The Mauryan Polity c5.s3.t1.2

c5.s3.t1.2

Hence Megasthenes must have visited the Indian Capital some time between 302 and 288 B.C. We cannot with any certainty fix exactly the year when he visited Candragupta. There is a version, as has already been pointed out, that Megasthenes' visits to the Indian continent were often and frequent. This view is apparently based on the statement made by Arrian in his *Exped. Alex.* V, (vi), 2. Here he refers—according to Schwanbeck's interpretation of the passage—to frequent interviews with the kings and *not* frequent visits as rendered by other writers.¹ In the same way in his *Indika*² Arrian says: "Megasthenes, so far as appears, did not travel over much of India, though no doubt he saw more of it than those who came with Alexander, the son of Philip, for as he tells us, he resided at the Court of Sandrokottos, the greatest king in India, and also at the Court of Poros, who was still greater than he". This would imply that Megasthenes visited king Poros who was dead in B.C. 317. Lassen regarded this hardly credible and thought 'the mention of Poros a careless addition of a chance transcriber'.³ Schwanbeck would retain the phrase and translate the original "and who was even greater than Poros".⁴ Thus the theory that Megasthenes visited India more than once was due to the misunderstanding of Arrian's statement. Excepting these uncertain passages, there is no other evidence to confirm the theory of frequent visits. On the other hand there is the evidence of Strabo⁵ and of Pliny where mention is made of only one embassy. The passage of Pliny as translated runs thus: "Megasthenes remained for some time with the Indian kings and wrote a history of Indian affairs, that he might hand down to posterity a faithful account of all that he had witnessed.”¹ It is therefore difficult to credit Megasthenes with frequent visits to the Indian Empire. It is reasonable to believe that he saw Candragupta in connection with the treaty and left his impressions of a people whose culture and civilisation evoked enthusiasm and wonderment in his mind.