Following the death of Menander I Soter, the Indo-Greeks would decline in power over the next 150 years as the newly arrived Indo-Scythians/Indo-Saka seized the Punjab, and with the last king disappearing by 10 A.D, Greek rule in Central Asia and India was brought to a definitive end. In their wake, later powers like the Kushan Empire established control over Bactria and Gandhara, and trade with the Roman Empire would flourish along the sailing routes of the Indian Ocean. Despite the disappearance of the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms, evidence points to a survival of Hellenistic culture nearly five centuries after Alexander’s death.

Episode Notes:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2022/09/27/079-the-indo-greeks-homer-on-the-indus/)

Episode 079 Transcript:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/079-the-indo-greeks-homer-on-the-indus.pdf)

A Reader's Guide to Greco-Bactria and the Indo-Greeks:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/a-readers-guide-to-greco-bactria-and-the-indo-greeks.pdf)

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It has been argued that the most influential contribution of Gandhara (modern Pakistan and southern Afghanistan) was its role in the creation of several works of art centered around Buddhist themes, including the first known depictions of the Buddha in human form. However, the Gandharan artists also drew a great amount of inspiration from the traditions of the Greco-Roman world, borrowing Hellenistic designs and mythological figures to tell the story of the Buddha in often powerful ways. Dr. Osmund Bopearachchi, a professor of South Asian history and author of numerous works on India from Alexander the Great through the Kushan Empire, presents a series of examples to not only give context to the Gandharan school within the artistic history of India, but also their ability to adapt many cultural influences to create something wholly original.

Episode Notes:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2022/09/03/interview-greco-indian-and-buddhist-art-of-gandhara-with-dr-osmund-bopearachchi/)

Visual Aid PDF

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/interview-greco-indian-and-buddhist-art-of-gandhara-with-osmund-bopearachchi-visual-aid-hellenistic-age-podcast.pdf)

Dr. Osmund Bopearachchi:

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In the wake of Alexander the Great, the traditions of Hellenism and Buddhism thought came into close contact in Central Asia and India. Lee Clarke, a PhD student in cross-cultural philosophy at Nottingham Trent University, joins the show to discuss the idea of “Greco-Buddhism”, tracing the origins of the Buddha and the establishment of his teachings in Gandhara, before comparing and contrasting the philosophical outlooks of Greek and Indian schools of thought like Pyrrhonian Skepticism and Mahayana Buddhism.

Episode Notes:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2022/08/25/interview-greco-buddhism-in-central-asia-and-india-with-lee-clarke/)

Lee Clarke:

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In antiquity, Gandhara was one of the most deeply-rooted hubs of Buddhism, and scholars have attempted to search for any possible encounters between Buddhists and the Greeks who settled in Central Asia and India. Fascinating pieces of evidence hint at these connections: the Pali text known as the Milindapañha ("The Questions of King Milinda") portrays the Indo-Greek king Menander I Soter as a Buddhist convert and saint swayed by the wisdom of the Sage Nagasena, while Emperor Ashoka dispatched missionaries to the Hellenistic kingdoms and ordered his beliefs to be inscribed in Greek on the rocks outside of Kandahar. Centuries later, the sculptors of Gandhara would adapt Greco-Roman mythology and designs to create beautiful works of art, resulting in the first known depictions of the Buddha in human form, and transforming the demigod Heracles into Heracles-Vajrapani, protector of the Buddha.

Episode Notes:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2022/08/12/078-the-indo-greeks-heracles-menander-and-the-buddha/)

Episode 078 Transcript:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/078-indo-greeks-heracles-menander-and-the-buddha-transcript.pdf)

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With the collapse of the Mauryan Empire, the rulers of Greco-Bactria would seize the opportunity to invade India in approximately 185 B.C. Famous conquerors like Demetrius and Menander would campaign throughout the subcontinent, seizing the lands of Arachosia and Gandhara (southern Afghanistan and Pakistan) as their new domains, the so-called "Indo-Greek" kingdoms. Despite the hostilities, the Indo-Greeks would quickly acclimate to their new cultural environment: figures like Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador from Taxila and worshipper of Vasudeva-Krishna, or Sophytos, an Indian merchant from Alexandria-in-Arachosia who prided himself on his knowledge of Homer and Callimachus, provide hints of the complex interactions between the Hellenistic world and South Asia.

Episode Notes:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2022/07/28/077-the-indo-greeks-invasion-of-the-yavanarajas/)

Episode 077 Transcript:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/077-the-indo-greeks-invasion-of-the-yavanarajas-transcript.pdf)

The Hellenistic Far East Map 4 - The Indo-Greek Kingdoms (https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/the-indo-greek-kingdom-map-4.pdf)

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In 128 B.C., an explorer and diplomat named Zhang Qian had arrived in the Ferghana Valley in modern Uzbekistan. As the first known Chinese visitor in Central Asia, he was originally tasked by the Han Emperor Wudi to seek an alliance with the Yuezhi nomads, who migrated to Bactria in the 130s and contributed to the collapse of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Though the alliance fell through, Zhang’s reports on the wealthy lands of “Daxia” and “Dayuan” tantalized the Emperor’s political ambitions, resulting in waves of Han embassies and armies being sent to the so-called “Western Regions”. A burgeoning trade network soon arose as East Asia and the Mediterranean worlds became ever closer, prompting expeditions by the Chinese to make contact with the mysterious Da Qin (Roman Empire), whose aristocrats demanded the goods produced by the equally mysterious “Seres” (“Silk Peoples”).

Episode Notes:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2022/07/21/076-greco-bactria-han-china-and-the-war-of-the-heavenly-horses/)

Episode 076 Transcript:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/076-greco-bactria-han-china-and-the-war-of-the-heavenly-horses.pdf)

The Hellenistic Far East Map 3 - Zhang Qian in Central Asia (https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/map-3-zhang-qian-in-central-asia.pdf)

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With the discovery of the city of Ai Khanoum in northeastern Afghanistan, the idea of a strong Greek presence in the makeup of Hellenistic Bactria was reinforced. At the same time, they also demonstrate a reliance on local Bactrian traditions and the formation of brand new identities. Dr. Rachel Mairs, a historian of Hellenistic Central Asia and author of "The Hellenistic Far East", joins the show to discuss the nature of identity, reassessing how we perceive "Greekness" or any other type of cultural classification in the face of a complex archaeological and epigraphical record.

Episode Notes:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2022/07/07/interview-ai-khanoum-and-identity-in-hellenistic-bactria-with-dr-rachel-mairs/)

Dr. Rachel Mairs

The Hellenistic Central Asia Research Network (HCARN)

(https://hellenisticfareast.wordpress.com/)

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The conquests of Alexander the Great resulted in tens of thousands of Greek colonists settling in Central Asia. While excavations of places like the city ruins of Ai Khanoum hint at a flourishing Hellenic culture, local Bactrian and Sogdian traditions continued to hold a powerful influence. In this episode, we take a deeper look at Greco-Bactria by analyzing the archaeological and epigraphical record, looking at key examples relating to questions of identity and organization, and ultimately conclude with the collapse of Greek power in the face of nomadic invasions and civil war during the middle of the second century B.C.

Episode Notes:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2022/07/01/075-greco-bactria-alexandria-eschate-to-ai-khanoum/)

Episode 075 Transcript:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/075-greco-bactria-alexandria-eschate-to-ai-khanoum.pdf)

The Hellenistic Far East Map 2 - The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/map-2-the-greco-bactrian-kingdom.pdf)

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Coins are the most enduring symbols of the Greco-Bactrian and the Indo-Greek kingdoms, considered to be invaluable tools in reconstructing their chronologies in absence of a written history. Joining our series is numismatist Dr. Frank Lee Holt, author of books such as "Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria" and "Lost World of the Golden King: In Search of Ancient Afghanistan", who discusses how coins can be used (or misused) to tell the story of Hellenistic Bactria, and their vital role in preserving the threatened cultural heritage of Central Asia.

Interview Notes:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2022/06/17/interview-coinage-and-numismatics-in-greek-central-asia-with-dr-frank-lee-holt/)

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In the first of several episodes on the "Hellenistic Far East", we will cover the history of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, which controlled the lands of Central Asia stretching from Afghanistan to Kazakhstan during the third and second centuries B.C. As one of the most fascinating yet poorly understood regions in antiquity, we will try to piece together the fragmented history of Bactria and its inhabitants from the invasion of Alexander the Great to the reign of Eucratides I.

Episode 074 Notes:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2022/06/11/074-greco-bactria-land-of-a-thousand-cities/)

Episode 074 Transcript:

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/episode-074-greco-bactria-land-of-a-thousand-cities-transcript.pdf)

The Hellenistic Far East Map 1 - Regions

(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/the-hellenistic-far-east-map-1.pdf)

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