ABSTRACT

The external history of India commences with the External Greek invasion in 327 B.C. The knowledge of the Greeks concerning India practically dates from his researches, 300 B.C. The Greeks probably exaggerated the numbers of the enemy. The country was hostile, and the Greeks held only the Alexander land on which they encamped. Greek faces and profiles constantly occur in ancient Buddhist statuary. Every petty court had its Greek faction; and the detachments which he left behind at various positions from the Afghan frontier to the Beas, and from near the base of the Himalayas to the Sind delta, were visible pledges of his return. The purest specimens have been found in the Punjab, where the Greeks settled in greatest force. The Greek ideal of beauty may possibly have been brought direct to India by the officers and artists of Alexander the Great.