What are the surviving influences of Indo-Greeks that are found to this day. These could be cultural, linguistic, social, political etc. in the area that was ruled by Indo-Greeks. How did these influences survive through the ages?
What are the surviving influences of Indo-Greeks that are found to this day
- Thread starter greatstreetwarrior
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Joined Jun 2015
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Joined Jan 2015
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Here and there
There is some weight to the claim the saree is derived from Athenian dress as well as iconography of Buddha.
Some aspects of Indian theater as well though obviously not tragedy as Indians preferred happy endings in plays even as their epics were tragedies(Rama and Sita got divorced , the latter outcast and disappeared ,Lakshmana committed suicide. Krishna and Arjuna's women kidnapped by dacoits ,Krishna got killed by a mere hunter which began Kaliyuga)
The most important contributions were aspects of geometry and astronomy which were appreciated when it came to designing altars and "muhurtams" (auspicious times) respectively. According to the Brahmanas, if it werent for astronomy, the Greeks would be considered barbarians. Apparently the ancient Indians didnt think much of their philosophies!
This is apart from their more material contributions in carpentry and ship building as well as siege engines. Tamil kings especially made use of Greek skills in this regard. They also preferred Greek/Roman bodyguards as they were unable to pick up the language and hence less likely to plan coups as the rationale went.
Though there are some Eurocentrists who claim that Yoga and Kalaripayattu are also derived from Pankration LOL
Some aspects of Indian theater as well though obviously not tragedy as Indians preferred happy endings in plays even as their epics were tragedies(Rama and Sita got divorced , the latter outcast and disappeared ,Lakshmana committed suicide. Krishna and Arjuna's women kidnapped by dacoits ,Krishna got killed by a mere hunter which began Kaliyuga)
The most important contributions were aspects of geometry and astronomy which were appreciated when it came to designing altars and "muhurtams" (auspicious times) respectively. According to the Brahmanas, if it werent for astronomy, the Greeks would be considered barbarians. Apparently the ancient Indians didnt think much of their philosophies!
This is apart from their more material contributions in carpentry and ship building as well as siege engines. Tamil kings especially made use of Greek skills in this regard. They also preferred Greek/Roman bodyguards as they were unable to pick up the language and hence less likely to plan coups as the rationale went.
Though there are some Eurocentrists who claim that Yoga and Kalaripayattu are also derived from Pankration LOL
Joined Nov 2009
8,402 Posts | 72+
Canada
I don't know where you get the idea that saree is from the Greek togas. But when it came to the Greek influence, it is mostly in realism in sculpting that is the lasting influence of the Indo-Greeks. The Indians were already aware of the basic geometry that the Greeks used, much before the Greek contact, such as pythagoras theorem etc. and were more advanced in astronomy than the Greeks ( the vedas are the first texts to've realized that stars are like the sun, only further away).
Seige engines were tried and used before the Greeks came to India as well, but the siege engines never really caught on, predominantly because most wars in that period were fought on alluvial plains such as the gangetic plains and sappers were a preferred way of breaching enemy walls than siege engines.The Indo-Gangetic plains are a region of consolidated silt that goes up to 1km deep in some places, averaging about 400m in depth. Its heck of a lot easier to dig tunnels through consolidated silt ( sapping) than it is in the mediterranean that has a much closer rock strata to the top soil.
I don't see where the idea of saris from Greek dress comes from either. Greeks generally wore chitons, and women I think wore dresses. Togas in Rome were a male thing and I highly doubt patriarchal India is going to take so kindly to women adopting mens' dress.
Is there any weight to the idea the Pythagoras including his theorem was influenced by India? Or is this just another Hindutva nonsense theory?
I imagine Indians would have learned something about military strategy from the Greeks considering that the first one to stumble upon the place was just the greatest general alive at the time ...
Is there any weight to the idea the Pythagoras including his theorem was influenced by India? Or is this just another Hindutva nonsense theory?
I imagine Indians would have learned something about military strategy from the Greeks considering that the first one to stumble upon the place was just the greatest general alive at the time ...
Joined Nov 2009
8,402 Posts | 72+
Canada
There is no weight to the idea that Pythagoras's theorem was influenced by India.
However, there is also no weight to the idea that Pythagoras's theorem was invented by Pythagoras.
that is clearly not the case- Pythagoras was the first Greek to use that theorem and he left behind the proof for it.
However, the concept itself is mentioned ( squaring the sides of a triangle being equal to the square of the hypotenuse) in babylonian works, in indian works as well as ample material evidence of it being used.
Those two were likely, independent developments as basic math does not need to be a brilliant one-of-a-kind unique invention that cannot occur independently, multiple times, especially when we are talking about basic geometry, which is the simplest of all math.
Joined Jun 2012
5,274 Posts | 105+
India
One of their long lasting influence was on the architecture of north east especially Greek column designs which are visible even in medieval temple architecture of Kashmir and Gandhara before the temple architecture of region itself vanished with the advent of Islam.
Similarly their influence on the sculptural art of the region also seem to have survived for some time.
Similarly their influence on the sculptural art of the region also seem to have survived for some time.
Joined Jul 2014
2,556 Posts | 558+
world
Without the Indo Bactrians Buddhism as we know will not exist . The Greeks were the first to make statues of Buddha and worship him even though Buddha didnt like idoltary and he didnt claim to be a God. They along with the Kushanas were instrumental in spreading Buddhism to China via central asia.
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