decline of maurya

DECLINE OF THE MAURYAS


The decline of the Maurya Dynasty was rather rapid after the death of

Ashoka/Asoka. One obvious reason for it was the succession of weak

kings. Another immediate cause was the partition of the Empire into

two. Had not the partition taken place, the Greek invasions could have

been held back giving a chance to the Mauryas to re-establish some

degree of their previous power.

Regarding the decline much has been written. Haraprasad Sastri

contends that the revolt by Pushyamitra was the result of brahminical

reaction against the pro-Buddhist policies of Ashoka and pro-Jaina

policies of his successors. Basing themselves on this thesis, some

maintain the view that brahminical reaction was responsible for the

decline because of the following reasons.

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• (a) Prohibitino of the slaughter of animals displeased the

Brahmins as animal sacrifices were esteemed by them.

• (b) The book Divyavadana refers to the persecution of Buddhists

by Pushyamitra Sunga.

• (c) Asoka's claim that he exposed the Budheveas (brahmins) as

false gods shows that Ashoka was not well disposed towards

Brahmins.

• (d) The capture of power by Pushyamitra Sunga shows the

triumph of Brahmins.

All these four points can be easily refuted. Asoka's compassion

towards animals was not an overnight decision. Repulsion of animal

sacrifices grew over a long period of time. Even Brahmins gave it up

by the book Divyavadana, cannot be relied upon since it was during

the time of Pushyamitra Sunga that the Sanchi and Barhut stupas

were completed. Probably the impression of the persecution of

Buddhism was created by Menander's invasion who was a Budhhist.

Thridly, the word 'budheva' is misinterpreted because this word is to

be taken in the context of some other phrase. Viewed like this, this

word has nothing to do with brahminism. Fourthly, the victory of

Pushyamitra Sunga clearly shows that the last of the Mauryas was an

incompetent ruler since he was overthrown in the very presence of his

army, and this had nothing to do with brahminical reaction against

Asoka's patronage of Budhism. Moreover, the very fact that a Brahmin

was the commander in chief of the Mauryan ruler proves that the

Mauryas and the Brahmins were on good terms.

After all, the distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism in India was

purely sectarian and never more than the difference between saivism

and vaishnavism. The exclusiveness of religious doctrines is a Semitic

conception, which was unknown to India for a long time. Buddha

himself was looked upon in his lifetime and afterwards as a Hindu saint

and avatar and his followers were but another sect in the great Aryan

tradition. Ashoka was a Buddhist in the same way as Harsha was a

Budhist, or Kumarapala was a Jain. But in the view of the people of the

day he was a Hindu monarch following one of the recognized sects. His

own inscriptions bear ample withness to the fact. While his doctrines

follow themiddle path, his gifts are to the brahmibns, sramansa

(Buddhist priests) and others equally. His own name of adoption is

Devanam Priya, the beloved of the gods. Which gods? Surely the gods

of the Aryan religion. Buddhism had no gods of its own. The idea that

Ashoka was a kind of Buddhist Constantine declearing himself against

paganism is a complete misreading of India conditions. Asoka was a

kind or Buddhist Constantine declearing himself against paganism is a

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complete misreading of India conditions. Asoka was essentially a

Hindu, as indeed was the founder of the sect to which he belonged.

Raychaudhury too rebuts the arguments of Sastri. The empire had

shrunk considerably and there was no revolution. Killing the Mauryan

King while he was reviewing the army points to a palace coup detat

not a revolution. The organization were ready to accept any one who

could promise a more efficient organisation. Also if Pushyamitra was

really a representative of brahminical reaction he neighbouting kings

would have definitely given him assistance.

The argument that the empire became effete because of Asokan

policies is also very thin. All the evidence suggests that Asoka was a

stern monarch although his reign witnessed only a single campaign.

He was shrewd enough in retaining Kalinga although he expressed his

remorse. Well he was wordly-wise to enslave and-and-half lakh sudras

of Kalinga and bring them to the Magadha region to cut forests and

cultivate land. More than this his tours of the empire were not only

meant for the sake of piety but also for keeping an eye on the

centrifugal tendencies of the empire. Which addressing the tribal

people Asoka expressed his willingness to for given. More draconian

was Ashoka's message to the forest tribes who were warned of the

power which he possessed. This view of Raychoudhury on the pacifism

of the State cannot be substantiated.

Apart from these two major writers there is a third view as expressed

by kosambi. He based his arguments that unnccessary measures were

taken up to increase tax and the punch-marked coins of the period

show evidence of debasement. This contention too cannot be up held.

It is quite possible that debased coins began to circulate during the

period of the later Mauryas. On the other hand the debasement may

also indicate that there was an increased demand for silver in relation

to goods leading to the silver content of the coins being reduced. More

important point is the fact that the material remains of the post-

Asokan era do not suggest any pressure on the economy. Instead the

economy prospered as shown by archaeological evidence at

Hastinapura and Sisupalqarh. The reign of Asoka was an asset to the

economy. The unification of the country under single efficient

administration the organization and increase in communications meant

the development of trade as well as an opening of many new

commercial interest. In the post - Asokan period surplus wealth was

used by the rising commercial classes to decorate religious buildings.

The sculpture at Barhut and Sanchi and the Deccan caves was the

contribution of this new bourgeoisie.

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Still another view regarding of the decline of Mauryas was that the

coup of Pushyamitra was a peoples' revolt against Mauryans

oppression and a rejection of the Maurya adoption of foreign ideas, as

far interest in Mauryan Art.

This argument is based on the view that Sunga art (Sculpture at

Barhut and Sanchi) is more earthy and in the folk tradition that

Maruyan art. This is more stretching the argument too far. The

character of Sunga art changed because it served a different purpose

and its donors belonged to different social classes. Also, Sunga art

conformed more to the folk traditions because Buddhism itself had

incorporated large elements of popular cults and because the donors of

this art, many of whom may have been artisans, were culturally more

in the mainstream of folk tradition.

One more reasoning to support the popular revolt theory is based on

Asoka's ban on the samajas. Asoka did ban festive meetings and

discouraged eating of meat. These too might have entagonised the

population but it is doubtful whether these prohibitions were strictly

enforced. The above argument (people's revolt) also means that

Asoka's policy was continued by his successors also, an assumption

not confirmed by historical data. Further more, it is unlikely that there

was sufficient national consciousness among the varied people of the

Mauryan empire. It is also argued by these theorists that Asokan

policy in all its details was continued by the later Mauryas, which is not

a historical fact.

Still another argument that is advanced in favour of the idea of revolt

against the Mauryas is that the land tax under the Mauryas was onequarter,

which was very burden some to the cultivator. But historical

evidence shows something else. The land tax varied from region to

region according to the fertility of the soil and the availability of water.

The figure of one quarter stated by Magasthenes probably referred

only to the fertile and well-watered regions around Pataliputra.

Thus the decline of the Mauryan empire cannot be satisfactorily

explained by referring to Military inactivity, Brahmin resentment,

popular uprising or economic pressure. The causes of the decline were

more fundamental. The organization of administration and the concept

of the State were such that they could be sustained by only by kings of

considerably personal ability. After the death of Asoka there was

definitely a weakening at the center particularly after the division of

the empire, which inevitably led to the breaking of provinces from the

Mauryan rule.

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Also, it should be borne in mind that all the officials owed their loyalty

to the king and not to the State. This meant that a change of king

could result in change of officials leading to the demoralization of the

officers. Mauryas had no system of ensuring the continuation of wellplanned

bureaucracy.

The next important weakness of the Mauryan Empire was its extreme

centralization and the virtual monopoly of all powers by the king.

There was a total absence of any advisory institution representing

public opinion. That is why the Mauryas depended greatly on the

espionage system. Added to this lack of representative institutions

there was no distinction between the executive and the judiciary of the

government. An incapable king may use the officers either for

purposes of oppression or fail to use it for good purpose. And as the

successors of Asoka happened to be weak, the empire inevitably

declined.

Added to these two factors, there is no conception of national unity of

political consciousness. It is clear from the fact that even the

resistance against the greeks as the hated miecchas was not an

organized one. The only resistance was that of the local rulers who

were afraid of losing their newly acquired territory. It is significant that

when Porus was fighting Alexander, or when Subhagasena was paying

tribute to Antiochus, they were doing so as isolated rulers in the

northwest of India. They had no support from Pataliputra, nor are they

even mentioned in any Indian sources as offering resistance to the

hated Yavanas. Even the heroic Porus, who, enemy though he was,

won the admiration of the Greeks, is left unrecorded in Indian sources.

Another associated point of great importance is the fact that the

Mauryan Empire which was highly centralized and autocratic was the

first and last one of its kind. If the Mauryan Empire did not survive for

long, it could be because of the failure of the successors of Asoka to

hold on to the principles that could make success of such an empire.

Further, the Mauryan empire and the philosophy of the empire was not

in tune with the spirit of the time because Aryanism and brahminism

was very much there. According to the Brahmin or Aryan philosophy,

the king was only an upholder of dharma, but never the crucial or

architecture factor influencing the whole of life. In other words, the

sentiment of the people towards the political factor, that is the State

was never established in India. Such being the reality, when the

successors of Asoka failed to make use of the institution and the

thinking that was needed to make a success of a centralized political

authority. The Mauryan Empire declined without anyone's regret.

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Other factors of importance that contributed to the decline and lack of

national unity were the ownership of land and inequality of economic

levels. Land could frequently change hands. Fertility wise the region of

the Ganges was more prosperous than northern Deccan. Mauryan

administration was not fully tuned to meet the existing disparities in

economic activity. Had the southern region been more developed, the

empire could have witnessed economic homogeneity.

Also the people of the sub-continent were not of uniform cultural level.

The sophisticated cities and the trade centers were a great contrast to

the isolated village communities. All these differences naturally led to

the economic and political structures being different from region to

region. It is also a fact that even the languages spoken were varied.

The history of a sub-continent and their casual relationships. The

causes of the decline of the Mauryan empire must, in large part, be

attributed to top heavy administration where authority was entirely in

the hands of a few persons while national consciousness was unknown.

The splendour of the 'Dark Centuries'

The five centuries which passed between the decline of the first great

Indian empire of the Mauryas and the emergence of the great classical

empire of the Guptas has often been described as a dark period in

Indian history when foreign dynasties fought each other for short-lived

and ephemeral supremacy over Northern India. Apart from Kanishka's

Indo-Central Asian empire which could claim to be similar in size and

importance to has china, the parthians of Persia and to the

contemporary Roman empire this period did lack the glamour of large

empires. But this 'dark period' particularly the first two centuries AD

was a period of intensive economic and cultural contact among the

various parts of the Eurasian continent. Indian played a very active

role in stimulating these contacts. Buddhism which has been fostered

by Indian rulers since the days of Ashoka was greatly aided by the

international connections of the Indo-Greeks and the Kushanas and

thus rose to prominence in Central Asia. South India was establishing

its important links with the West and with Southeast Asia in this

period. These links especially those with southeast Asia, proved to be

very important for the future course of Asian history.

But India it self experienced important social and cultural changes in

this period. For centuries Buddhism had enjoyed royal patronage. This

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was partly due to the fact that the foreign rulers of India found

Buddhism more accessible than orthodox Hinduism. The Vedic

Brahmins had been pushed into the background by the course of

historical development all though Hinduism as such did not experience

a decline. On the contrary new popular cults arose around gods like

Shiva, Krishna and Vishnu-Vasudeva who had played only a marginal

role in an earlier age. The competition between Buddhism which

dominated the royal courts and cities and orthodox Brahminism which

was still represented by numerous Brahmin families every where left

enough scope for these new cults to gain footholds of their own, of

great importance for the further development of Hinduism and

particularly for the Hindu idea of kingship was the Kushana rulers

identification with certain Hindu gods - they were actually believed to

attain a complete identity with the respective god after their death.

Religious legitimation was of greater importance to these foreign rulers

than to other Indian kings. Menander's ashes had been distributed

according to the Buddhist fashion and Kanishka was identified with

Mithras but wima kadphises and Huvishka were closer to shiva as

shown by the images on their coins. Huvishka's coins provide a regular

almanac of the iconography of the early Shiva cult. The deification of

the ruler which was so prevalent in the Roman and Hellenistic world as

well as among the Iranians was thus introduced into India and left a

mark on the future development of Hindu Kingship.

Another future of crucial importance for the future political

development of India was the organization of the Shaka and Kushana

Empires had been, but were based on the large-scale incorporation of

local rulers. In subsequent centuries many regional Empires of India

were organized on this pattern.

The most well-known contribution of the 'dark-period' was a course, to

Indian art. After the early sculptures of the Mauryas which were

greatly influenced by the Iranian style, a new Indian style, a new

Indian style has fist emerged under Shungas and their successors in

the Buddhist monuments of Bharhut and Sanchi which particularly

showed a new style of relief sculpture. The merger of the Gandhara

school of art, with its Graeco-Roman style and the Mathura school of

art which included 'archaic' Indian elements and became the center of

Indo-Kushana art, finally led to the rise of the Sarnath school of art.

This school then set the pattern of the classical Gupta style.

Less-well-known, but much more important for the future

development of Hindu society, was the compilation of the authoritative

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Hindu law books (dharmasastra), the foremost of them being the code

of Manu which probably originated in the second or third century AD.

After the breakdown of the Maurya and Shunga Empires, there must

have been a period of uncertainty, which led to renewed interest in

traditional social norms. These were then codified so as to remain

inviolate for all times to come. If we add to this the resurgence of

Sanskrit, as testified by Rudradaman's famous rock inscription of the

second century AD. We see that this 'dark-period' actually contained

all the element of the classical culture of the Gupta age, Thus the

many splendoured and much maligned 'dark-period' was actually the

harbinger of the classical age.

POST-MAURYAN PERIOD (20BC -

300AD)

ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

In the post-Mauryan era (200 BC. To 300 A.D.) the economy moved at

an accelerated tempo. Society witnessed structural reorientation as

significant groups of foreigners penetrated into India and chose to be

identified with the rest of the community.

The occupation of craftsmen was an important segement of the day's

socio-economic milieu. The craftsment were not only associated with

the towns but also villages like Karimnagar in the Telengana region of

Andhra Pradesh. The categories of craftsmen who were known in this

period bear out the truth that there was considerable specialization in

mining and metallurgy. A large number of iron artifacts have been

discovered at various excavated sites relating to the Kushan and

Satavahans Periods. It is surprising to notice that the Telengana region

appears to have made special progress in iron artifacts - not only

weapons but also balance rods, sickles, ploughshares, razors and

ladels have been found in the Karimnagar and Nalgonda districts. Also,

cutlery made out of iron and steel was exported to the Abyssinian

ports.

Equally significant was the progress made in cloth-making and silkweaving.

Dyeing was a craft of repute in some south Indian towns like

Uraiyur, a shurb of Tiruchirapalli, and Arikamedu. The use of oil was

also high because of the invention of oil wheel. The inscriptions of the

day mention weavers, goldsmiths, dyers, workers in metal and ivory,

jewelers, sculptors, fishermen, perfumers and smiths as the donors of

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caves, pillars, tablets, cisterns etc. Among the luxury items the

important ones were ivory and glass articles and beed cutting. At the

beginning of the coristian era the knowledge of glass-blowing reached

India and attained its peak. Coin minting also reached a high level of

excellence made out of gold, silver, copper, bronze, lead and potin. A

coint mould of the Satavahans period shows that through it half a

dozen coins could be turned out a time.

In urban handicrafts the pride of place goes to the beautiful pieces of

terracotta produced in profuse quantities. They have been found in

most of the sites belonging to the Kushan and Satavahans periods. In

particular, terracotta figures of great beauty have been found in the

Nalgonda district of Telengana. The terracotta figures were mostly

meant for the use of upper classes in towns.

This immense manufacturing activity was maintained by guilds. At

least to dozen kinds of guilds were there. Most of the artisans known

from inscriptions hailed from the Mathura region and the western

Deccan which lay on the trade routes leading to the ports on the

western coast.

The guilds, coming from the days of the Mauryan period, became a

more important factor in the urban life both in being instrumental to

increase in production and moulding public opinion. The primary guilds

of the day were those of the potters, metal workers and carpenters.

Some guilds organized their own distribution system while owning a

large number of boats to transport goods from various ports on the

Ganges.

The guilds of the day fixed their own rules of work and the standards

of the finished products. They exercised care regarding price also to

safeguard the interest of both the artisan and the customer. They

controlled the price of the manufactured articles. He conduct of the

guild members was regulated through a guild court. The customary

uses of the guilds had the same force as those of laws.

The extensive activity of the guilds can be known from their seals and

emblems. The banners and insignia of each guild were carried in

procession of festive occasions. These prosperous guilds in addition,

donated large sums of money to religious institutions and charitable

causes.

Since the activity of the guilds was so buoyant, it appears that they

attracted the attention of kings too. It is said that kings had financial

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interests in guilds. Royalty invested its money in commercial activities.

This naturally led to protection being provided by State to the guilds.

Regarding the activities of guilds, it appears from inscriptions that they

acted asbankers, financiers and trustees although these activities were

carried out by a separate class of people known as sresthins. Usury

was a part of banking and the general rate of interest was around 15%

loans extended to sea-trade carried higher interest rate. An authority

of the day states that the rate of interest should vary according to the

caste of the man to whom money is lent.

Interestingly, apart from the guilds, there were workers bodies also.

The workers co-operative included artisans and various crafts

associated with a particular enterprise. The classic example of this

activity was the co-operative of builders, which has its members drawn

from specialized workers such as architects. Engineers, bricklayers etc.

The immense commercial activity was bolstered by the thriving trade

between India and the Easter Roman Empire. With the movement of

Central Asian people like Sakas, Parthians and Kushans, trade came to

be carried across the sea. Among the ports, the important ones were

Broach and Sopara on the western coast, and Arikamedu and

Tamralipti on the eastern coast. Out of these ports Broach was the

most important as not only goods were exported from here but a also

goods were received. Across land, the converging point of trade routes

was Taxila, which was connected with the Silk Route passing through

Central Asia. Ujjain was the meeting point of good number of trade

routes.

The trade between India and Rome mostly consisted of luxury goods.

To begin with Rome got her imports from the southern most portions

of the country. The Roman imports were Muslims, pearls, jewels and

precious stones from Central and South India. Iron articles formed an

important item of export to the Roman Empire. For certain articles

India became the clearing house, as for example, silk from China

because of impediments posed by the Parthian rule in Iran and the

neighboring areas.

The Romans, in return, exported to India various types of potters

found in excavations at places like Tamluk in West Bengal, Arikamedu

nevar Pondicherry and a few other places. Probably lead was important

from Rome. It is also presumed that the Kushans had brisk trade with

the Romans as they conquered Mesopotamia in 115 A.D. At a place

close to Kabul, glass jars made in Italy, Egypt and Syria have come to

light, apart from small bronze statues of Greko-Roman style, And the

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most significant Roman export to India was the gold and silver coins -

nearly 85 finds of Roman coins have been found. There is nothing

surprising in the lamentation of the Roman writer Pliny in the 1st

century A.D. that Roman was being drained of gold on account of

trade with India.

Indian kingdoms sent embassies to Rome the best known being the

one sent about 25 B.C. Which included strange collection of men and

animals-tigers, snakes, tortoises a monk and an armless boy who

could shoot arrows with his toes. This mission reached Rome during

the days of Emperor Augustus in 21 B.C.

In the southern kingdoms maritime trade occupied the pride of place.

The literature of the day refers to harbours, docks, light houses and

custom offices. Large variety of ships were built, both for short

distance as well as long distance voyages. According to pliny the

largest Indian ship was 75 tons. Other sources mention higher figures.

In the self-same period there was a boom in trade with south-East

Asia. This was first occasioned by the Roman demand for spices.

Gradually this trade grew in dimensions.

The growing number of strangers in the port towns and trade centers

led to their absorbing Indian habits as their numbers grew, social laws

of the day became rigid as to be seen from the law code of Manu.

Further as conversions to Hinduism was technically impossible the

non-Indian groups gradually grew into separate sub-castes. After all

the conversion of a single individual was a problem but the device of

caste made such absorption easier. Moreover the foreigners found it

easier to become Buddhists instead of Aryans. Faced one theoretical

knowledge confined to brahmins and the other practical and technical

knowledge which became the preserve of the professionals.

It was during this period Dharmashastras came to be written. These

Shastras made the social structure to be rigid. Apart from these

writings poetry and drama were also popular. The outstanding poem in

Tamil was Shilappadigaram. Another poem in Tamil was Manimegalai.

In Sanskrit, Asvaghosa and Bhasa were the two great dramatists. The

manuscripts of Asvaghosa were found in a monastry in Turdan in

Central Asia. Both of his plays deal with Buddhist themes. Bhasa

appeared a couple of centuries later. His plays are based on the

incident from the spics or historical romances around the exploits of

king udayan in Avanti.

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In the field of plastic art. Great were the achievement of this period

like the stupas at Sanchi and Bar hut the caves at Karlellora and

Ajanta. At Amravati the great age of painting began. Also the

sculptures at Amravati show a mastery of stone sculpture and with the

mathura school of sculpture the Indian tradition of sculpture began.

The booming trade and commerce of the period was at the base of the

urban settlements that came into existence. The important towns of

northern India were Vaishali, Pataliputra, Varanasi, Kausambi,

Sravasti, Hastinapur, Mathura and Indraprastha. Most of the towns

flourished in the Kushan period as revealed by excavations. The

excavations at Sonkh in Mathura show as many as seven levels of the

Kushan are but only one of the Gupta period. Again in Jalandhar,

Ludhiana and Ropar also several sites show good Kushan structures.

The Satayahans kingdown also witnessed thriving towns like Tagar,

Paithan, Dhanyakataka, Amravati, Nagarjunakonda, Broach, Sopara,

Arikamedu and Kaveripattanam.

HISTORY AND IMPACT OF

Indo-Greeks

After Alexander the Great, the greed seleukidan dynasty of Persia held

on to the trans-Indus region. After seleukos Nikator was defeated by

Chanragupta Maurya in 303 B.C. the trans-Indus region was

transferred to the Mauryas. In mid third century B.C. the seleukidan

rule was ended by two peoples. In Iran the parthiar became

independent and their sassanians in 226 A.D. In like manner the

greeks of Bactria rose in revolt under the leadership of Diodotus.

These Greeks were later known as Indo-Greeks when they gained a

foot-hold in the Indian sub-continent.

Bactria situated between the Hindu Kush and the oxus, was a fertile

region and it controlled the trade routes from Gandhara to the West.

The greek settlement in Bactria began in the 5th century B.C. when

Persian emperors settled the Greek exiles in that area.

Bactria figured in history with the revolt of diodotus against Antiochus

the seleukidan king. This breakaway of Bactria was recnised by the

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seleukidans when the grandson of Diodotus, Enthymemes. Was given

a seleukidan bride in about 200 B.C.

About the same time the seleukidan king defeated king subhagasena

after crossing the Hindu Kush in 206 B.C. This defeat reveals the

unguarded nature of northwestern India.

Thus begins the history of Indo-Greeks. The history of the Indo-Greeks

is mainly gathered from their coins. This evidence is very often

confusion because many kings had identical names.

The son of Euthydemos, Demetrios, Conquered modern southern

afghanistion and the Makran area he also occupied some parts of

Punjab. Then around 175 B.C. the homeland of Bactrians came to be

ruled by Eukratides, another branch of the Bactrians. His son

Demetrios-II penetrated deep into the Punjab proceeding along the

Indus, he penetrated till kutch.

The most known Indo-Greek was Menander, whose claim rests on the

Buddhist treatise the Questions of king Milinda-discussion between

menander and the Buddhist philosopher, Nagasena and he ruled the

Punjab from C.160 to 140 B.C.

Menander not only stabilized his power but extended his frontiers. His

coins are to be found in the region extending from Kabul to Mathura

near Delhi. He attempted to conquer the Ganges valley but in vain.

Probabley he was defeated by the Sungas.

After menander one Strato ruled. At that time Bactaria was rule by a

different group of Bactrians. Probably Mitrhadates - I of Persia

annexed the region of Taxila during the third quarter of the second

century B.C.

A little later, Antialkidas ruled from Taxila as known from the

inscription from besnagar near Bhilsa. This inscription was incised on

the order of Heliodoros, who was the envoy of antialkidas in the court

of Besnagar. Heliodoros got a monolithic column built in honour of

vasudeva. Thus began the Bhakti cult of Vasudeva.

The last known greek kings were hippostratos and Hermaeus, the

former defeated by moga and the latter by khadphisus.

Indo-Greek influence declined from the time Bactria itself was attacked

by the nomadic tribes from central Asia, the scythians.

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The penetration of Indo-Greeks, as well as of sakas pahlavas and

Kushana influenced the government, society, religion literature and art

of ancient India. The very fact that India absorbed influences of these

foreigners speaks for the then youthful nature of Indian civilization.

The extent of Greek influence of Indian Civilisation is a most point.

Whatever the Greek influence that was felt by India came in the wake

of Alexander's invasion of the cast and the settlement of Greeks in the

Bactrian region. Alexander himself cannot be regarded as the standard

bearer of the heritage of ancient Greece. By the time Alexander and

his soldiers marched towards the east the culture of Greece was on the

decline hence at the most Alexander and his men could have spread a

debased version of the great Geek civilization represented by Socrates,

Plato, Phidia, Aristotle, Sophocles, Pythagoras and others. Despite the

fact that Alexander and his men could not be the true torch bearers of

Greek culture to the east, the traces of Greek influence could be

definitely found on India civilization.

To begin with, the invasion of Alexander left very little imprint on

Indian civilization. Indian rulers did not adopt the military tactics of

Alexander, but continued to rely on their forefold organization.

Although the region that was beyond the Hindu Kush in the Mauryan

period was definitely in close contact with whatever the Greek

influence that was there, the Greek influence was not felt in the

interior of India. Probably the use of stone in buildings and sculptures

by the Mauryas was inspired by the Greek practice of working in stone.

Columns of the Ionic order were definitely used in the buildings of