How did the ancient Greeks influence India?

Question

How did the ancient Greeks influence India?

Answer 1

The better question is how far did Alexander and his Greek army conquer. If it was anywhere near India, well...I'll let you get an idea of where I'm going.

Answer 2

Alexander carried Greek culture there.

Answer 3

The influence is post Alexandrian and two-way. Indian astronomy got revitalized , for one. Introduction of zodiacal signs and week days took place about  zero AD ( plus minus a century or so), dueto Greco-Babylonian influence.

Answer 4

Actually it's more like he other way around. A lot of the things that the Greek are credited for had came from India, including the Greek mythology.

Answer 5

they never did.

Answer 6

Not at all.  Alexander marched his army through India and defeated Porus at the Hydaspes; but then he turned round and went home again.  Net effect on India - negligible.

He took some elephants home with him, though.

Answer 7

Greece actually had a some influence on ancient India, though it is largely overlooked and forgotten. Here's a little background first:

Alexander the Great's conquest halted in Western Indian, and when he died his most Eastern lands became the Seleucid Empire. However, the most Eastern of his lands rebelled against the Seleucids and gained independence, and became known as the Kingdom of Bactria. When the Mauryan Empire fell in 185 BC, Demetrius of Bactria invaded India and seized many lands in India. Under King Menander, the Greeks supposedly made it all the way to the Indian capital of Patna in eastern India. The Bactrian kingdom was overrun by Scythian tribes in later decades, but the Greeks held out in their Indian lands, which became known as Indo-Greek Kingdom. It's most important king, Menander, converted to Buddhism, and the kingdom survived until around the time of Christ.

The influences of the Greeks on their Indian lands were significant, especially artistically. The art from Gadhara shows a significant Greek influence. Also, the Greeks made the first ever statues of Buddha, representing him in a classically Greek fashion, almost like a Greek god. The Buddha statues in Afghanistan that the Taliban famously destroyed were built by the Greeks.

Mahayana Buddhism probably originated in the Indo-Greek kingdom and is heavily influenced by Greek philosophy. After Menander's conversion, it seems that Greek philosophy and Buddhist philosophy blended together, effecting the religion to this day.

There were also some other minor influences. Greek was widely spoken in western India and many Greek words entered Sanskrit. Also, the Greek calendar and Greek-looking coins were used in India into the Gupta Empire.