India's encounters with the Greeks and how it affected Ashoka and the Guptas:
By Tatum Brown
Overview: This page describes India's encounters with the Greeks, specifically the Mauryan and the Gupta dynasties.
Megasthenes
- Megasthenes was a Greek ambassador that lived in India for many years during the late fourth and early third centuries B.C.E
- Wrote some of the earliest descriptions of India in his book, Indika
- His descriptions included reliable information about the region, as well as "tall tales" that are interesting to read about, but most likely not real
- Portrayed India as "A wealthy land that supported a distinctive society with well-established cultural traditions"
Kingdom of Magadha
- Around 520 B.C.E. Cyrus, the emperor of Persia conquered parts of northwestern India, expanding the Achaemenid empire
- This expansion introduced local rulers to Persian techniques of administration
- Alexander the Great crossed the Indus River around 327 B.C.E. and took over the states in the region, but quickly left in 325 B.C.E
- Even though he didn't stay long, he created a "political vacuum" in northwestern India by conquering the states, then withdrawing his forces
- The kingdom of Magadha, located in the central part of the Ganges plain, filled the vacuum
- Magadha emerged as the "most important state in northeastern India" in 500 B.C.E
- The kings of Magadha continued to expand their region after taking over neighboring states and gaining control of commerce and trade on land and over the sea
The Mauryan Empire
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