There are many similarities between India and Greece, and it can be said that it all started with the gods, most of the Greek gods lived on Mount Olympus, while the Indian gods lived on Mount Kailash . Pig grass in Greek mythology and nectar in Hindu mythology are drinks that the gods give to drinkers with eternal life.
The sun god rode through the sky in a golden chariot pulled by seven bulls, and the Hindu god Surya rode his chariot of flame through the sky pulled by seven horses. Many details provide a glimpse into the historical connection between ancient India and ancient Greece.
India's cultural ties with Greece
Between the 6th century BC and the 5th century AD, Greek expeditions to Persia led to the arrival of the Greeks in India. They came to India as merchants and traded with the Malabar coast in the Coromandel. They invaded the Indus and Ganges, the Deccan Plateau and the beaches of Gujarat.
They introduced industrial techniques, helped develop astronomy, and helped establish the great Gandhara genre of sculpture. Indian astronomy impressed the Greeks to innovate the zodiac. These hints can be derived from the classical Indian literature of Mahabharata and Muhammad.
Garji Samhita of Yuga Gurana is considered a master of astronomy for the Greeks, while Ariabatta attributed the zodiac to the Greeks.
According to the Greek astronomical tradition, India contributed to the naming of weeks and the precise calculation of the length of a year. The Rigveda was written around 1700 to 1100 BC and contains astronomical texts of interest to Greek astronomers.
Indian civilization and Greek civilization learned from each other and promoted their respective scientific progress. Greek scientists translated astronomical methods into theoretical sciences.
In Patamahasidas, "The details of the Greeks reflect a rather chaotic mixture of Aristotle and Babylonian ideas that were invoked by various early Hellenistic theories forgotten after Ptolemy."
Indian astronomers combined these concepts with other parameters and techniques in their astronomical tradition, resulting in cosmology and computation
Ayabata, the first great mathematician and astronomer introduced to the Greeks that the calculation and rotation of the Earth with a particular star was twenty-three hours, fifty-six minutes and forty-one seconds, and the length of the year was 365 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes and 30 seconds, which was exactly 3 minutes and 20 seconds of the year. This calculation is called a sidereal year.
The discoveries of ancient Greece contributed greatly to astronomy. Anaxagoras (510-428 BC) first explained that the moon glows by reflecting sunlight. The rotation of the Earth is attributed to Philorous.
However, with Alexander's invasion of India, we tie together the role of the Greeks in India. Historians mention that during the invasion of India through the Hindu Kush Pass, Alexander learned that many Greeks from Bactria had settled in fertile mountains overlooking the Indus Valley.
Historical documents also mention that the Greeks of Bactria ruled parts of India unknown to Alexander.
The early Greeks arrived in India about two centuries before Alexander arrived. Their travel routes still followed trade routes connecting the Ionian cities of India, Persia and Asia Minor.
Historians believe that the story of the expeditions of the Greek gods Dionysus and Hercules beautified these journeys. The glorified legend of the Greek expedition to India inspired Alexander to come to India in search of the great sea, which he believed had taken the world somewhere beyond the Hindu Kush Mountains.
Ancient Greek and Sanskrit texts can confirm the claim that Indo-Greek interaction occurred long before Alexander's War. Sanskrit literature shows that these people were formidable warriors and well versed in scientific knowledge unfamiliar to indigenous peoples.
Historical narratives of ancient Indo-Greek interactions can be found in classic Indian literature such as Yuga Gurana, Mahabharata, and Buddhist literature. The Greeks called "Yavanna" in ancient India.
The military campaign of the Greeks against Skyta in Ude and the annexation of the Pancharas between the Ganges and Jumna are elaborated in Yuga Gurana. Kalidasa's play "Malawi Kanimitra" expresses the military operations of the Greeks in north-central India shortly before the birth of Christ.
King Yavana, Baghadata Tower, is mentioned in the Mahabharata. The Buddhist text "Milinda Panha", or "The Question of Menand", mentions King Minand, the successor to the Greek king Demetrius, who conquered much of northern India.
Mirinda Panha is a philosopophical dispute about Buddhism between Menander and the Buddhist sage Nagasena.
During the reign of Ashoka, stupas were built all over India, with symbols such as wheels, empty thrones, a pair of footprints, and a linden tree, indicating that Greek influence on Indian sculpture continued until the Gupta dynasty.
The Greeks are known for their innovative and anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha in Indian sculpture. The Greeks' pioneering work of carving Buddha statues matured and became an important part of Buddhist portraiture.
The Gandhara school of art and sculpture flourished in the lower Kabul Valley and upper Indus regions around Peshawar and Mathura regions. Most Indian dynamic regimes believe that the display of Buddha statues originated in Mathura, south of Delhi.
During the White Hun dynasty under the White Hun king Mihirakula, the Greco-Buddhist artistic tradition in India came to an abrupt end. Monasteries were destroyed, monks were slaughtered, and their bodies were left under the ruins of churches.
The ruins of former Greek cities were abandoned, their sculptures destroyed, and the artists either killed or dispersed. This ended the Greek influence. However, in a region of India where the Greeks never ruled, namely Kashmir, the remains of temples with Corinthian pillars built in the degenerate Gandhara style until the tenth century CE.
Coins from the time of Kanishka are considered legends of Greek writing, describing Greek theology. Thus, coins bearing the Bactrian legend, as well as the Iranian and Greek religious beliefs of the Kushana people, were replaced by the corresponding Iranian language.
The modified Greek alphabet is written on all Kushan coins, representing the words of Kushan and Kanishka.
The influence of Greece on Indian art, culture and philosophy cannot be ignored. Its roots date back 2,500 years, and one can only imagine the extent of its impact on both countries.
From astronomy to mathematics, from art to sculpture, it is difficult to assess where one person's influence on another ends. Both civilizations have rich heritages and unique aspects that add value to each other.
Roman trade with India
Although Indo-Roman trade began in the 1st century BC, it really matured in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The geographical location of Arabia, Asia Minor and Northeast Africa facilitates the establishment of trade links between South Asia, West Asia and Europe.
In the case of India, the earliest evidence of this trade is in the southern peninsula, especially Kerala. Indo-Roman trade took place on sea and land.
Seaborne trade is controlled by Saqas and Sata Wahanas, while land trade is controlled by Kushanas.
It is believed that in order to facilitate foreign trade, the Kanisca rulers used the standard of Roman gold coins to issue for themselves. Political tensions between the Saka and Satawahana did affect this trade, at least for a while.
Similarly, the rivalry between the Saka and Parthians became a major obstacle to land trade. To overcome this problem, the Roman Emperor Augustus encouraged merchants to take the sea route and gave them protection.
One text, Perriga on the Red Sea, a guide book written by an unknown Greek sailor, is one of the main sources for reconstructing the history of this trade.
Indo-Roman trade was mainly a luxury item, and the Roman Empire paid for these expenses with Roman gold coins. In addition to silk, Chinese goods were shipped first to India and then to the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire. Silk was shipped directly to Europe along the Silk Roads.
Indian animals such as tigers, lions, rhinos, elephants and snakes also formed part of India's exports, and these animals were used in circus performances to entertain the Romans. Ivory and tortoise shell are also exported for inlay furniture. Roman ladies are particularly fond of pearls from India and the Persian Gulf.
Different kinds of herbs, spices, indigo, baruch or ancient Burgucacha city is famous for exporting wheat and ghee.
Like pearls, gemstones and semi-precious stones such as diamonds, agate, red agate, agate, carnelian, crystal, amethyst, opal, cat's eye, ruby, turquoise and garnet were popular among the Romans, especially among ladies.
In the category of goods imported from Rome, wine tops the list. It is called the varuni because it was transported by sea using a specially designed carrier called a double-eared thin-necked oval earthen jar. Roman amphora vials have been found in many parts of the Indian peninsula, including Nevasa, Maharashtra.
Since the Romans had to pay for Indian products in gold, their economy was under enormous pressure. The Roman emperor Tiberius, who ruled in the 1st century AD, tried to stop the exodus of Roman gold, but to no avail.
The discovery of the southwest monsoon is attributed to a Greek navigator named Hipalus, who probably lived in the 1st century BC. However, some scholars believe that sailors knew about these winds even before the 1st century BC.
The sea journey from Rome to the west coast of India takes about 16 weeks, and ships begin their stay at Mussel Harbour, which coincides with the winter equinox.
Some Roman merchants would begin their journey from Mios Holmos or Berenaisi (in Egypt). Osellis at the mouth of the Red Sea was the end point of the exchange of goods, because the Arabs did not allow Indian merchants to go further.
Despite this restriction, much of the Indo-Roman trade remained under the control of Indian merchants.
Barbarikum (probably a port near modern-day Karachi) was an important port on this route, from which ships traveled to the shores of Solastra, and from there to Burgukacha or Modern-day Baruch near the mouth of the Narma River in Gujarat.
This arrangement was made because the sea near Baruch was rocky and steep, making it difficult to navigate. The boats will first head to the coast of Sojo Aschdra, from where the king's fishermen will guide the boats to Baruch.
Cultural exchange between Rome and India
The Roman-Indian trade also witnessed several cultural exchanges that had a lasting impact on civilizations and others involved in the trade.
The Kingdom of Axumite in Ethiopia participated in the Indian Ocean trade network, influenced by Roman culture and Indian architecture. Traces of Indian influence appear in Roman silverware and ivory, or in Egyptian cotton and silk fabrics used for sale in Europe.
The presence of Indians in Alexandria may have influenced the culture, but there are few records of how this influence was made. Clement of Alexandria mentions the Buddha in his writings, and other Indian religions are mentioned in other texts of that period.
Long after the decline in bilateral trade, Christian and Jewish settlers from Rome continued to live in India. A large number of Roman coins have been found all over India, especially in the busy maritime trade centers of the south. The King of South India reissued Roman coins in his own name after damaging the coins to show his sovereignty.
Indian Tamil Sangam documents record references to merchants. [38] One such mention reads: "Yavannah's beautifully built ships came with gold and pepper, and Muzris echoed with noise. ”
conclusion
After the Roman-Persian War, Khosro I of the Sassanid dynasty of Persia occupied the regions under the Roman-Byzantine Empire.
The Arabs entered Egypt in late 639 or early 640 CE, led by Amre ibn al-As, a development that marked the beginning of the Islamic conquest of Egypt and the decline of ports such as Alexandria, used to secure trade between the Greco-Roman world and India since the Ptolemaic dynasty.
The decline in trade led South India to turn to Southeast Asia for international trade, with a greater impact on local culture than on Rome. The conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in the fifteenth century marked the beginning of Turkish control of the most direct trade routes between Europe and Asia.