Description
Book SynopsisThe first contacts between Greece, the Aegean and India are thought to have occurred at the beginning of the sixth century BC. There is now evidence of much earlier indirect connections, starting in the middle of the third millennium BC, but greatly diminishing after 1800 BC. These were initially between India with its Indus Civilisation (Meluḫḫa) and the Near East and then finally with the societies of the Early and Middle Bronze Age Aegean, with their slowly emerging palace-based economies and complex social structures. These connections point to a form of indirect or what might be called ‘trickle-down’ contact between the Aegean and India through objects, iconography and commodities, such as tin and lapis lazuli, that formed this contact.
This book views the Aegean as part of a greater trade network, that includes commodities as well as more recently discovered objects, which accumulated added value as they fi rst built up a distinguished pedigree of ownership in the Near East and Syro-Palestine. It was the natural extension of trade between the Near East and India. In the Early to Late Bronze Ages, India was an important resource for valuable and indispensable commodities destined for the elites and developing technologies of much of the Old World.
Finally, the period after the end of the Bronze Age to the time of Alexander the Great is examined and particularly after the sixth century, when Greeks were beginning to know about India. Within 200 years, India would be known to scholar and non-scholar alike, including those who witnessed the Persian invasions of Greece or who later became Macedonian and Greek foot soldiers marching east.
Table of ContentsSummary The Author List of Table and Figures Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Prehistory: The Background The Harappan Civilisation Discovery The Decline of the Harappans Trade and Long Distance Exchange, Seafaring and Caravans Out of
Meluḫḫa Farther Westwards The Harappans and Egypt Iconography Weights and Measures 2. Prehistory: The Evidence of Objects Pottery Kernoi Spiral Double Headed Pins Carnelian Beads Agate Seals and Beads Flat Disc Shaped Beads Other Beads Bronzes Pottery 3. Prehistory: The Evidence of Commodities The Role of Shortughai Organic Commodities Spices and Foodstuffs Wood Ivory Textiles Inorganic Commodities Lapis Lazuli: An Indian commodity Jade Gold: An Indian Commodity? Tin: Another Indian commodity 4. Prehistory: A Conclusion Earlier Work Summary of the Evidenc
e 5. From the Iron Age to Alexander the Great The Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age Transition From the Sixth Century BC Greeks in Ancient Sanskrit Literature Early Geographers and Historians Religion and Philosophy Greeks, Macedonians and their Legacy in India Appendix 1. Indica of Ctesias of Cnidus
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