of "[[dharma]]" in the [[Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription]].<ref name="hacker">Hacker, Paul. ''Dharma in Hinduism'', Journal of Indian Philosophy, 2006, 34:479-496</ref>

Ptolemy II Philadelphus is also mentioned in the [[Edicts of Ashoka]] as a recipient of the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] proselytism of Ashoka:
{{quote|Now it is conquest by [[Dhamma]] that Beloved-Servant-of-the-Gods considers to be the best conquest. And it [conquest by Dhamma] has been won here, on the borders, even six hundred yojanas away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and Alexander rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as Tamraparni. Rock Edict Nb13 (S. Dhammika)}}

====Peripateticism====
[[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.<ref name="Strabo_and_India"/>

The [[Peripatetic school|Peripatetic]] philosopher [[Clearchus of Soli]], traveled to the east to study Indian religions.<ref>The Interactions of Greek and non-Greek Populations in Bactria-Sogdiana during the Hellenistic Period, The University Of British Columbia, 1997, p. 32-33</ref>

The Peripatetic philosopher [[Theophrastus]], in his book on history of plants contains an excursus on Indian species.<ref name="Strabo_and_India"/> Also, in his work "On stones" describe rocks, stones and gems that are produced in India.<ref>[http://www.poesialatina.it/_ns/Greek/testi/Theophrastus/De_lapidibus.html Theophrastus, On Stones, 36]</ref>

The Peripatetic philosopher  [[Aristocles of Messene]] (cited by the Christian [[polemicist]] [[Eusebius]]) said an Indian conversed with [[Socrates]] in [[Athens]].<ref>[https://books.google.gr/books?id=l-okDwAAQBAJ&&pg=PA343 The Book of Eusebius #4, p.343]</ref>

<blockquote>And [[Aristoxenus]] the musician said that this argument comes from the Indians. For a man of that people met Socrates in Athens and asked him what his philosophy was about; and when he said that he was investigating human life, the Indian laughed at him, saying that no one could understand human affairs if he ignored the divine. Whether this is true, no one can say for sure.<ref>Aristocles, Fragment 1.8-9, tr. Chiesara 2001, 11, cited in MONTE RANSOME JOHNSON & BRETT SHULTS ''EARLY PYRRHONISM AS A SECT OF BUDDHISM? A CASE STUDY IN THE METHODOLOGY OF COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY'' Comparative Philosophy Volume 9, No. 2 (2018) p 16 https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1246&context=comparativephilosophy</ref></blockquote>

====Christian====
[[Clement of Alexandria]] wrote about India, Gymnosophists, [[Brahman]]s, Buddha, etc. in the ''[[Stromata]].''<ref>[http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/clement-stromata-book1.html Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, or Miscellanies]</ref>

The [[Greeks|Greek]] [[theologian]] [[Pantaenus]] was said to have traveled to India.

====Sophism====
The Greek [[Sophist]] [[Philostratus]], in his work ''[[Life of Apollonius of Tyana]]'' ({{lang-el|Βίος Απολλωνίου του Τυανέως}}), mentioned that the Greek philosopher [[Apollonius of Tyana|Apollonius]] had traveled to India.

The Sophist [[Dio Chrysostom]] mentioned India in his work ''Discourses'' and wrote that [[Homer]]'s poetry is sung in India.<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dio_Chrysostom/Discourses/53*.html Dio Chrysostom, Discourses, The Fifty-third Discourse: On Homer]</ref> He also mentioned that Bactrians and Indians were to be found in his audience in [[Alexandria]] (circa 100 CE).<ref>"I behold among you, not merely Greeks and Italians and people from neighbouring Syria, Libya, Cilicia, nor yet Ethiopians and Arabs from more distant regions, but even Bactrians and Scythians and Persians and a few Indians...." [[Dio Chrysostom]], ''Discourses'' 32.40 https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dio_Chrysostom/Discourses/32*.html</ref>

====Others====
The [[Sibylline Oracles]] mentioned India.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/dieoraculasibyl02geffgoog/page/n5 Sibylline Oracles]</ref>

The [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynic]] philosopher [[Onesicritus]] wrote about the gymnosophists, the people and the landscape of India.<ref name="Strabo_and_India"/>

The [[Academic Skepticism|Academic Skeptic]] philosopher [[Favorinus]] owned an Indian slave<ref>https://www.academia.edu/8957440/_Making_Space_for_Bicultural_Identity_Herodes_Atticus_Commemorates_Regilla_in_T._Whitmarsh_ed._Local_Knowledge_and_Microidentities_in_the_Imperial_Greek_World._Cambridge_University_Press_2010_125-162</ref> named ''Autolekythos.''<ref>[[Philostratus]] ''Lives of the Sophists'' 490</ref>

[[Ptolemy]], wrote about the Brahmanas ({{lang-el|Βραχμάναι Μάγοι}}),<ref name = "GREEK IMAGE OF THE INDIAN SOCIETY"/> [[Narmada River]] and more.

The [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] philosopher [[Ammonius Saccas]] may have been of [[Shakya]]n Indian descent.

[[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?”<ref>{{cite book| last = Mishra| first = Mohan | title = India Through Alien Eyes| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sYffrN0zLMQC| publisher = BalboaPressAU |date=March 2012| page = 54| isbn = 978-1452504513}}</ref>

[[Scythianus]] traveled to India several times during the first century CE. He studied [[Indian philosophy]] there. He eventually settled in [[Alexandria]] Egypt and became a religious teacher. He wrote four books, which because the source of [[Manichaenism]].

===Political and military===
During the [[Second Persian invasion of Greece]], Persian army had Indian troops. Both infantry and cavalry.<ref>[https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/hh7060.htm Herodotus Book 7: Polymnia, 65]</ref><ref>[https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/hh7080.htm Herodotus Book 7: Polymnia, 86]</ref><ref>[https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/hh8110.htm Herodotus Book 8: Urania, 113]</ref><ref>[https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/hh9030.htm Herodotus Book 9: Calliope, 31]</ref>

At the [[Battle of Gaugamela]], [[Darius III|Darius]] 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]] wrote  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]]'' wrote 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).<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0638.tlg001.perseus-grc1:2.12 Philostratus the Elder, Life of Apollonius of Tyana, § 2.12]</ref> Alexander, also met and talked with Indian [[gymnosophist]]s, including [[Dandamis]] and [[Kalanos]].<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg047.perseus-grc1:8 Plutarch, Life of Alexander, §8]</ref>

Alexander let the [[Taxiles]] and [[Porus]] to keep their kingdoms<ref name="Diodorus 18.3.1">[https://topostext.org/work/134#18.3.1 Diodorus Siculus, Library 18.3.1]</ref> and added [[Paropamisadae]] to the kingdom of [[Oxyartes]].<ref name="Diodorus 18.39.1">[https://topostext.org/work/134#18.39.1 Diodorus Siculus, Library 18.39.1]</ref> In addition, he gave to [[Peithon (son of Agenor)|Peithon]]<ref name="Diodorus 18.39.1"/><ref name="Diodorus 18.3.1"/> and [[Philip (son of Machatas)|Philip]] Indian satrapies.

Alexander also conquered the kingdom of the Indian king Phegeus. The inhabitants welcomed Alexander's army and the king met Alexander and gave him many gifts.<ref name="Diodorus 93">[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0083%3Abook%3D17%3Achapter%3D93 Diodorus Siculus, Library, 93]</ref>

Alexander asked Phegeus and Porus what was after the Hyphasis river and decided to continue.<ref name="Diodorus 93"/> He was preparing to march against the Indian King [[Xandrames]], before his army mutinied.<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=aggrammes-bio-1&highlight=xandrames A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology William Smith, Ed., Aggrammes]</ref> 

Later, Alexander and his men conducted the [[Mallian campaign]].

According to ancient writers, the Queen [[Cleophis]] of Massaga had a son with Alexander the Great. But modern historians dismiss it.

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

According to Indian sources, Greek troops seem to have assisted [[Chandragupta Maurya]] in toppling the [[Nanda Dynasty]] and founding the [[Mauryan Empire]].<ref>{{cite book| last = Kumar| first = Praveen | title = Complete Indian History for IAS Exam: Highly Recommended for IAS, PCS and other Competitive Exam| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SLw6DwAAQBAJ| publisher = Educreation Publishin| date=November 2017| page = 81}}</ref>

Later, [[Seleucid–Mauryan war|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.

[[Bindusara]], the second Mauryan emperor of India, had diplomatic relations and very friendly feelings towards the Greeks. He even asked from [[Antiochus I Soter]] to sent him a Greek [[sophist]] for his court.

[[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]] is recorded by [[Pliny the Elder]] as having sent an ambassador named [[Dionysius (ambassador)|Dionysius]] to the [[Mauryan Empire|Mauryan]] court at [[Pataliputra]] in [[India]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Mookerji |first=Radha Kumud |author-link=Radha Kumud Mukherjee |year=1988 |orig-year=First published 1966 |title=Chandragupta Maurya and his times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C |edition=4th |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |page=38 |isbn=81-208-0433-3}}</ref> probably to Emperor [[Ashoka]]:
:"But [India] has been treated of by several other Greek writers who resided at the courts of Indian kings, such, for instance, as [[Megasthenes]], and by [[Dionysius (ambassador)|Dionysius]], who was sent thither by Philadelphus, expressly for the purpose: all of whom have enlarged upon the power and vast resources of these nations." Pliny the Elder, "The Natural History", Chap. 21 <ref>[http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+6.21 Pliny the Elder, "The Natural History", Chap. 21] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728023626/http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+6.21 |date=2013-07-28 }}</ref>

Asoka, also appointed some Greeks in high offices of state (Yavanaraja, meaning Greek King or Governor), for example the [[Tushaspha]]. In addition, in his edicts mention about a Yona (Greek) province on the north-west border of India, most probably the Arachosia.<ref>{{cite book| last = Sagar| first = Krishna Chandra | title = Foreign Influence on Ancient India| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0UA4rkm9MgkC| publisher = South Asia Books| date=May 1993| page = 71| isbn = 978-8172110284}}</ref>

[[Polybius]] wrote about the use of Indian elephants in battles and about the alliance between the Indian king [[Sophagasenus]] and [[Antiochus III the Great]].<ref>Polybius, Histories</ref>

[[Diodorus]], quoting [[Iambulus]], mentioned that the king of [[Pataliputra]] had a "great love for the Greeks".<ref>The historian [[Diodorus]] wrote that the king of [[Pataliputra]], apparently a Mauryan king, "loved the Greeks": "Iambulus, having found his way to a certain village, was then brought by the natives into the presence of the king of Palibothra, a city which was distant a journey of many days from the sea. And since the king loved the Greeks ("Philhellenos") and devoted to learning he considered Iambulus worthy of cordial welcome; and at length, upon receiving a permission of safe-conduct, he passed over first of all into Persia and later arrived safe in Greece" Diodorus ii,60.</ref><ref>"Diodorus testifies to the great love of the king of Palibothra, apparently a Mauryan king, for the Greeks" Narain, "The Indo-Greeks", p. 362.</ref>

The Greek historian [[Apollodorus of Athens|Apollodorus]] and the Roman historian [[Justin (historian)|Justin]], affirmed that the [[Bactrian Greeks]] conquered India. Justin, also described [[Demetrius I of Bactria|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.

The [[Heliodorus pillar]] is a stone column that was erected around 110 BCE in present-day central India in [[Vidisha]], by [[Heliodorus (ambassador)|Heliodorus]] ({{lang-el|Ἡλιόδωρος}}), a Greek ambassador of the Indo-Greek king [[Antialcidas]] to the court of the Shunga king Bhagabhadra. The site is located about 5 miles from the Buddhist stupa of Sanchi.

The Roman Emperor [[Augustus]] received envoys from the [[Saka]] King. They gave him a letter which was written in Greek and asked for some diplomatic requests.<ref>{{cite book| last = McLaughlin| first = Raoul | title = The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy & the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia & Han China| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CyZDDQAAQBAJ| publisher = Pen & Sword History |date=November 2016| isbn = 978-1473833746}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = McLaughlin| first = Raoul | title = The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4W5tBQAAQBAJ| publisher = Pen and Sword Military |date=September 2014| isbn = 978-1526738073}}</ref><ref name = "Rome and the Distant East">{{cite book| last = McLaughlin| first = Raoul | title = Rome and the Distant East: Trade Routes to the ancient lands of Arabia, India and China| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4W5tBQAAQBAJ| publisher = Continuum |date=July 2010| isbn = 978-1847252357}}</ref>

The King [[Phraotes]] received a Greek education at the court of his father and spoke Greek fluently.<ref>[https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_2_31.html#§31 (Life of Apollonius Tyana, II 31)]</ref>

Tamil poems described the Greek soldiers who served as mercenaries for Indian kings as: "The valiant-eyed Yavanas, whose bodies were strong and of terrible aspect".<ref>{{cite book|title=History of Indian Theatre|author1=Pande, L.V.|author2=Varadpande, M.L.|date=1987|volume=1|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=9788170172215|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SyxOHOCVcVkC|page=235|accessdate=2014-12-13}}</ref>

[[Alfred Charles Auguste Foucher]] said that some of the troops of Mara in the [[Gandhara]] sculptures may represent Greek mercenaries.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Greeks in Bactria and India|author=William Woodthorpe Tarn|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1108009416|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HeJS3nE9cAC|page=250}}</ref>

===Trade===
[[File:Indo-Roman trade.jpg|thumb|upright=2|left|Roman trade in the subcontinent according to the ''[[Periplus Maris Erythraei]]'' 1st century CE]]

During the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] period there were trade relations. ([[Indo-Roman trade relations]])

The [[Isidore of Charax]] in his work ''The Parthian Stations'' ({{lang-grc|Σταθμοί Παρθικοί}}) described the trade route between the [[Levant]] and India in the 1st century BC.<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/parthian-stations-by-isidore-of-charax-an-account-of-the-overland-trade-route-between-the-levant-and-india-in-the-first-century-bc-the-greek-text-with-a-translation-and-commentary-by-w-h-schoff-am-philadelphia-published-by-the-commercial-museum-1914/6FA3CBE4E795C52F6E419D9CA5301A6F Parthian Stations. By Isidore of Charax.]</ref>

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.<ref>[https://www.mbam.qc.ca/calendrier/en/?post=le-papyrus-muziris-et-les-cycles-du-commerce-du-poivre-dans-le-sud-de-linde-2 THE MUZIRIS PAPYRUS AND THE CYCLES OF SOUTH INDIAN PEPPER TRADE]</ref> Muziris is also mentioned in the [[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]] as one of the Indian ports that Greek ships were sailing.<ref>[https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/Περίπλους_της_Ερυθράς_Θαλάσσης#54 Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, 54]</ref>

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.

[[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 ({{lang-grc|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.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg4029.tlg001.perseus-grc1:8.17 Procopius, History of the Wars, 8.17]</ref>

[[Chanakya]] mentioned Greeks and their polities in his ''[[Arthashastra]]''.

===Travelers and explorers===
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.

[[Nearchus]], described  India and the people living there.<ref name="Strabo_and_India"/>

The Greek ethnographer and explorer of the [[Hellenistic period]], [[Megasthenes]] was the ambassador of [[Seleucus I]] at India. In his work, ''Indika'' ({{lang-el|Ινδικά}}), he wrote the history of [[Indian people|Indians]] and their culture. Megasthenes also mentioned the prehistoric arrival of God [[Dionysus]] and [[Herakles]] ([[Megasthenes' Herakles]]) in India.

[[Deimachus]], who was an ambassador to the court of the Bindusara, also wrote about India.<ref name="Strabo_and_India"/>

Patrocles, was an admiral of Seleucus who sailed upon the Indian Ocean, and left an account.<ref name="William_Smith"/>

[[Zarmanochegas]], met [[Nicholas of Damascus]] in [[Antioch]] and later he also traveled to Athens where he burnt himself to death.<ref>Strabo, xv, 1, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239&layout=&loc=15.1.73 on the immolation of the Sramana in Athens (Paragraph 73)].</ref><ref>[[Dio Cassius]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/54*.html#9 liv, 9].</ref> Plutarch wrote that at Athens his "Indian tomb" was still there to his days.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg047.perseus-grc1:69 Plutarch, Life of Alexander]</ref>

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

The ''[[Suda]]'', a 10th Century Byzantine encyclopedia mentioned 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.<ref>[http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?db=REAL&search_method=QUERY&login=guest&enlogin=guest&user_list=LIST&page_num=1&searchstr=theta,197&field=adlerhw_gr&num_per_page=1 Suda Encyclopedia, theta 197]</ref>

[[Sozomen]], wrote that Meropius (Μερόπιός), a philosopher of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], traveled together with two of his relatives, Frumentius (Φρουμέντιός) and Edesius (Ἐδέσιος) to India.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/795#2.24 Sozomenos, Ecclesiastical History, 2.24]</ref><ref>[http://cts.perseids.org/read/greekLit/tlg2048/tlg001/1st1K-grc1/2.24 Sozomenos, Ecclesiastical History - GR]</ref>

The [[Christian Topography]] by [[Cosmas Indicopleustes]] was an essay in scientific geography written in Greek with illustrations and maps. The work mentioned 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".

===Cities and places===
According to legend the god Dionysus founded the city of [[Nagara (ancient city)|Nysa]] and named it Nysa and the land Nysaea (Νυσαία) after [[Nysa (mythology)|his nurse]] and he named the mountain near the city, Meron (Μηρὸν) (i.e. thigh), because he grew in the thigh of [[Zeus]].<ref name="Arrian 5.1"/><ref name="Arrian 5.2"/> When Alexander arrived at the city, together with his [[Companion cavalry]] went to the mountain and they made ivy garlands and crowned themselves with them, as they were, singing hymns in honor of Dionysus. Alexander also offered sacrifices to Dionysus, and feasted in company with his companions.<ref name="Arrian 5.2"/>

[[Alexander the Great]] founded the cities of [[Nicaea, Punjab|Nicaea]] and [[Alexandria Bucephalous]]. In addition he ordered the [[Philip (son of Machatas)]] to built the [[Alexandria on the Indus]].

[[Pliny the Elder]] wrote that [[Nearchus]] founded the town of Arbis during his voyage to India.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/148#6.26.1 Pliny the Elder, Natural History, §6.26.1]</ref>

At the [[Anuradhapura Kingdom]] in [[Sri Lanka]], there was a Greek settlement. Professor Merlin Peris, former Professor of Classics at the [[University of Peradeniya]], wrote that “The Greeks whom King [[Pandukabhaya]] settled in the West Gate of Anuradhapura were not second or third generation of Greeks who arrived in northwest 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.”<ref>[http://www.sundaytimes.lk/120729/plus/did-anuradhapura-greeks-come-east-with-alexander-7214.html Did Anuradhapura Greeks come east with Alexander?]</ref> Greeks called Sri Lanka as [[Taprobana]]. 
[[Stephanus of Byzantium]] writes that a metropolis of the Taprobana was called Argyra ({{lang-grc|Ἀργυρᾶ}}).<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/241#A115.1 Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, §A115.1]</ref> and that also there was a river which was called Phasis ({{lang-grc|Φᾶσις}}).<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/241#Ph660.21 Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, § Ph660.2]</ref>

The cities of [[Sirkap]] and [[Demetriapolis]] were founded by [[Demetrius I of Bactria]].

[[Eucratideia]] was founded by [[Eucratides I]].

[[Panchaia (island)|Panchaia]] was an island paradise located in the Indian Ocean mentioned by Greek writers.

[[Claudius Aelianus]] wrote that there were Macedonians who settled in India in the cities founded by Alexander.<ref name ="Aelian 16.3"/>

[[Stephanus of Byzantium]] wrote about a city called Daedala or Daidala ({{lang-grc|Δαίδαλα}}) in India,<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/241 Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, D216.8]</ref> which he called it Indo-Cretan city, most probably because it was a settlement of [[Cretan]] mercenaries.<ref>{{cite book| last = Woodthorpe Tarn| first = William | title = The Greeks in Bactria and India | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-HeJS3nE9cAC| publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]|date=June 2010| page = 250| isbn = 978-1108009416}}</ref>

In addition, to the aforementioned cities, Stephanus of Byzantium also described many other Indian cities and places.

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

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

[[Theodectes]], thought that the dark color of some Indians were because of the sun.<ref name = "GREEK IMAGE OF THE INDIAN SOCIETY">[https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/makedonika/article/viewFile/6094/5832.pdf GREEK IMAGE OF THE INDIAN SOCIETY]</ref>

One of the most influential Greek philosopher [[Pythagoras]] was highly influenced by the Indians which is evident in [[Pythagoreanism]].<ref>[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.70011] p.72</ref>
[[Athenaeus]] in his [[Deipnosophistae]] mention about a Basilis (Βάσιλις) who wrote a series of books about the History of India.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/218#9.390 Athenaeus, Deipnosophists, 9.390]</ref>

[[Claudius Aelianus]] wrote about the animals in India.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0590 Aelian, Characteristics of Animals]</ref> He also mentioned that there were Macedonians who settled in India in the cities founded by Alexander.<ref name ="Aelian 16.3">[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0590%3Abook%3D16%3Achapter%3D3 Aelian, Characteristics of Animals, § 16.3]</ref>

The [[Unani medicine|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.<ref>{{cite journal| pmid=27604201 | volume=13 | issue=2 | title=The impact of ancient Greek medicine in India: the birth of Unani medicine | year=2015 | journal=Acta Med Hist Adriat | pages=323–8 | last1 = Poulakou-Rebelakou | first1 = E | last2 = Karamanou | first2 = M | last3 = George | first3 = A}}</ref>

==Modern archaeological evidence==

[[Greek Bronze Age|Bronze Age]] paintings in a building at [[Akrotiri (prehistoric city)|Akrotiri]] (Akrotiri was a [[Minoan]] settlement on the island of [[Santorini]]), depicted monkeys. Most of the [[monkey]]s have been identified as [[Egypt]]ian species. But there was a species that was harder to identify. Archaeologists teamed up with [[primatologist]]s 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.<ref>[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10329-019-00778-1 A new identification of the monkeys depicted in a Bronze Age wall painting from Akrotiri, Thera]</ref><ref>[https://www.newscientist.com/article/2227146-ancient-monkey-painting-suggests-bronze-age-greeks-travelled-widely/ Ancient monkey painting suggests Bronze Age Greeks travelled widely]</ref><ref>[https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/01/how-we-solved-the-greek-monkey-mystery-and-found-an-important-clue-to-bronze-age-world/125526 How we solved the Greek monkey mystery – and found an important clue to Bronze Age world]</ref>

==See also==

*[[Indo-Greek Kingdom]]
*[[Indo-Scythians]]
*[[Greek conquests in India]]
*[[Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley]]

=== Greco-Buddhism ===
*[[Greco-Buddhism]]
*[[Greco-Buddhist monasticism]]
*[[Greco-Buddhist Art]]
*[[Gandharan Buddhism]]
*[[Buddhism and the Roman world]]
*[[Religions of the Indo-Greeks]]
*[[Buddhas of Bamyan]]
*[[Third Buddhist council]]
*[[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]]

=== Trade and relations ===
*[[Indo–Roman relations]]
*[[Indian Ocean trade]]
*[[Sino-Roman relations]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Notes===

{{notelist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ancient Greece-ancient India relations}}
[[Category:Greece–India relations| ]]
[[Category:Ancient international relations]]
[[Category:Bilateral relations of Greece|India]]
[[Category:Bilateral relations of India]]
[[Category:Greece–Pakistan relations| ]]
[[Category:Bilateral relations of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Indian Ocean trade]]
[[Category:Indo-Greek religions and philosophy]]
[[Category:Foreign relations of ancient India]]
[[Category:Buddhism in the ancient Mediterranean]]