Article

The Indian Invasion of Indian Historical Review

48(1) 69–91, 2021

Alexander and the

© 2021 ICHR
Reprints and permissions:
in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india
Emergence of Hybrid DOI: 10.1177/03769836211009651
journals.sagepub.com/home/ihr
Cultures

Chandima S. M. Wickramasinghe1

Abstract
Alexander the Great usurped the Achaemenid Empire in 331 bc, captured Swat and
Punjab in 327 bc, and subdued the region to the west of the Indus and fought with
Porus at the Hydaspes in 326 bc. But he was forced to return home when the army
refused to proceed. Some of his soldiers remained in India and its periphery while
some joined Alexander in his homeward journey. When Alexander died in 323 bc his
successors (diodochoi) fought to divide the empire among themselves and established
separate kingdoms.
Though Alexander the Great and related matters were well expounded by scholars
the hybrid communities that emerged or revived as a result of Alexander’s Indian inva-
sions have attracted less or no attention. Accordingly, the present study intends to
examine contribution of Alexander’s Indian invasion to the emergence of Greco-Indian
hybrid communities in India and how Hellenic or Greek cultural features blended with
the Indian culture through numismatic, epigraphic, architectural and any other archae-
ological evidence. This will also enable us to observe the hybridity that resulted from
Alexander’s Indian invasion to understand the reception the Greeks received from the
locals and the survival strategies of Greeks in these remote lands.

Keywords
Alexander the Great, Greek and Indian hybrid communities, cultural fusion, India,
Greek influence on Indian art

Alexander the Great usurped the Achaemenid Empire in 331 bc, captured Swat and
Punjab in 327 bc, and subdued the region to the west of the Indus and fought with Porus
at the Hydaspes in 326 bc. But he was forced to return home when the army refused to
proceed. Some of his soldiers remained in India and its periphery while some joined

1
Department of Classical Languages, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

Corresponding author:
Chandima S. M. Wickramasinghe, Department of Classical Languages, Faculty of Arts, University of
Peradeniya, Peradeniya 20400, Sri Lanka.
E-mail: [email protected]
70 Indian Historical Review 48(1)

Alexander in his homeward journey. When Alexander died in 323 bc his successors
(diodochoi) fought to divide the empire among themselves and established separate
kingdoms.1
Though Alexander the Great and related matters were well expounded by scholars
the hybrid communities that emerged or revived as a result of Alexander’s Indian inva-
sions have attracted less or no attention. Accordingly, the present study intends to
examine contribution of Alexander’s Indian invasion to the emergence of Greco-Indian
hybrid communities in India and how Hellenic or Greek cultural features blended with
the Indian culture through numismatic, epigraphic, architectural and any other archae-
ological evidence. This will also enable us to observe the hybridity that resulted from
Alexander’s Indian invasion to understand the reception the Greeks received from the
locals and the survival strategies of Greeks in these remote lands.

Alexander’s Administration of New Territory

The Indian territories of Alexander contained three satrapies: the first two were the old
Archemenid provinces of ‘India’ and Gandhāra. The third could be what Alexander
annexed. Alexander converted the conquered lands to provinces and appointed loyal
governors as Porus to control them though Greek governors were reportedly appointed
to control the territories towards further west. This measure enabled him to continue
his conquests without having to remain and govern captured territories.
Another governing tactic of Alexander was the creation of settlements in various
parts of the conquered territory as military garrisons or new cities. The general litera-
ture on Alexander and on the number and purpose of creating settlements reached a
climax when Plutarch claimed to have known about 70 of them (De Alex. Fort. 328E)
though only about 12 lasted long.2 Stephanus attributed 20 settlements to Alexander
(s. vv. ‘Alexandreia’, ‘Boos Kephalai’ and ‘Boucephaleia’) along with another two or
three (s.v. ‘Dion’ and ‘Euporia’) which seem unhistorical.3 G. H. Cohen (2013), discuss-
ing extensively about ancient writers’ reference to settlements of Alexander, concludes
that the scholars agree with Plutarch that the maximum number of cities created by this
conqueror was 70.
Alexander planted military colonies and cities in tactical places4 to assure non-stop
reinforcements for his invasions and to secure his control in captured territories.
In designated locations, Alexander perched Greek militia and Macedonian veterans
who did not form a part of the active campaign.5 Besides maintaining the accessibility

1  
Lysimachus received Thrace and much of Asia; Cassander received Macedonia and Greece; Ptolemy
I (founder of Ptolemic dynasty) received Egypt, Palestine, Cilicia, Petra and Cyprus; Seleucus I Nicator
(founder of Seleucid Empire) received the remainder of Asia, Mesopotamia, Levant, Persia and part of India.
For more, see Gruen, ‘Coronation of the Diadochi’, pp. 109–19.
2  
Here we must remember that even before Alexander reached various regions in and near Mesopotamia and
farther east, there were Greek settlements imposed by the Persians some 200 years before and who remained
identifiably Greek to this time. Cohen, Hellenistic Settlements, p. 26.
3  
Fraser, Cities of Alexander, pp. 1–2.
4  
Burstein, ‘New Light on the Fate of Greek’, pp. 183–84.
5  
Martinez-Sève, ‘Ai Khanoum and Greek Domination’, pp. 17–46.
Wickramasinghe 71

of the supply routes, such settlements also fulfilled the aim of controlling their periph-
eries. For instance, Alexandropolis in Thrace, a colony set-up by Alexander, and the
military settlement at Samareia were set up to control revolts in these regions. With
regard to the Asian regions, precisely close to or in India, such military settlements led
to a shift of population from the West to East when Alexander induced a great wave of
immigration to the East and his successors continued this policy by inviting Greek
colonists to settle in their kingdoms in the East.6 Another notable effect of Alexander’s
Asian conquests was the annihilation of the attitudinal division between the west
and the east, as westerners became familiar with the east and its people. This loss of
attitudinal separation may have contributed to the amalgamation of cultures.7
Irrespective of the manner the Greek settlements originated in the east, what
mattered most is the way Greek communities fused, in the course of time, with the
local communities fostering their survival and sustainability. Alexander’s marriage to
Roxana the Bactrian princess in 327 bc is noteworthy, though views on this vary from
considering it as a love affair to a political contract.8 Irrespective of the circumstances
that led to this marriage it is certain to have induced many followers of Alexander to
marry the locals. According to Arrian of Nicomeda (Anabasis 7.4.4–7.4.8) in 324 bc
Alexander further set the way towards uniting nations by himself marrying the eldest
daughter of Darius III at a communal wedding along with 80 of his companions who
received noble Persian women as consorts. Altogether he has encouraged 10,000 of his
soldiers to take Persian brides.9 Initially these intermarriages may have contributed
to bring about amity between the victor and the vanquished.10 Though most of these
marriages allegedly ended in divorces such actions may have set the base for cultural
and social cohesion which later matured to form hybrid cultures.
Alexander, thus, allowed the Greeks/ Macedonians who followed him to this remote
part of the world to exchange recognition with the local communities while showing a
certain readiness to adapt to, if not to tolerate, the local cultures and customs. Generally,
a hybrid culture or a community emerges when different ethnic and national groups
respect and accept the cultures and norms of each other. Notably, such developments
do not arise overnight but as a result of numerous interactions that happen over
many years.

The Hybrid Features in Ancient India:

Bactria was considered as an outpost of the Greek civilisation and it liberated from the
Seleucid rule and expanded beyond the mountains of Hindukush towards Sogdiana and

6  
About 70 years after Alexander’s death, Greek immigrants poured into the East and at least 250 new
Hellenistic colonies were set up in the East. Even the Mauryan Empire did not apparently wipe out all
colonies set up by Alexander and they prevailed and flourished even under the Indian dominion.
7
See R. Strootman, ‘Seleukid Empire between Orientalism and Hellenocentism’, pp. 17–35 on association
of Seleucids and Iranians. Also see Traina ‘Notes on Hellenism in the Iranian East’, pp. 1–14.
8  
Plutarch ‘Life of Alexander’ 48. For Plutarch the marriage resulted from a love affair. Also see Wilber,
Iran, Past and Present, p. 27.
9  
Ibid., p. 28.
10  
Bosworth, ‘Alexander and the Iranians’, pp. 209–12. Also, see Tarn, ‘Susa wedding’, p. 202.
72 Indian Historical Review 48(1)

Kandahar. These Yavanas/Greeks, as those in Bactria,11 for instance, developed into a

strong base for the establishment and spread of Hellenistic culture, extending its
territory and its influence to north-western India which inspired the establishment of
many hybrid cultures that came to be known as the Indo-Greek, Indo-Parthian, Indo-
Scythian and Indo-Kushan in and around India.
Sociocultural and socio-economic fusion can be observed through numismatic,
epigraphic, archaeological, architectural evidence available and also through the resid-
uals of visual art. The geographical scope of the study is limited to the regions ruled
mainly by the Indo-Bactrian kings and the Indo-Greek kings in India and in its periph-
ery. The chronological timeframe spans from the mid third century bc to the third
century ad to enable us to obtain, at least, a sufficient amount of evidence from all
types of sources stated above and to show the force of Hellenic influence on the Indian
art, architecture and culture over such a span of time. Yet, some evidence may still be
drawn from eras beyond our stipulated timeframe based on their significance for the
study, and the reader will be notified at such occurrences.
When exploring numismatic evidence it is necessary to probe, even briefly, into the
political set-up of the time and region. In that respect, according to Strabo Euthydemus
(reigned from 227–00 bc12) and his family became the masters of Ariana and India.
Demetrius I (reigned from 200/190–180 bc, the son of Euthydemus,13) and Menander
(155–30 bc,14 the Indo-Greek successor of Demetrius) were the conquerors.15 Moreover,
Strabo reports that the conquest of Kabul was also a work of Demetrius. However, Strabo
is very vague of the extent of Demetrius’ territory. Nonetheless, the kingdom of Bactria
(under Demetrius), included all the regions from Cophen to the mountains on the west of
the Indus, while to the east of the Indus it included Pattalene, the kingdom of Sigerdis and
Punjab. The Indo-Greek kingdom in Bactria came to an end with Heliocles who appears
to have succeeded after 156 bc and the reign of Apollodotus (reigned before Heliocles)
was limited to a very short period.16 Interestingly, the numismatic evidence is a major
source that reflects the gradual fusion of Indian and Greek cultures and attitudes.17
Inevitably, therefore, the first visible element of hybridity prevails with the numismatic
evidence and we intend to look at a random sample of coins of Demetrius I, Euthydemus
I, Agathocles (reigned from 190–80 bc), Eucratides (171–45 bc) and of Menander. The
coins of Demetrius I, for instance, demonstrate his reign in an appealing manner.18 Just as
Euthydemus, Demetrius I has presented the god Heracles, his guardian deity, on his coins

11  
Rawlinson, Bactria, the History of a Forgotten Empire, pp. 68–69. Notably, even Alexander appears to
have realised the value of Kabul: Ibid., pp. 70–71.
12  
For a discussion on Euthydemus’ chronology: Lerner, Impact of Seleucid Decline, pp. 55–61.
13  
He was a Greek of Gandhāra. He conquered a vast area, founded the Indo-Greek kingdom, was never
defeated in war and was known as the Second Alexander. Demetrius II may have been a relative.
14  
Thonemann, The Hellenistic World, p. 102.
15  
Jones, Strabo, Geography, Vols I–VIII, XI, p. xi, 1.
16  
Rawlinson, Bactria, p. 85.
17  
See Gardner, Coins, plates.
18  
See Ibid., plates II. 9 and III. 3.
Wickramasinghe 73

(see Figures 1 and 2).19 Pure Greek features and symbols on these coins suggest that they
were in circulation in Bactria, where a considerable proportion of Greeks resided. Yet, the
most interesting coins for the present study are those of Demetrius, designed for the cir-
culation in the regions beyond the Paropamisus. These coins mark an earliest effort to
blend Greek technique with the Indian form, which can be considered as one of the con-
spicuous traits of the coinage of the Indo-Bactrian dynasties. The silver coins of Demetrius
I portraying the king as an Indian monarch wearing an elephant helmet or coins display-
ing the head of an elephant belong to this group. These coins may have been issued
before the square-shaped coins20 which may demonstrate an effort to negotiate between
Greek and Indian methods.
On the other hand, the Indo-Greek king Agathocles, who might have been a son of
Demetrius I had initially issued coins with Greek deities and Greek legends. For
instance, he has minted coins depicting Zeus and also Heracles on the reverse with a
Greek legend. Apart from such coins that display mono-religious and monolingual coin
types Agathocles has also issued coins with bilingual scripts that depict eastern reli-
gions, either through their symbols or deities as coin types. Such developments may
have resulted from the religious tolerance of Agathocles. One of his coins, for instance,
represent Buddhist stupa on the obverse with a legend in Kharoshthi script,21 mention-
ing Agathocles while the reverse represents a tree with railings (bo tree: the sacred tree
of the Buddhists) bearing another legend in Kharoshthi script referring also to the same
king (Figure 3).

   

Figure 1. Silver Tetradrachma of Euthydemus I22   

Figure 2. Silver Tetradrachma of
Demetrius I23

19  
Also note that the Diodoti and Eucratides too depicted Zeus and Dioscurii, their guardian deities, on their
coins: Rawlinson, Bactria, p. 77.
20  
The shape of the early Indian coins was square in shape verses the round-shaped Greek coins.
21  
Kharoshthi was the script, perhaps of Aramaic origin, used during the Hellenistic period on the west and
north-west frontier—Paropamisus, Kapisa and Panjab, from where it spread with Buddhism to Khotan.
Demetrius I was the first to adopt the practice of minting bilingual coins.
22  
From Gardner, Coins, plates III. 3.
23  
Ibid., plate II, 9, 10. Silver Tetradrachma (33mm, 17.00 g, 12h) of Demetrius I Aniketus. Circa 200–185
bc. Obverse: Diademed and draped bust, wearing elephant-skin headdress (evoking Alexander the Great),
symbol of his conquests in India, which greatly expanded the Hellenistic and Greco-Roman realm. Reverse:
Heracles standing facing, crowning himself, holding cub and lion skin; monogram to inner left. Greek legend
denoting, ‘Of King Demetrius’: Bopearachchi, ‘Of King Demetrius’, p. 190.
74 Indian Historical Review 48(1)

Figure 3. Agathocles Coin with Buddhist Symbols and Kharoshthi Script24

Following is another coin that testifies Agathocles’ issues that depict perfect cultural
cohesion. It is a bilingual coin bearing the images of Hindu deities Balarama-Samkarshana
and Vasudeva-Krishna.25 The reverse of the coin containing Vasudeva-Krishna image
bears the legend in Brahmi language26 denoting ‘king Agathocles’ while the obverse of the
coin with Balarama-Samkarshna contains an inscription in Greek denoting the same.
Another coin of Agathocles (Figure 4) has both Greek and Kharoshthi scripts. The
obverse of the coin depicts a lion, a traditional Indian symbol of power and regality.
Notably, the lion bears some significance even in Buddhism where the majesty of
Buddha is compared to a fully grown lion in several occasions in Buddhist scripture.27
The reverse of the coin illustrates the Hindu deity Lakshmi.28 Interestingly, Kharoshthi
legend is placed hindering the advancement of the deity. The image of the lion is bor-
dered with Greek legends at the top and bottom. This coin is another depiction of the
sociocultural synthesis that prevailed in that community. The silent message conveyed
by depicting an unhindered path for the lion on the coin could be the dynamic and
increasing majesty and vigor of Buddhism.

    
Figure 4. Coin of Agathocles with Lion and Lakshmi29

24
Gardner, Coins, plate IV. 10.
25  
These are believed to be phantoms of the Indian god Vishnu.
26  
This is one rare occurrence of Brahmi script on coins of Indo-Greek rulers as most preferred to use Pāli,
which is a Prakrit language native to India, in Kharaoshthi characters.
27  
Singh, History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, p. 359.
28  
Also refer to Tarn, ‘Notes on Hellenism in Bactria’, pp. 275–76, who considers that the figure on the
obverse is a ‘dancing girl’ and fails to connect it with Buddhism, though connects this with the scenes of
dancing girls in Gandhāra sculpture. Yet, the view that the obverse of the coin presents a Hindu Deity
(irrespective of the deity presented, that is, whether it is Lakshmi or Sarasvathi), appears more plausible as
many coin types of that nature, as also noted in this study, demonstrate a religio-cultural synthesis.
29  
Retrieved from http://coinindia.com/galleries-agathocles.html, accessed on 30 October 2016.
Wickramasinghe 75

The coins of Eucratides, the usurper of the Bactrian kingdom, also reflect Greco-
Indian cultural elements. A square-shaped bronze coin of Eucratides portrays on its
reverse, the Greek goddess Nike standing left holding a wreath and a palm framed by
a Pāli legend in Kharoshthi characters denoting, ‘Of king Eucratides, king of kings’.
The helmeted and diademed bust of the king framed by the Greek legend, ‘of great king
Eucratides’30 is on its obverse (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. Bilingual Coin of Eucratides with Nike31

Eucratides has also minted square-shaped bronze coins with the Greek deities
Dioskurii32 mounted on horseback prancing right, holding a palm and spear flanked by
Kharoshthi legend, ‘Of king Eucratides’ on the reverse.33 The change of coin shape and
the inclusion of local language framing the image of Greek deity signal that the king
was receptive to mixed communities in his kingdom.34

Figure 6. Silver Drachma of Menander35

Menander I, the successor of Eucratides, has also minted both the round-shaped
(Greek type) as well as the square-shaped (Indian type) coins just as the other Indo-
Greek and Greco-Bactrian kings ruling in and around India.36 One of his silver drach-
mas (Figure 6) portrays on the obverse, a heroic bust of the king facing left, encircled

30  
Gardner, Coins, plate VI. 6, also see plates VI. 7 and VI. 8.
31  
A colour image of this is in http://coinindia.com/galleries-eucratides1.html, accessed on 30 October 2016.
32  
Dioskurii appear to be the deity depicted on most of his coins including his bilingual issues.
33  
Gardner, Coins, p. 18.
34  
For more on coins of Eucratides and related information, see Widemann ‘Maues King of Taxila’, pp. 9–28.
35  
The coin was 16-mm diameter and weighed 2.39 g. Retrieved from http://www.forumancientcoins.com/
moonmoth/coins/menander_001.html, accessed on 30 October 2016.
36  
These kings have also issued many round-shaped coins bearing similar bilingual texts and coin types. See
Gardner, Coins, plates V to XII.
76 Indian Historical Review 48(1)

by a Greek legend, ‘Of savior king Menander’. On its reverse is standing Athena
Alcidamus facing left with a similar legend in Kharoshthi script bordering the upper
half of the image. As Bopearachchi rightly maintained37 the coins of this type may have
been issued at early phases of Menander’s reign, soon after he annexed new territories
or after recapturing the previously lost Bactrian territories. Here, although the cultural
fusion is limited to bilingual aspect, many other coins of Menander mark fine Greco-
Indian cultural blend.

Figure 7. Menander I Coin with Athena and Nike38

For instance, Menander has chosen the Indian coin shape (square) and metal
(bronze) for his bilingual coin (Figure 7) that portrays winged Nike holding a wreath
and a palm framed by Pāli legend in Kharoshthi script denoting ‘The great saviour king
Menander’ on the reverse. On its obverse the bust of helmeted Athena has replaced that
of the king framed by a Greek legend denoting ‘the saviour king Menander’.39
Moreover, some coins of Menander also represent bicultural aspects portraying deities
through their attributes. For instance, the obverse of the coin below (Figure 8) contains
a head of a horned bull, the symbol of the vehicle of the Indian deity Shiva. On the
reverse is a tripod, the symbol of the Greek god Apollo.40

  
Figure 8. Bilingual Coin of Menander     Figure 9. Bilingual Coin of Menander42
41

The obverse of the coin shown in Figure 9 bears an image of an elephant flanked by
a Greek legend announcing the name of the king who minted the coin. The reverse

37  
Bopearachchi, Étude Histoire et de numismatique indo-grecque. Also see Bopearachchi, Monnaies gréco-
bactriennes et indo-grecques.
38  
Gardner, Coins, plate XI. 13.
39  
Ibid., p. 48. Also see F. M. Muller and T. W. R. Davids, Questions of king Milinda, p. xxi.
40  
Ibid., plates, XI.3 and XII. 5.
41  
Ibid., plate XII. 5.
42
Ibid., plate XII. 6.
Wickramasinghe 77

bears a club, an attribute of Heracles, a deity venerated by the Indo-Greek kings, while
the obverse contains a head of an elephant flanked by the Greek legend in an attempt
to celebrate Menander’s annexure of more Indian territories to his kingdom. Interestingly,
however, in both coins (Figures 8 and 9) the Greek legend flanks the Hindu religious
symbol whereas the legend in Kharosthi script flanks the Greek symbol indicating a
perfect amalgamation of cultures.

Figure 10. Menandrian Coin with Buddhist Symbols43

At least, one coin of Menander (Figure 10) bears a clear Buddhist symbol on the
obverse: the wheel with eight spokes (resembling the eight-fold noble path in the
Buddhist doctrine) flanked by the Greek legend denoting, ‘Of Saviour King Menander’
from three sides. The reverse of the coin shows a palm branch flanked in the same
manner by a legend in Kharoshthi script denoting ‘Saviour King Menander’. Though a
palm branch may not have any significance in Buddhism, it is shown on the coin as
an attribute of Greek deities.44 Several Greco-Bactrian kings such as Antimachus,
Eucratides and Menander I have depicted (a symbol of) a palm branch in association
with many Greek deities as Poseidon, Dioscurii, Athena and even Zeus on their coins.45
Since Menander generally associates palm branch with Nike or Athena, the monarch
could be substituting one of them on this coin.46 Yet, one may seek to propose, follow-
ing a clue from Athenian vase paintings illustrating Greeks carrying palm branches
to denote their suppliant status, that, this coin suggests Menander’s supplication to
Buddhism. Whether we accept this proposition or not,47 this coin along with the other
previously discussed coins of Menander reveal Greco-Indian cultural fusion in the
society and the king’s acknowledgement of such cultural cohesion.
Yet, one may argue that since coins are politico-economic devices of a country and
are involved in commercial pursuits the coin types may not reflect sociocultural fusion

43  
Ibid., plate XII. 7.
44  
‘Palm-branch’ as a symbol of victory has a Greco-Roman origin, and was considered as a sign of immortality.
In a funerary context it symbolised continued life after death: Grifiths, Apulleus of Maduaros, p. 135. Palm
branch a symbol of supplication for Greeks: Stevenson, Power and Place, p. 256 and the note 103.
For Egyptians the palm branch symbolised eternal life: Pippy, Book of Revelation, p. 238.
45  
See, for example, Gardner, Coins, pp. 12–19, 48.
46  
Marshall, Taxila, pp. 31–32.
See
Gardner, Coins, plate XII. 6.
47  
Also, see Muller and Davids, Questions of King Milinda, pp. xxi–xxiii on controversial views on Menander
as a Buddhist king.
78 Indian Historical Review 48(1)

or the persistence of hybrid communities. But, a strong display of multiculturalism

observable in coins may prompt one to perceive that such sociocultural recognition
may not have materialised simply as a political propaganda devoid of strong cultural
backup from a mixed community set-up, where many Greeks were converted to
Buddhists or Hindus. Such multicultural groups may have urged Indo-Greek monarchs
to mint coins respecting local cultures. Moreover, the coin types and the languages
inscribed on them also suggest that the artists who performed die cuttings of coins were
conversant of both Indian and Greek scripts, languages and traditions.
The practice of using Greek legends, long after the extinction of the Greek rule, by
the Scythian successors48 indicates the strength and influence of Hellenic culture that
prevailed in Sāgala49 and in the other regions of India. If its influence was merely lim-
ited to political and commercial spheres it is hard to imagine how a foreign language as
Greek continued to exist after the Greek rule. Even if the ruling Greeks compelled the
natives to learn and use the Greek language such use of force would certainly dwindle
and disappear with the termination of the Greek rule, and the language would have
been long forgotten. Thus, this survival has resulted not from the rules imposed on
subjects by conquerors but from the sociocultural and sociopolitical roots established
in the Indian regions, as it was the case in the Seleucid Empire.50 Such a scenario may
have led to create hybrid cultures that persisted and nourished through intermarriages
in the society paving the way for the continuous existence of a foreign language as
Greek.51 Despite the difficulty to make a firm assertion about the use of Greek lan-
guage due to the dearth of Greek inscriptions from this era and region,52 since language
and literature stir cultural interests, it is worth examining how Greek literature contrib-
uted to foster Greek spirit among these Indo-Greek communities.
Moreover, Plutarch informs us that, ‘when Alexander civilized Asia, Homer was the
reading and the children of the Persians, Susians and Gedrosians sang the tragedies of
Euripides and Sophocles’. (De Alex. Fort. I. 5, 328c–29a).53 Accordingly, in cities as
Sāgala, (North India) and perhaps also in other Indo-Greek cities such as Kandahar,
Greek plays were possibly staged. Besides, Greek plays may have been at least occa-
sionally performed to entertain Kushan kings who admired Greek culture. Such public
displays of Greek dramas signal that there was an interest, in those local communities,
to watch Greek plays that may have resulted from their educational background which

48  
The first Indo-Scythian king was Maues (120–85 bc) and the last was Rudrasimha III (reigned until 395
ad). For Indo-Scythian coinage and related matters, see Bopearachchi, ‘Monnaies Indo-grecques surfrap-
pées’, pp. 49–79.
49  
Sākala was the capital of Demetrius and Menander. For more: Law, ‘Sākala, an Ancient Indian City’,
pp. 401–09, especially pp. 407–09.
50  
Barbantani, ‘Attica in Siriya’, pp. 67–68.
51  
Also noteworthy is the possibility of Greek being the court language of the Indo-Scythian and Indo-
Parthian rulers.
52  
This reminds us of the Greco-Aramaic bilingual inscriptions of Asoka in some parts of India (273–232 bc).
Nonetheless, India still possesses many unexplored archaeological sites. Several Greek records were also
found from Hellenistic Bactria on leather written in ink, datable to second century bc, though quite damaged,
hindering archaeologists from fully interpreting the records. See Clarysse and Thompson, ‘Two Greek texts,
Bactria’, pp. 273–79; Rea, Senior, and Hollis. ‘A Tax Receipt from Hellenistic Bactria’, pp. 261–80.
53  
Also, see Barbantani, ‘Attica in Siriya’, p. 69, Note 189.
Wickramasinghe 79

included Greek literature, as such fondness arises from the familiarity of the subject.
Naturally, such circumstances positively infer that Greek literature had influenced the
local Indian literature and drama at least to a certain level.54
Such social conditions may have emerged and spread as an indirect result of the new
cities created by Alexander during his Asian invasions giving rise to Greco-Indian
spirit. Such fortitude can be inferred from an inscription that appears to be a funerary
epigram. The author is Sōphytos and contains some 20 verses of perfect Greek datable
to late second century bc.55 The sociopolitical set-up that led to compile this epigram
can be understood by examining the historical scenario of the land. Until 303 bc,
Alexandria Arachosia was ruled by Seleucid kings until Seleuces Nikator I gave it to
Chandragupta Maurya and even in 258 bc, the city was part of the Mauryan Empire.
Emperor Asoka put up in this city a Greek-Aramaic bilingual rock inscription, a proof
of its mixed community of Greco-Macedonians, Iranians (whose written language was
Aramaic) and Indians.56 However, after the third century, Bactrian Greeks invaded the
collapsed Mauryan Empire in India and these regions fell under Greek rule. This inten-
sified the cultural affiliations between the Greeks and non-Greeks.57 In such a circum-
stance, minor Greek communities may have expanded by interacting with the local
non-Greeks having recognised their cultural interests. The cultural fusions displayed
on the coins of Indo-Bactrian kings (discussed above) could surely be a manifestation
of such hybridity. It is in such a setting the Greek epigram of Sōphytos comes as a
further proof for the prevalence of Greco-Indian communities in the region. The author
of the epigram, Sōphytos, expresses his pleasure at his financial success perhaps
through trade and requests on-lookers to continue in the same line.58 The main subject
of the epigram appears to be Sōphytos’ reference to Greek gods as patrons of art and
the achievements of Sōphytos and his family. Sōphytos is clearly referring to his edu-
cation and early exposure to Greek culture that instilled in him the virtues of Apollo
and of the Muses.59 Yet, it has been argued that the names Sōphytos and that of his
father Naratos are not of Greek origin.60 Pinault was convinced that these were Indians
and the original forms of their names were well-attested Indian names, Subūti and
Nārada.61 Moreover, the ethnicity of the author, clearly appeals to an audience of
both ‘Greeks and natives’ (Hellēsi kai endapioisin) familiar with Greek culture.62

54  
See Rawlinson, Bactria, pp. 141–42.
55  
This was found in Alexandria, Arachosia (Kandahar), city created by Alexander in fourth century bc
(330 bc). Bernard, Pinault, and Rougemont, ‘Deux nouvelles inscriptions grecques de l’Asie central’,
pp. 230–32.
56  
Frye, History of Ancient Iran, p. 154.
57  
Holt, ‘Response’, p. 64.
58  
Bernard, Pinault, and Rougemont, ‘Inscriptions grecques’, pp. 228–332.
59  
Sōphytos epigram lines 5–6, from Mairs, Hellenistic Far East, p. 115.
60  
Mairs, Hellenistic East, pp.113–14.
61  
Bernard, Pinault, and Rougemont, ‘Inscriptions grecques’, pp. 249–59; Pinault, ‘Remarques sur les noms
propres d’origine Indienne dans le stele de Sophitos’, pp. 137–41.
62  
Mairs, Hellenistic East, pp.116. For the full record, see Mairs, Ibid., Appendix on ‘Greek documents’,
pp. 189–94. For more discussions on this, see Mairs, ‘Sopha grammata’, pp. 178–85. See also Burstein,
‘Greeks in Asia’, pp. 186–87.
80 Indian Historical Review 48(1)

But, interestingly, the inscription is culturally and linguistically monolingual (Greek)

though he does not call himself a Greek.
This epigram63 further reminds us of the trade routes opened due to the raids of
Alexander and how this may have affected and improved the lives of the people in the
region. This also reveals the connections the Hellenistic kings maintained with the
Indian Monarchs creating a peaceful atmosphere favourable for commercial pursuits,
leading to socio-economic well-being of the community. The record expresses
Sōphytos’ concern for the well-being of his community, compassion and altruistic feel-
ings for it. Aiming at an audience of mixed community is suggestive of the hybridity
that prevailed in the region that sustained through intermarriages between Greeks and
natives creating a new social group that preserved bi-cultural roots and spirit. This may
explain the sustainability of Greek language in the region even after the fall of the
Greek rule. New cities created by Alexander near India such as Alexandria on the Oxus
(Ai-Khanum) with its Greek architectural elements may have contributed to foster
Hellenic education and culture.64
Moving further into India, we find a fascinating Prakrit inscription written in Brahmi
at Besnagar at Malwa (Central India) engraved on a pillar recording a political arrange-
ment between two monarchs. It informs us of the resulted politico-cultural output of
the arrangement. This inscription, roughly contemporary with that of Sōphytos, is sig-
nificant as it speaks of its contemporary hybrid communities and of the impact, the
residing Greek communities laid on Indian art. The inscription65 reads as follows in
English translation:

On behalf of Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the savior, King of Samkasya, king Chandradasa

caused this Garud pillar of Vasudeva, God of Gods, to be made by the Greek Heliodorus,
Son of Dion, of Taxila, a worshipper of Bhagavat, who had been sent by the Maharaja
Antialcidas.66 (Author’s emphasis)

This inscription too proves the existence of hybrid communities in Taxila from where
Heliodorus, a Greek converted to Hinduism, emerges.67 The coins of the Indo-Bactrian
kings also have displayed that the Hinduism prevailed along with the Greek religion in
the area. Mairs too maintains, based on numismatic evidence, that the Greeks in Taxila

63  
Bernard, Pinault, and Rougemont, ‘Inscriptions grecques’, pp. 228–332.
64  
Narain, Indo-Greeks, p. 128, also see Narain, Ibid., pp. 125, 129–30. The conditions and facilities provided
for cities established by Alexander, such as Alexandria on the Indus, Alexandria Arachosia may have been
the same.
65  
Inscription was discovered by Marshall, ‘Notes on Archaeological Explorations’, p. 1053.Also, see Sircar,
Select Inscriptions, p. 88.
66  
For the full inscription (with transliteration in English, English translation and commentary): Marshall,
‘India 1908–9’, pp. 1054–56 and plate 1. Also Fleet, ‘An Inscription from Besnagar’, pp. 1087–92. It was
found on a Garuda pillar (113 bc) made by one Heliodorus in honor of Vasudeva (early name for Vishnu).
The Garuda is now missing from the top of the pillar, which measures 6.5 m (21’). The pillar is decorated
with geese, a reed-and-bead pattern, lotus leaves, vegetation, fruit and garlands. The bell capital is reminis-
cent of early Mauryan pillars.
67  
On Helliodorus’ ethnicity as a Greek: Mairs, Hellenistic East, p. 128; for controversies: Mairs, Hellenistic
East, p. 120.
Wickramasinghe 81

would have been familiar with local religions and when Heliodorus arrived at Besnagar
he may have simply continued his faith.68 Second, this record further testifies that the
Bactro-Greek skilled workmen were dispatched to render services through political
commissions. Heliodorus does not appear to be an imported western craftsman but, a
subject of Antialcidas residing in Taxila. Heliodorus’ excellence in craftsmanship, in
recognition of which he was sent to the Indian king, may have been what he acquired
through Greek tradition and culture. Accordingly, just as the technical skill, Greek
customs too were possibly preserved and persisted in his family line. The record
indirectly presents us of one hybrid family living in Bactria, though it is hard to draw
conclusions from isolated cases. Being a Hindu, he also may have been well aware of
those customs, and his artistic creations may have surely depicted this cultural blend
within which he was raised.
Sophitos’ and Heliodoros’ accounts further explain the Greco-Indian elements in
Gandhāra art. Given the number of Gandhāra sculptures that demonstrate cultural
fusion, many Gandhāra Buddhist artists may possibly have travelled, at least due to
political pacts between kings, across regions producing many artistic masterpieces.
The existence of the hybrid cultures in the region is further assured by a small metal
casket found near Peshawar. This is in shape of a Greek pyxis vase (height: 7 inches;
diameter: 5 inches) containing relics of Buddha found among the remains of the great
stupa of Kanishka69 (reigned from 191–225 ad). It is another exhibition of Greco-
Indian workmanship bearing the inscription which refers to its producer: ‘Agisala,
overseer at Kaniska Vihara’.70 J. Marshall maintains that Agisala could be the Indianised
form of the Greek name Agesilaos.71 Since J. Marshall’s comment on the name Agesilaos
suggests of his Greek ethnicity, the writing on the object can be taken to indicate that
the Greek craftsmen and officers were employed even in the times of Kanishka, where
and when possible. With such interpretation, this particular record further suggests that
Agesilaos was a Buddhist, as it is unlikely for a non-Buddhist to have served in a
Buddhist establishment.
The excavations in Khotan72 have unearthed the remains of a once crowded city, and
fragments of Buddhist inscriptions in Kharoshthi were found with distinctly Greek-
styled seals. Stein mentions that the figures of Greek deities, such as Pallas Athena with
the aegis and thunder-bolt, are presented in archaic fashion on one of the intact seal
impressions.73 Athena, Eros and Heracles (rarely) were found on some seals illustrated
in Greek style. Apart from the divine figures, a portrait head of a man and a woman
with oriental features is also shown on a seal made in Greek style.74 When studying the
seals closely, Stein maintains that with reference to the manner and the context in

68  
On the religious background of Taxila and of its residing Greeks: R. Mairs, Hellenistic East, pp.125–27.
69  
King Kanishka was a patron of Buddhism.
70  
This reliquary was found by Spooner in 1909. For the inscription, see. Marshall, ‘India 1908–9’, plate II,
p. 1058 and also see Footnote 1.
71  
For more, see Marshall, ‘India 1908–9’, p. 1058.
72  
This was located in the North-east of Gandhāra being an important stop on the silk route. Now adminis-
tered by China and is bordered with Pakistan and India.
73  
Stein, Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan, p. 376.
74  
Ibid., p. 377.
82 Indian Historical Review 48(1)

which these seals occur, those with the divine images may belong to some administra-
tive officer. They also may suggest the officer’s religious tolerance and the conditions
within which he had to perform his duties. As the Ptolemies, Seleucids and other Greek
rulers who had seals depicting their portrait heads75 the Greek-styled seal depicting
portrait heads of two locals may be illustrating the busts of those who jointly owned it.
Such elements also support to assure the existence of a hybrid community that admired
and valued the Greek culture. Even if one argues that the Greek modelling was a mere
imitation, it is necessary to bear in mind that the imitations and synthesis with local or
foreign features occur when hybrid associations hit a climax. Judging from both
Heliodorus’ and Agesilaos’ cases it is possible that these artefacts of Greek style could
also be the outcome of such hybrid communities who inherited and preserved the
Greek skill.76 Rawlinson77 appears to be correct to refer to the Indo-Greek tradition of
the Kushan period, which produced pillars in Ionic and Corinthian order, and the stucco
monuments, as local since they could have been products of Greco-Indian hybrid
communities.78

Figure 11. Greco-Indian Feature, Gandha- ra79

The Figure 11 is a blend of Greco-Indian perceptions in terms of creativity. The

Corinthian capital invented by the Greeks and improved by the Romans is now depicted
with an oriental interest, that is, an image of meditating Buddha shown amidst of an
acanthus/ palm grove.80

75  
Henig, ‘Gems and Seals’, p. 312. Also see Richter, Engraved Gems.
76  
A bronze throne dated to eighth and tenth centuries ad was found with a head of Gorgon Medusa with two
clearly identifiable wings. The Head of Medusa is a common theme exploited by Greek artists. Though this
artefact goes beyond the time frame of the present study, it is still noted here for its value to show the manner
Greek artistic themes and elements continued to influence Indian art at such a late date in Indian history: See
Sen-Gupta, ‘Synthesis of Foreign and Indian Elements in Bactro-Gandhāran Art’, pp. 63–86. Some terra-
cotta figurines dated to the Kushan period too appear to have retained Greek characteristics, see Pugačenkora,
‘New Terracotta from North Bactria’, p. 53.
77  
Rawlinson, Bactria, p. 140.
78  
Burstein, ‘Greeks in Asia’, 188–90 for more on Greek influence on Indian art.
79  
Retrieved from http://www.minorsights.com/2015/04/france-musee-guimet.html, accessed on 25 October
2018.
80  
Taddei, ‘Recent Archaeological Research in Gandhāra: The New Evidence’, p. 49.
Wickramasinghe 83

This brings our attention to probe further into how Greco-Indian cultural fusion is
reflected through art and architecture. As many Greek cities in the Seleucid kingdom,
Greek cities in India and around too may have contained Greek architectural features.81
For instance, in such cities, one may usually find a Greek-styled palace (as the monarch’s
residence and the administrative centre), a gymnasium for physical and intellectual
education, an agora (as the market place and venue for social gatherings) and temples
(for the patron god of the city and for other Greek, Iranian and Indian gods lined up
along a colonnade of Corinthian columns.82 The most notable Greek feature in these
cities was the theatre, usually linked with a temple dedicated to the Greek god Dionysus.83
The Greek architectural elements such as theatres, gymnasiums may certainly have had
a strong impact on continuing the Greek type of education and cultivating Greek spirit
in its community as it did elsewhere in Asia.84 Since it affected both the mind and the
body in the course of time, even when the community is not ethnically Greek, it will
still foster Greek elements amidst their mixed communal conditions. Excavations by
P. Bernard have unearthed many such artefacts such as a mouth of a water fountain in
shape of a Greek comic mask; see Figure 12.85

Figure 12. Mouth of a Water Fountain, Ai Khanum86

The Greek influence on Indian architecture is also visible in certain Indian temple
structures. A cultural tolerance of some sort is required from the local as well as from
foreign communities to create receptiveness to a foreign culture and/or to enable influ-
ence a local culture. With that in mind, we may observe that the ground plans of the first
Gupta87 temples are rectangular in form, probably, due to the inspiration of the Greek-
styled ground plan of temples known as in antis (Figure 13). Greek influence can further
be seen in architectural elements, such as the entrance cornices with flat frieze, projecting

81  
Barbantini, ‘Attica in Siriya’, p. 68.
82  
Cimino, R. M., ‘Bactria, Hellenism in New India’, p. 208.
83  
Brancaccio and Liu, ‘Art of Gandhāra’, p. 220.
84  
Tarn, The Greeks in Bactria and India, p. 63.
85  
Brancaccio and Liu, ‘Art of Gandhāra’, pp. 220–22. The Figure 14 is from Ibid., Figure 1.
86  
Ibid., Figure 1.
87  
Date of the Gupta period is from 320–550 ad.
84 Indian Historical Review 48(1)

architraves and statues in niches with upper pediments.88 Greek influence is visible in a
Hindu temple from late Gupta period (Figure 14). Since this temple is from a central
Indian location, it indicates that the Greek features have penetrated into deeper regions in
India generating cultural fusion. The temple of Siva at Mahua (seventh century ad) also
reminds us of the Greek temples in antis as this was built as a rectangular sanctuary on a
mounted base with porticos of columns or pilasters.89 This temple too contains sculptural
images carved in niches, and there is also a flat frieze (Figure 15).

    
Figure 13. Athenian treasury in Delphi, Figure 14. Dashavatara Stone Temple Deogarh,
a Pradesh, temple in antis90 Uttar sixth century

Though the Indian temples shown here (Figures 14 and 15) do not fall within our
time frame, they are still included here as they indicate the extent and force of Greek
influence on Indian architecture at such a late date after the fall of the Greek dominion
in India.91

Figure 15. Temple of Siva with Pilasters92

88  
For more, see Cimino, ‘51: Hellenism in India’, pp. 188–93. For examples for Hellenic influence in India,
see Cimino ‘52: Hellenism in India’, pp. 194–96. For excavations on Ai-Khanum, see also Bernard,
‘Ai-Khanum on the Oxus’, pp. 71–95.
89  
Cimino ‘52: Hellenism in India’, pp. 194–95. This also contains other examples.
90  
Retrieved from https://arsartisticadventureofmankind.wordpress.com/tag/colonnade/, accessed on 25
October 2018.
91  
Also see Bopearachchi, The Greeks in Bactria and India, pp. 103–125.
92  
Figure 14 retrieved from, https://alchetron.com/Dashavatara-Temple-Deogarh#-, accessed on 25 Oct
2018. Figure 15.
Wickramasinghe 85

The Greek influence on Indian art is also manifested in the Gandhāra and Matura
sculptures datable to a time from the early centuries of the Christian era. The Greek
sculptural elements also appear to have influenced in creating the first sculptural image
of Buddha. At first, the portrayal of Buddha was limited to Buddhist symbols such
as the wheel with eight spokes and dagaba (chetiya) as shown in some coin types
(Figures 3 and 10). The Greek custom of illustrating their deities in human form may
have influenced the Buddhists in Kandahar to depict their religious leader in the same
artistic fashion and the Mahayana sect of Buddhism that considered Buddha as a deity
may have favoured such a portrayal.93
Naturally, a Gandhāra Buddha image (see Figure 16) exhibits a blend of Greco-
Indian elements. The face is depicted with the soft gracious appearance similar to that
of Greek god Apollo (Figure 17), with an effectively Greek attempt of physiognomy
and treatment. The reason for choosing this particular Greek deity could have been his
traits that make him a close parallel to one of the semi-deities of Mahayanism.94

     
A: Second Century ad   B: Fourth–Fifth centuries ad    Figure 17. Greek God Apollo95
Figure 16. Buddha96

Since Apollo is taken as the ultimate idealisation of the human physique, he would
have appeared to be an ideal match for the glorified physical appearance of Buddha,
which surpasses the physique of ordinary men. Also, Apollo is given care of the purifi-
cation of sinners reminding one of the spiritual elements in the functions of Mahayanist
Buddhism.97 Most of all, Apollo is the Greek god who instructs about the moderation
in all things, and who crowns these sentiments,98 thus becoming at least somewhat

93  
Furthermore, in Mahayana Buddhism, Buddha is viewed as a deity and that perception may have initiated
the idea of illustrating Buddha in statue form.
94  
In the first century ad Mahayana sect of Buddhism also conceptualised Bodhisathvas (previous lives of
Siddhartha Gautama before enlightenment) as upadevatas (semi-gods) and Buddhist art confined to these:
Mani, Journey Through India’s Past, p. 102, also see p. 101. Also read Rosenfield, Buddhism and Kuşāna
History, pp. 9–40.
95  
Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_Kassel_MAN_Napoli_Inv6393.jpg,
accessed on 25 October 2018.
96  
A: second century ad. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/551620654334435996/
   B: Fourth–sixth century ad. https://www.ancient.eu/image/901/bodhisattva-head-gandhara, both accessed
on 25 October 2018.
97  
Groner, Indian Buddhism, pp. 3–4 (Introduction), also see pp. 276–312.
98  
Burham, The Esoteric Codex, p. 36, also see, pp.16–39; Wallace, Imaginal Preaching, pp. 57–66.
86 Indian Historical Review 48(1)

close to the spiritual traits of Buddha.99 Moreover, the way Buddha image is draped
(see Figure 19) recalls the Greek chiton (male tunic), and cloak known as himation/
chlamys or epiblema,100 the dress with which the Greek artists draped their statues (see
Figure 18).101

   
B: Dionysus   Figure 19. Standing Buddha, Gandha- ra102
A: Goddess Themis     
Figure 18. Greek Statues103      

Among the observable Greek features in the Buddhist statue one also notices clear
Indian elements. The sculpted figure depicts restrained movements with the drapery
rendered with regular and symmetrical folds, while the hair is defined by a web of lines
incised on the surface, recalling the rendering of hair in Greek sculptures. Yet, Buddha
statues display a decorative formalisation and the exposure of the more Indian (eastern)
feature, a crown of hair known as ushnisha, in an attempt to show Buddha’s inspiring
status.104 In depicting human apparition by using the signs such as urna (the bit of
circled hair in the middle of the forehead), the ushnisha, the lobes of elongated ears, the

99  
Woodcock, G., The Greeks in India, p. 172.
100  
Peplos: female tunic of a heavier material. Himation: rectangular woollen cloak draped over the tunic by
men in cold weather. Soldiers also used it as a blanket in the nights when away from home. Chlamys: short
cloak worn by men. Epiblema: the cloak worn by women over the tunic.
101  
In Rome, the Greek artists produced the sculptural figures catering to the tastes of their Roman masters.
102  
Datable to a time between the first and the second century ad. Nadeem, Buddhist Gandhāra, figure in p. 36.
103  
A: Statue found at Rhamnous, Attica in the temple of Nemesis. Themis; daughter of Ouranus and Gaia,
was goddess of justice. The statue was a work of Chairestartus of Rhamnous. Datable to c. 300 bc.
   B: Statue of Dionysus datable to a time between the first century bc to the second century ad, made by a
Greek artist in Greek style. Retrieved from http://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/galleries/ancient_greece_
and_rome/room_23_sculpture.aspx
104
  Rowland, ‘Cycle of Gandhāra’, p. 119.
Wickramasinghe 87

luminous aura that pours out from the head and the body are clearly in par with the local
Buddhist tradition that describes Buddha’s 32 special male physical attributes.105
A synthesis in Greek and Indian traditions can be observed even in the manner the
Buddhist mythology is depicted in relief sculpture in Gandhāra art. For example, when
Gandhāra relief illustrating a scene from the life of the Buddha is compared with one
engraved in North India (a workmanship very much older than Gandhāra art), we can
observe how the Gandhāran views transformed the conventional way of narrating
stories through images. The Northern Indian relief, for instance, gives a synchronic scene
of an event, in which what preceded and followed are hard to discern. But the Gandhāra
style continuously narrates the incidents with clearly marked central characters without
leaving room for spatial or chronological ambiguity. The intention of the Gandhāra
artists appears to be to illustrate the life of the Buddha in a well-connected story line.
According to Taddei, the visual collection of the Buddha’s life in Gandhāra forms a
complete life cycle, where the progression of particular episodes does not break the
overall unity of the story. In this sense, Buddha’s life turns out to be a spiritual biogra-
phy, not a mere series of actions.106 In essence, the conceptual display of the life of the
Buddha in Gandhāran reliefs is similar to that one would experience in a dramatic
exposition with some narration.107 Accordingly, a series of reliefs showing various
events were shown on small stupas in the sacred areas in a particular order, starting
with birth-related scenes through to the scenes depicting the passing away and the
distribution of relics of the Buddha.108 The following narrative reliefs depicting the life
of Buddha from the Sikiri Stupa (Figure 20) recalls Classical Greek relief sculpture,
which filled up the metopes in the frieze of entablature, flanked by trigliphs (wicket-
like elements that separated metope: flat panelled surfaces that bore relief sculptures)
from either side in Greek temples of Doric style. In this sculptural demonstration too,
the space covered by sculpture is framed in the sides by a Greek column, which recalls
the Greek trigliph, metope ornamentation.

Figure 20. Narrative Reliefs, Sikri Stupa109

105  
Santoro, ‘Gandhāran Art’, p. 227.
106  
Taddei, ‘Arte narrativa tra India e mondo Ellenestico’, p. 377.
107  
Brancaccio and Liu, ‘Art of Gandhāra’, pp. 219–44.
108  
A detailed analysis of different modes of narration in Indian art is in Dehejia, Discourse in Early Buddhist
Art. Also, see Brancaccio and Liu, ‘Art of Gandhāra’, pp. 240–42.
109  
Brancaccio and Liu, ‘Art of Gandhāra,’ Figure 11.
88 Indian Historical Review 48(1)

Conclusion
Though Alexander’s stay in India was relatively brief, its influence persisted in
political, social and cultural terms for centuries after his departure from the region.
The formation of Greek kingdoms in western Asian territories guaranteed from the
beginning a certain amount of exchange of ideas between the East and the West. It can
be concluded that the scant Hellenism that prevailed in Asia gained a revival with a
great dynamism due to the invasion of Alexander. This Hellenic influence was further
consolidated through the establishment of the Greco-Bactrian monarchy in the middle
of the third century bc, causing actual subjugation of certain Indian districts by Greek
kings. Thus, the rise of the Yavana power in Bactria and its eventual expansion and rule
for over a century could also be considered as an indirect effect of Alexander’s inva-
sion. Yet, these were not all Hellenistic Greeks, but mostly the descendants of earlier
Greeks who were compelled to establish colonies by the Persian Empire. However,
they may have remained identifiably Greek preserving Greek traditions, as they could,
though much intermixed with and absorbed into the Iranian culture. They were rein-
forced by the new comers, the veterans of Alexander or colonists of the Seleucids,
thereby they gained the chance of reviving Hellenic customs and skills mainly due to
the invasion of Alexander. The Greek settlers, as those in Bactria for instance, devel-
oped into a strong base not just for the establishment and spread of Hellenistic culture,
but also for creating hybrid cultures by extending its territory and its influence to inner
parts of India while assuring their safe abode in this distant part of the world. Such
Greek influence sustained very strongly in the political sphere to the extent of using
Greek elements and ideologies even by the non-Greek monarchs as Maues.110
Moreover, Gandhāra art is a fine manifestation of hybrid features that emerged
through the fine amalgamation of Hellenistic and Indian art and architecture for which
a firm base was laid by Alexander’s invasions, which also gave rise to a combined
Hellenic and Indian spirit as can be inferred from the epigram of Sōphytos and the
inscriptions of Heliodoros and Agesilaos. In addition, the sociocultural fusion mani-
fested in art including the depictions on coins, convey the idea that the cultures which
integrated had respected each other. Though movements of Alexander were largely
militaristic they also have set the base to create hybrid cultures and communities by
amalgamating Greeks and Indians.
Notably, Alexander’s brief stay in Asia and his short lifespan did not allow him to
witness any hybrid element among communities that occurred long after he left India
and long after his death. Also, the military measures of Alexander too suggest that the
monarch expected to see well-established Greek communities that interact with the
local populations to avoid unnecessary political conflicts in a future visit to Indian
regions (which of course never happened due to his premature death). Although it is
not advisable to give into too much speculations, the above study has, nonetheless,
indicated that, it was Alexander himself who laid a concrete foundation towards the
creation of Indo-Greek hybrid communities by inducing new Greek settlements in a
remote land and then by encouraging intermarriages with the locals.

110  
Widemann, ‘Maues of Taxila’, pp. 95–125.
Wickramasinghe 89

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/
or publication of this article.

Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this
article.

References
Barbantani, S. ‘Attica in Siriya’ Persian War Reenactments and Reassessments of the Greek-
Asian Relationships: A Literary Point of View’, Erga-Logoi, Rivista di storia, letteratura,
diritto e culture dell’ Antichita, Vol. 2 (1), 2014, pp. 67–68.
Bernard, P. ‘Ai-Khanum on the Oxus: A Hellenistic City in Central Asia’, Proceedings of the
British Academy, Vol. 53, 1967, pp. 71–95.
Bernard, P., G-J. Pinault and G. Rougemont. ‘Deux nouvelles inscriptions grecques de l’Asie
central’, Journal des Savants, 2(1), 2004, pp. 230–59.
Bopearachchi, O. ‘Étude histoire et de numismatique indo-grecque, d’ après la collection monétaire
du Cabinet des Médailles de Paris’, PhD thesis, submitted to the University of Sorbonne,
Paris, Vol. I, 1987.
Bopearachchi, O. ‘Monnaies Indo-grecques surfrappées’ Revue Numismatique, Vol. 31, 1989,
pp. 49–79.
Bopearachchi, O. Monnaies gréco-bactriennes et indo-grecques, catalogue raisonné,
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, 1991.
Bopearachchi, O. ‘Of King Demetrius’ Bopearachchi 1F, in Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, the
Collection of the American Numismatic Society, pt. 9, Graeco-Bactrian and Indo Greek
Coins, New York, 1998.
Bopearachchi, O. ‘Contribution of Greeks to the Art and Culture of Bactria and India: New
Archaeological Evidence’, The Indian Historical Review, Vol. 32 (1), 2005, pp. 103–25.
Bosworth, A. P. ‘Alexander and the Iranians’, in I. Worthington, ed., Alexander the Great: A
reader, London and New York, 2003, pp. 209–12.
Brancaccio, P. and X. Liu. ‘Dionysus and Drama in the Buddhist Art of Gandhāra’, Journal of
Global History, Vol. 4 (2), 2009, p. 219.
Burham, H., The Esoteric Codex: Deities of Knowledge, first edition, lulu.com, 2015.
Burstein, S. M., ‘New Light on the Fate of Greek in Ancient Central and South Asia’ Ancient
West and East, Vol. 9, 2010, pp. 181–92. doi: 10.2143/AWE.9.0.2056307.
Cimino, R. M., ‘51: Hellenism in India’ in R. M. Cimino, ed., Ancient Rome and India:
Commercial and Cultural Contacts between the Roman World, New Delhi, 1994, pp. 188–93.
Cimino, R. M., ‘Bactria and the Hellenism in North West India’, in R. M. Cimino, ed., Ancient
Rome and India: Commercial and Cultural Contacts between the Roman World, New
Delhi, 1994, p. 208.
Clarysse, W. and D. T. Thompson. ‘Two Greek Texts on Skin from Hellenistic Bactria’ Zeitschrift
für Papyrologie Epigraphik, Vol. 159, 2007, pp. 273–79.
Cohen, G. H. The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria
and India, California, 2013.
Dehejia, V., Discourse in Early Buddhist Art: Visual Narration of India, Delhi, 1997.
Fleet, J. F. ‘An Inscription from Besnagar’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society [henceforth
abbreviated as JRAS], Vol. I (1–2), October 1909, pp. 1087–92.
Fraser, P. M. Cities of Alexander the Great, Oxford, 1996.
90 Indian Historical Review 48(1)

Frye, R. N. History of Ancient Iran, München, 1983.

Gardner, P. The Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of Bactria and India in the British Museum,
R. S. Poole, ed., reprint, New Delhi, 1971.
Grifiths, J. G. (edited with introduction, translation and commentary). Apulleus of Maduaros, the
Isis-Book (Metamorphorses, Book, XI), Leiden, 1975.
Groner, P., trans., A. Hirakawa’s, A History of Indian Buddhism: From Sakyamuni to Early
Mahayana, Delhi, 1993.
Gruen, E. S. ‘Coronation of the Diadochi’, Karanos, Vol. I, 2018, pp. 109–19.
Henig, M., s.v. ‘Gems and Seals’, in N. Wilson, ed, Encyclopaedia of Ancient Greece, New York,
2010, p. 312.
Holt, F. ‘Response’ for S. M. Burstein’s ‘Hellenistic Fringe: The Case of Meroe’, in P. Green, ed,
Hellenistic History and Culture, London, 1993, p. 64.
Jones, H. L., trans., Strabo, Geography, Vols I–VIII. London, 1917–1949, Vol. VII, 1954.
Law, B. C. ‘Sākala, an Ancient Indian City’, East and West, Vol. 19 (3/4), 1969, pp. 401–09.
Lerner, J. D. The Impact of Seleucid Decline on the Eastern Iranian Plateau: The Foundations
of Arsacid Parthia and Greco-Bactria, Stuttgart, 1999.
Mairs, R. The Hellenistic Far East: Archaeology, Language and Identity in Greek Central Asia,
Auckland, CA, 2014.
Mairs, R. ‘Sopha grammata: Acrostichs in Greek and Latin Inscriptions from Arachosia, Nubia
and Libya’, in J. Kwapisz, D. Petrain and M. Szymanski, eds, The Muse at Play: Riddles
and Wordplay in Greek and Latin Poetry, Berlin, 2012, pp. 277–304.
Mani, C. M. A Journey Through India’s Past (From the Earliest Times to the Last Hindo
Emperor), New Delhi, 2005.
Marshall, J., ‘Notes on Archaeological Explorations in India 1908–9’, JRAS, Vol. I (1–2),
October 1909, p. 1053–85.
Marshall, J., Taxila, An Illustrated Account of Archaeological Excavations Carried Out at
Taxila Under the Orders of the Government of India Between 1913–1934, Vol. 1 (structural
remains), Cambridge, 1951.
Martinez-Sève, L., ‘Ai Khanoum and Greek Domination in Central Asia’, Electrum, Vol. 22,
2015, pp. 17–46. doi: 10.4467/20800909EL.15.002.3218.
Muller, F. M. and T. W. R. Davids. The Questions of King Milinda (trans. from Pāli), Oxford,
1890.
Nadeem, I. H. Buddhist Gandhāra, History, Art and Architecture of Gandhāra in Pakistan,
Lahore, 2003, translated by M. S. A. Hussain and A. V. Attauda, Colombo, 2003.
Narain, A. K., The Indo-Greeks, Oxford, 1957.
Pinault, G-J. ‘Remarques sur les noms propres d’origine Indienne dans le stele de Sophitos’,
in O. Bopearachchi and M. F. Boussal, eds, Afganisthan Ancien Carrefour entre l’Est et
l’Ouest. Actes du Colloque Internationale, Museee Archeologique Henri-Prades-Lattes,
Mai, 2003, Turnhout, 2005, pp. 137–41.
Pippy, J. H. C. The Egyptian Origin of the Book of Revelation, New York, 2011.
Pugačenkora, G. A. ‘New Terracotta from North Bactria,’ East and West, Vol. 42 (1), 1992, p. 53.
Rawlinson, H. G. Bactria, the History of a Forgotten Empire, London, 1912.
Rea, J., R. C. Senior and A. S. Hollis. ‘A Tax Receipt from Hellenistic Bactria’, Zeitschrift für
Papyrologie Epigraphik, Vol. 104, 1994, pp. 261–80.
Richter, G. M. A. Catalogue of Engraved Gems: Greek, Etruscan and Roman, Rome, 1956.
Rosenfield, J. M., ‘Prologue: Some Debating Points on Gandhāran Buddhism and Kuşāna
History’, in P. Brancaccio and K. Behrendt, eds, Gandhāran Buddhism: Archaeology, Art
and Texts,Tronto, 2006, pp. 9–40.
Rowland, B., ‘A Cycle of Gandhāra’, Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Vol. 63 (333), 1965,
pp. 114–29.
Wickramasinghe 91

Santoro, A. ‘Gandhāran Art’, in R. M. Cimino, ed, Ancient Rome and India: Commercial and
Cultural Contacts Between the Roman World, New Delhi, 1994, pp. 226–27.
Sen-Gupta, A. ‘Synthesis of Foreign and Indian Elements in Bactro-Gandhāran Art: Some
Unusual Examples’, East and West, Vol. 54 (1/4), 2004, pp. 63–86.
Singh, U. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th
Century, Delhi, 2008.
Sircar, D. C. Select Inscriptions: Bearing on Indian History and Civilization, Vol. 1, 6th century
bc–6th century ad, 2nd edition, Delhi, 1965.
Stein, M. A., Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan, London, 1904.
Stevenson, G. Power and Place: Temple and Identity in the Book of Revelation, New York, 2001.
Strootman, R. ‘The Seleukid Empire Between Orientalism and Hellenocentism: Writing the
History of Iran in the Third and Second Centuries bc’, Name-ye Iran-e Bastan, Vol. XI
(1–2), 2011–12, pp. 17–35.
Taddei, M., ‘Arte narrativa tra India e mondo Ellenestico’, in G. Verardi and A. Filigenzi, eds,
On Gandhāra: Collected Articles, Naples, 2003.
Taddei, M., ‘Recent Archaeological Research in Gandhāra: The New Evidence’, in K. Behrendt
and P. Brancaccio, eds, Gandhāran Buddhism: Archaeology, Art and Texts, Tronto, 2006,
p. 49.
Tarn, W. W. ‘Notes on Hellenism in Bactria and India’, Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 22,
1902, pp. 275–76.
Tarn, W. W. The Greeks in Bactria and India, first print, 1951, reprint, Cambridge, 1966.
Tarn, W. W. ‘Susa wedding’, in I. Worthington, ed., Alexander the Great: A Reader, London and
New York, 2003, p. 202.
Thonemann, P. The Hellenistic World: Using Coins as Sources, Cambridge, 2015.
Traina, G., ‘Notes on Hellenism in the Iranian East (Classico-Oriental Notes, 6–8)’, Iran and the
Caucasus, Vol. 9 (1), 2005, pp. 1–14.
Wallace, J. A. An Imaginal Preaching: An Archetypal Perspective, New York, 1995, pp. 57–66.
Widemann, F. ‘Maues King of Taxila: An Indo-Greek Kingdom with a Saka King’, East and
West, Vol. 53 (1/4), 2003, pp. 95–125.
Widemann, F. ‘Civil wars and Alliances in Bactria and North-Western India After the Usurpation
of King Eucratides’. East and West, Vol. 57 (1/4), 2007, pp. 9–28.
Wilber, D. L. Iran, Past and Present, New Jersey, 1948.
Woodcock, G. The Greeks in India, London, 1966.