Tribes in Ancient India c11.38

c11.38

In the course of the centuries following the death of the Buddha, the Buddhist religion spread from the N.E. districts of India to the extreme West,—no doubt largely owing to the powerful proselytising zeal of the great Maurya Emperor Aśoka. About 78 A.D., we find Menander (Milinda), a powerful Greek king, ruling at Śākala, and the Pāli ‘Milinda Pañho’ gives a full account of this king’s conversion to Buddhism.⁴ During Menander’s reign, the people knew of no oppression, since all their enemies had been conquered. Even before Menander’s time, Śākala seems to have come under Buddhist influence (see, e.g. Mrs. Rhys Davids’ Psalms of the Sisters, p. 48; Psalms of the Brethren, p. 359).