The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c26.s1.89

c26.s1.89

The author's opinion that India was not hellenized by the operations of Alexander has been expressed in the chapter of this work dealing with his retreat from India,¹ but it is advisable to remind the reader of the leading facts in connexion with the more general question of hellenic influence upon Indian civilization during four hundred years. In order to form a correct judgement in the matter it is essential to bear dates in mind. Alexander stayed only nineteen months in India, and, however far-reaching his plans may have been, it is manifestly impossible that during those few months of incessant conflict he should have founded Hellenic institutions on a permanent basis, or materially affected the structure of Hindu polity and society. As a matter of fact, he did nothing of the sort, and within two years of his death, with the exception of some small garrisons under Eudēmos in the Indus valley, the whole apparatus of Macedonian rule had been swept away. After the year 316 B. C. not a trace of it remained. The only mark of Alexander's direct influence on India is the existence of a few coins modelled in imitation of Greek types which were struck by Saubhūti (Sophytes), the chief of the Salt Range, whom he subdued at the beginning of the voyage down the rivers.