Ancient Greek Kingdom in India

[Music] in our previous video on greco-bactrian we briefly covered the Indo Greeks in this video we shall go more in depth upon the history and culture of this enigmatic period of Hellenic history when and how did it begin who were its most successful rulers and just how Greek was the indo-greek kingdom all of these questions will be answered and more as with every story set during the Hellenic Age this one begins with Alexander the young Macedonian King had conquered his way across the Near East and Central Asia and by 325 BC had reached the Hindu Kush upon his conquest of the region Alexander created four Satrapi's and within them founded three prominent cities Alexandria on the Indus Alexandria on the Caucasus and Alexandria escuche Alexandria the furthest these outpost cities were populated with Greek settlers and formed the basis for Hellenic presence in this region for centuries to come upon Alexander's death these northern Indian satrapies became the territory of Seleucus the first Nikita one of Alexander's generals and founder of the Seleucid Empire however he did not hold these territories for long further into the subcontinent was the burgeoning Mauryan Empire led by Chandra Gupta who sought no less than to rule all of India Chandragupta annexed the Macedonian satrapies in the indus without much trouble Seleucus and Chandragupta fought between 305 and 303 in a war that we know very little about it seems that Chandra Gupta had upper hand but to avoid a prolonged war he struck a deal Seleucus was gifted 500 Indian war elephants to recognize Mauryan claim over the Indus while Chandragupta married the Lucas's daughter peace was secured and Chandra Gupta came to rule over all of India including the population of Greeks who had settled there under Alexander in 2 6 8 BC Ashoka the great ascended as the mauryan emperor in 260 BC he converted to Buddhism and sent Buddhist missionaries across Central Asia during this time he claimed to have converted the Greeks in his realm who he called the yavanas to Buddhism meanwhile further north the Greeks of Bactria had seceded from the Seleucid dynasty and formed the independent greco-bactrian realm by 250 BC 20 years later Ashoka the great died and the Mauryan Empire began a slow decline in 190 BC the greco-bactrian led by king demetrius ii of the youth ademma dynasty began a conquest into the Indus reclaiming the Indian satrapies created by Alexander 100 years before the greco-bactrian managed to conquer the regions of parapa Masada arakoa and Western Punjab however their advance would be abruptly cut short back in the bactrian capital demetrius ii was deposed by an official known as you crate ADIZ who styled himself as the new bactrian king this caused a schism among the greeks creating a Bactrian state ruled by eucradies and an Indo Greek state ruled by the youth Adem each dynasty thus by 180 BC the indo-greek kingdom as we know it had begun in 155 BC min and ur the first known as Melinda to the Indians ascended as king of the Indo Greeks he is reign which lasted around 25 years was considered the most successful of all the Indo Greek kings men in de was born in a village called colossi near Alexandria in the Caucasus he inherited his kingdom from anti MacOS ii and initially ruled over territory from the hindu kush to West Punjab his capital was Cigala a prosperous wealthy city that blended Greek and Indian designs the king was a well-educated man who despite being Greek was educated in Indian history and tradition knowledgeable in the ancient Sankhya yoga ayah and vitae sheikah systems of poetry philosophy and arithmetic and he was well learned in the art of war according to the Greek geographer strabo Menander conquered more tribes than Alexander the Great although this is likely hyperbolic with that said the indo-greek kingdom and it the borders of his realm he conquered Eastern Punjab and mithra and even pushed into Central India as far as Batali Putra however here he was pushed back by the Brahmin King pushyamitra who ruled what remained of the Mauryan Empire by some accounts this Brahmin King was a cruel persecutor of Buddhists he had even offered a reward for the murder of Buddhist monks in the city of Chikara which was on the border between his realm and the Hindu Greeks this was likely for political reasons pushyamitra sought to suppress the buddhist religion as his main rival Menander was a great patron of Buddhism Buddhist art literature and tradition flourished in the indo-greek kingdom and the Greek king himself had converted to the faith this conversion is well documented in an ancient Buddhist texts known as the Melinda pan huh meaning the questions of Menander in which Menander has a long dialogue with a Kashmiri Buddhist sage known as Nagas Sena Naga Sena himself was trained by a great monk known as Dharma rakshita who himself was an ethnic Greek convert to Buddhism during the reign of Ashoka Maurya during this dialogue between greek king and buddhist sage Menander asks naga sena many questions about life including the concept of a soul asceticism memory attachment and wealth delighted by the sages wisdom Menander declares his conversion to the Buddhist faith the Malinda pran her claims that after this dialogue Menander abdicated his kingship to his son and retired from the world eventually reaching our hat the Enlightenment and achieving nirvana however this is poorly attested while he lived the rest of his life as a devout Buddhist Menander most likely died from sickness while on campaign against a Greek you server in his realm the self-styled indo-greek king soysauce the second regardless King Menander would be remembered as the strongest of the Indo Greek kings and fostered stability in his realm during his reign the Indo Greeks would never quite reclaim the glory they experienced under Menander and the indo-greek kingdom would slowly decline after his death fracturing into multiple smaller Greek rule states that often squabbled amongst themselves so just how Greek was the indo-greek kingdom if Menander and his followers were patrons of Buddhism and adopted Eastern practices how much of Greek culture remained in other Hellenic kingdoms such as the Ptolemies or Seleucids there existed a strict racial hierarchy in the indo-greek kingdom things seems to have been different as it stands all the historical evidence we have of the indo-greek kingdom points to a unique syncretic blend of culture in which Greeks mingled with the local Indian population existing side by side oftentimes merging their worldviews into one the Greeks introduced aspects of their architecture into the Indian world in the Malinda pan ha min and O's capital of Cigala is described as having a white walled Citadel and well laid out streets squares crossroads and marketplaces hinting at Hellenic influence in its design remains of the iconic Corinthian style marble columns have been found in India bearing imagery of elephants Buddhist monks and Buddha himself a testament to the merging of Eastern and Western cultures this cultural syncretism is further evidenced by the coinage of the Indo Greek kings they were often bilingually inscribed both in the Greek language and in pali the language spoken by the original buddha himself the coins of Menander however depicts the goddess athena with the description athena alka demos athena the savior this shows that despite their adoption of eastern religion the greeks did not give up their own gods and in fact incorporated them into Indian religion Greco Buddhist art flourished in the indo-greek and Bactrian realms their coat of form directly influenced Buddhist art and it was around this time that Buddha was first depicted in human form it even became common practice to depict the legendary Greek hero Heracles as the Buddha's protector while these intricate artworks depicted eastern themes and Eastern gods they bore the distinct or steer marble cult of form which makes them iconically Hellenic in design in 10 ad the last indo-greek realm would fall but this would not be the end of Greek presence in India in 30 AD the former territories of the indo-greek realm would fall under the control of the kushan empire the cushions borrowed heavily from the Greeks in fact Greek was their official administrative language until 1 to 7 ad and the bactrian language they spoke from that point on used the Greek alphabet huh the Greeks remained a visible minority in the Kushan Empire for centuries the cushions being devout Buddhists themselves borrowed heavily from the greco buddhist traditions that had developed over the past two centuries under the cushions Greek Buddhist monks would play a large role in the spread of Buddhism into China and beyond eventually the Greek presence in India would fade away however their centuries long presence in the Indian subcontinent and the cultural legacy they left behind leaves a fascinating story for history enthusiasts around the world to study for years to come after all there are no more interesting parts of history than when two worlds collide we have many interesting stories to tell so make sure you are subscribed to our Channel and have pressed the bell button we would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters and channel members who make the creation of our videos possible now you can also support us by buying our merchandise by the link in the description this is the kings and Generals channel and we will catch you on the next one

Channel: Kings and Generals

Views: 987,042

Keywords: world history, alexander the great, greek history, persian empire, ancient greece, macedonian empire, kings and generals, full documentary, history lesson, decisive battles, documentary film, animated documentary, history documentary, military history, historia civilis, ancient history, history channel, Bactria, India, Afghanistan, Greek history, Diadochi, Successors, roman empire, armies and tactics, ancient battle, extra credits history, animated historical documentary

Id: ZxJk4KHZxi8

Length: 12min 22sec (742 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 03 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/CocktailChemist]

There were also Greco-Bactrian states up into what is now Afghanistan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Bactrian_Kingdom

[u/saviorprincex]

Also, during Mauryan Empire, Greek religion, Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism flourised altogether without any religious war or hatred. Although Greek religion got declined very quickly in India. There used to be peaceful Religious debates in Mauryan Palaces, where kings used to listen to debates of Jain, Hindu and Buddhist monks.

[u/Ani1618_IN]

One of my favourite periods in Indian history. My favourite Indo-Greek king is obviously Menander. Apparently some of them worshipped an amalgamation of the Greek Hercules and Hindu Krishna.

[u/pickycheestickeater]

I strongly recommend any book that details the Hellenistic period. Wild stuff.

[u/Positive-Vibes-2-All]

Very very interesting. Will be watching the other videos. Thanks for posting.