The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c14.40

c14.40

who knew the country were not the Greeks brought by Alexander. They were, in all probability, the functionaries of Achaemenians who had passed under the authority of the conqueror, come to take possession of the satrapies administered by them. Their reports must have been devoted more to the geographical, economic and political conditions than to Indian thought but they could not have ignored the latter and they were in a position to give information regarding the same to the Greeks. It is through men of this type that scientific ideas have been easily able to pass through the Achaemenian Empire and reach the Greeks of the Orient. Moreover, it is quite possible that some of these men were Greeks and had been in the service of the Persians in India for a long time, because, before conquering Sindh, Darius had sent Skylax there.