Greek campaigns in India

In ancient times, trade between India and Greece flourished with silk, spices and gold being traded. The Greeks invaded India several times, starting with the conquest of Alexander the Great.

Conquests of Alexander the Great (326 BC)

In 326 BC Alexander the Great made his foray into Punjab. King Omphis, ruler of Taxila, surrendered the city to Alexander. Many people had fled to a high fortress/rock called Aornos. Aornos was taken by Alexander by storm (see siege of Aornos). Alexander fought an epic battle against the Indian monarch Porus in the Battle of Hydaspes (326). After victory, Alexander made an alliance with Porus and appointed him as satrap of his own kingdom. Alexander continued on to conquer all the headwaters of the Indus River.

East of Porus' kingdom, near the Ganges River, was the powerful kingdom of Magadha. Exhausted and frightened by the prospect of facing another giant Indian army at the Ganges River, his army mutinied at the Hyphasis (modern Beas), refusing to march further East. Alexander, after the meeting with his officer, Coenus, was convinced that it was better to return.

Alexander was forced to turn south, conquering his way down the Indus to the Ocean. He sent much of his army to Carmania (modern southern Iran) with his general Craterus, and commissioned a fleet to explore the Persian Gulf shore under his admiral Nearchus, while he led the rest of his forces back to Persia by the southern route through the Gedrosia (modern Makran in southern Pakistan).

Coin of Sophytes (305-294 BC)

Alexander left behind Greek forces which established themselves in the city of Taxila, now in Pakistan. Several generals governed the newly established province. One of them, Sophytes (305-294 BC), was an independent Greek prince in the Punjab.

Within a few years local India monarchs recaptured the region from the Greeks. Chandragupta Maurya, who had met Alexander in Taxila, founded the Mauryan empire.

Seleucid invasion (304 BC)

Seleucus I Nicator founder of the Seleucid dynasty and one of Alexander's former generals. He invaded India (modern Punjab in northern India and Pakistan) in 304 BC.

It is said that Chandragupta Marya put an army of 100,000 men and 9,000 war elephants and forced Seleucus to conclude an alliance. Seleucus gave him his daughter in marriage, ceded the territories of Arachosia, and received from Chandraguta 500 war elephant which he used decisively at the Battle of Ipsus.

Seleucus also sent an ambassador named Megasthenes to Chandragupta's court, who repeatedly visited Pataliputra (modern Patna in Bihar state), capital of Chandragupta. Megasthenes has written detailed descriptions of India and Chandragupta's reign.

Continued diplomatic exchanges and good relations are between the Seleucids and the Mauryan empirors are then documented throughout the duration of the Mauryan empire.

Indo-Greek rule (180-30 BC)

The founder of the Indo-Greek Kingdom Demetrius I (205-171 BC), wearing the scalp of an elephant, symbol of his conquest of India.

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

The invasion of northern India followed the destruction of the Mauryan dynasty by the general Pusyamitra Sunga, who then founded the new Indian Sunga dynasty (185 BC-78 BC). The Indo-Greek king Demetrius I of Bactria went as far as the capital Pataliputra in eastern India (today Patna): "Those who came after Alexander went to the Ganges and Pataliputra" (Strabo, XV.698). The Indian records also describes Greek attacks on Saketa, Panchala, Mathura and Pataliputra (Gargi-Samhita, Yuga Purana chapter).

The Indo-Greeks ruled various part of northern and northwestern India until the end of the 1st century BC, while the Sungas remained in the east.

Legacy

Buddhism flourished under the Indo-Greeks, leading to the Greco-Buddhist cultural syncretism. The arts of the Indian sub-continent were also quite affected by Hellenistic art during and after these interactions.

The Hunza tribe in Pakistani occupied Kashmir is said to have descended from Greek generals based there. The Coorgis, from Karnataka in southern India are also said to have descended from a mixture of Persian, Greek and Afghani ancestry.