www.ssresearcher.com ISSN 2321-9750
THE JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH
VOLUME-II NUMBER-I FOUNDATION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCHER
35 THE JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH
MAY 2013 www.ssresearcher.com ISSN 2321-9750
EDITORIAL
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CONTENT
SL.NO.
1.
PAPER & AUTHOR
PAGE
NO.
01-08
LITERATURE AND NATIONALISM
MRS.VANDANA NALINI SINGH
2.
3.
4.
5.
CONTRIBUTION OF MUHAMMAD GHAZNI AND MUHAMMAD GHOR IN MODERN
INDIA
MRS.RAMA BISWAS
09-17
18-26
IMPACT OF ARAB INVASION ON CULTURAL EXPANSION OF INDIA
DR.KULDEB SINGH
27-34
CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE PERIOD OF JAINISM
MR.GAUTAM KHASTOGIR
THE GREEK INFLUENCE ON INDIAN ART, COINAGE, PHILOSOPHY, LANGUAGE
AND SCRIPT, DRAMA, ASTRONOMY, MATHEMATICS AND MEDICINE-SPECIAL
FOCUSED ON ALEXANDER
DR.MUZZAFFAR HOSSAIN
35-42
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THE GREEK INFLUENCE ON INDIAN ART, COINAGE, PHILOSOPHY, LANGUAGE
AND SCRIPT, DRAMA, ASTRONOMY, MATHEMATICS AND MEDICINE-SPECIAL
FOCUSED ON ALEXANDER
DR.MUZZAFFAR HOSSAIN
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
BARJORA COLLEGE
BARJORA
BIHAR
ABSTRACT
From the remote past India had commercial and commercial and contacts with Western
Countries by land and sea. There is ample evidence to prove that Indus valley people head trade
contact with the Western Countries like Sumeria and Egypt. In Sixty century B.C. when, Cyrus,
the founder of Achamenian Empire of Persia, conquered the frontiers of India, the contact
between India and Persia was strongly established. Ashokan Pillers and edicts have more Persian
influence in their style. According to Megasthanese the Mauryan emperors lived in Persian Style.
Persian influence cold also be noticed on Indians coins, philosophy and Art. The historians are
opined that the interchange of social and political ideals between the two countries must have to
resulted in the concept of political unity In India.
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OBJECTIVE
1.The Persian occupation of parts of North Western India in 6 th center B.C 2.The Persian
influence on Indian Script, coins, astronomy, art and architecture. 3.Alexander’s invasion and
occupation of the Punjab and the frontier provinces of India. 4.The establishment of Greek rule
and acceleration of the contact between India and Greece. 5.The Greek influence on Indian Art,
coinage, philosophy, language and script, drama, astronomy, mathematics and medicine. 6.The
Persian influence on Mauryan administration and art.
INTRODUCTION
In 4th century B.C. Alexander defeated the Persian Emperor, and he became the master of
Persian Empire. Alexander launched his campaigns towards northwestern territories of India.
Alexander and his troops settled in India for about 19 month and sailed back to his country.
Alexander’s invasion widened the geographical horizon and opened up new lines of
communication and new routes for trade and commerce. Indians imitated the Greek Coinage,
Astronomy and Art. A number of mathematical calculations like trapezium Problems etc., had
Greek influence. The philosophy, Medicine and Script called Yavanalipi had Greek influence.
Alexander’s invasions introduced Greek actors and musicians into India. The cave theatres
refered by Kalidasa were built by Greeks in India.
PERSIAN INVASION
Cyrus I, the founder of the Persian Empire, conquered Bacteria, Babylonia and Assyria. He even
advanced to India through Gedrosia and destroyed the famous city of Kapisa in Afghanistan.
Darius, the successor of Cyrus I could succeed in conquering some light on the possession of
Darius and the relation between India and Persia. Skylax, the Admiral of Darius took possession
of Gandhara and Punjab. It comprised the whole of the Indus Valley and was stretching as far as
the salt range in the Jhelum district. Herodotus, states that the Indian province of Darius formed
the richest and most populous of the provinces of the Persian Empire, yielding the highest
revenue of 360 talents of gold dust which is equivalent to Rupees one crore and fifty lakhs per
annum. The Persian governors and district officers were stationed in the Punjab.
Darius maintained a special Indian force and they fought under the banner of Persia and Greece.
Herodotus has given the following description of the Indian troops: “the Indians, clad in
garments made of cotton, carred bows of came and arrows of cane, the latter tipped in iron”. The
control of Persia over the Indian Satrapy seems to have remained intact during the reign of
xerxes. The inscription of Persepolis mentions that, Gandhara and Sindhu are his Satrapies.
Persians exercised their control over the Indian territories up to the time of Darius. He employed
the Indian troops in the battle of Arabela against Alexander in 330 B.C. with the acquisition of
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Indian Satrapies by Alexander the Great in 327 B.C. the control of Persians over Indian
territories came to an end.
INFLUENCE OF PERSIAN INVASION ON INDIAN CULTURE
It is universally accepted that when two countries came into contact either through trade or
conquest result in borrowing ideas from each other. It is no doubt the countries were benefited.
The Commercial intercourse paved for an interchange of cultural and political ideas between the
two countries and probably the growth of an Empire in Persia gave birth to the conception of
Northrn India under the Saisunagas and the Mauryas. The Indian merchants carried their
merchandise to the various parts of the vast Persian Empire and it added to the commercial
prosperty of the country. Indian Schlars and philosophers moved freely in the Persian Empire
and that led to the closer relations with western countries.
PERSIAN CONTACT WITH INDIA IN DIFFERENT DIMENSION
1.KHAROSHTYI SYSTM OF WRITING
Persian scribes introduced into India the Aramaic from of writing which later developed in to the
well known Kharoshit Script, written from right to left as against the Brahmi Script. An
inscription found in Taxila is an evidence that Aramaic was known in India. Another bilingual
edict in greek and in Aramaic of king Ashoka at old Khandhahar, proves that an Indian King
used Aramaic in his Western dominion. By the time of Ashoka the 22 Aramaean consonants had
already been elaborated in to an alphabet of at last 35 letters of which the 5 vowels were
deciphered. The earliest extant example of the Kharoshti script of North West India is as late as
257 B.C. The statement of Megasthanese cited by Strabo, than the people of India are ignorant of
writing is contradicted by the earlier report of Nearchus, cited by the same author that Indians
wrote on pieces of compressed cotton. The idea of inscribing ethical dissertations on rocks and
royal proclamations is borrowed from Persians. The idiom arre dialectically allied and they both
have the same courtly style especially in the formulation of the introductory sentences,
arrangement of royal titles etc.
2.ROYAL CUSTOMSS
The idea of conquest and expansion of empire through waging wars, borrowed from Persians.
Bimbisara, the Mauryan King could have been inspired by the Darius expansionist policy. The
concept of adorning royal titles was copied from the Persian. In the bilingual Greek and Aramaic
rock nscription found at kandhar, ashoka describes himself as “ruler of all things over the whole
earth”. we find many people having Persian names. For Example, Ashoka’s Governor, who ruled
the western part of his domination is having Persian name Tushaspha. Persian Governor was
engaged in the erecting of Public Works in India. The royal roads of Mauryas were influenced by
the Persians.
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3.COINAGE
The Karshapanas are the earliest coins derived from the word ‘Karsa’ meaning a certain weight
is found in the Iranian lexicon. The silver coin of the Persian was called sigloi. The siglois
circulated freely in the Indian satrapy. Many Silver Siglois bear counter marks similar to the
native punch marks and some have characters which have been Brahmi and Kharoshiti letters.
This clearly established the dact that the Sigloi and Indian punch marked coins were in
circulation simultaneously.
4.ARCHITECTURE
It is agreed that concrete evidence of exchange between Indian and Persiaces at Pataliutra and
the Persian city susa. It is the opinion of R.A. jairazbhoy that the most undeniable evidence of
Persian influence on Mauryan India is to be found in the domain of architctur. The counterpart to
the Hall of a Hundred columns of Darius in Persepolis is the square hall excavated at pataliputra,
where we find multiple rows of the Pillers, formed square bays. The pillars of Ashoka with round
bell-shaped abaci and bull or lion capital are of pure Persian origin. The use of winged animals
as capitals of pillars was borrowed from Persia. Another Persian feature is the bell-shaped
inverted lotus in the Sarnath.
5.SOCIAL CUSTOMS
Considerable number of foreigners were settled at pataliputra and Megastanese refers to the
facilities for entertaining them. In his festival procession Chandragupta had attended carrying
basin and goblest of gold besides chirs of stat. some of these objects were parsian. According to
Megasthenase, the meurian emperors lived in Persian style.like the Persian monarch, they lived
in seclusion surrounded by guards and only appearing at rare intervals or religious festivals.
CONCLUSION
Apart from the influence attributed to Alexander which was more Persian, than Greek, the later
Greeks left their important on Indian culture. The Greek invasion fixed the chronology of Indian
history. They left a new school of Art known as Gandhara Art. A survey of the impact of Persian
and Greek invasion on India culture suggests that it was two way traffic. The Persian and Greek
impact is to be seen in the materials aspect where as Indian influence was on the Spiritual and
Philosophical aspects of life. The fact is, that both west and Indian were benefited by therirb
culture contacts, mutual impact could be seen on both cultures.
REFERENCES
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