International Conference On Indian History

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Another paper presented at ICIH-2009:

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Reference to India and the Indians in a Greek source: Testimony of Herodotus ' The Histories</b>
Eisha Gamlath
Head Department of Western Classics & Christian Culture
University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

<b>Abstract</b>

Cultural and civilizational amalgamation between the subcontinent and Europe has already been the topic of discussion in the past decades.  This paper explores the same in relation to the earliest historical composition of Europe, Herodotus' the Histories which throws substantial light on India and the Indians.

<b>Paper</b>
The re-discovery of the
ancient Near East has brought to light an abundance of historical material that contributes to the knowledge of the extent and degrees of contact between the inhabitants of the Indus valley, the Mediterranean and of Semitic origin.  Out of these, contact between the Sumer or Sumerians and the indigenous population occupying the Indus valley stretches as far as 2000 B.C. or even earlier. (Chapekar, 1982: 1-4; Dandekar, 1962: 57-64)

There is sufficient material to prove that these contacts became spasmodic probably due to the decline of the Harappan civilization.  (Crawford, 1991: 150; Dhavalikar, 2007: 85, 86).  Despite this decline there survived a long established tradition of an amalgamation of cultures at an approximately later period due to diverse factors like conquest, trade, raid, travel, migration, internal conflict which had directly caused the Mediterranean and Semitic elements of the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Thracio-Phrygians, Anatolians, Syrians to be dissolved into the diasporic context of the Aryan invasion (Dhavalikar, 2007: 168, 178, 179, 183, 188; Garret, 1937: 1-31)  Trade by sea between the Phoenicians, Persians and Indians which continued as early as 975 B.C. implies that the Persians could have been responsible for the link between the Indians and the Greeks.  The Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor were more in touch with the Persians than the Asiatic Greeks so the Persian Invasion made the presence of Indians felt on Greek soil than on other occasions (Garret, 1937: 3, 6).  The immigration of Greeks in several stages along with the Sakas, Parthians and Kushanas are often described as waves of Persian influence on India (Chapkar, 1982: 37).  These waves were important epochs or milestones in the history of correspondence between Indian and Greek culture and it is from such historical evidence that the extent of and degrees to which Herodotus is indebted to his own knowledge about the inhabited world can be assessed.

Correspondence between ancient Near Eastern cultures - Mari, Susa, Sumer, Mesapotamia, Uruk emphasize the significance of trade routes particularly those turning eastward towards Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Indus valley (Crawford, 1991: 141; Tosi, 1984: 94-107; Lamberg - Karlovsky, 1973: 1-43).  Subsequently, the rise of Persia among other cultures of the Arabian peninsula and the Sumerian plain, at a historically and a chronologically early date seems to have contributed to trade alliances with the sub-continent-Punjab, and Sind in the north, Kathiawar, Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west and political alliances with Kabul, Gandhara and Seistan (Chapekar, 1982: 37).  The original settlements of the Aryans being attributed as central Asia extensive contacts between central Asia and the Iranian plateau and links stretched through the Caspian sea into the Mediterranean is yet another chief factor that can be referred to these alliances.  Affinities in the areas of linguistics (Mallory, 1989: 147-149), religion (Parpola, 1984: 135; Chapekar, 1982: 29, 30, 31), literary texts (Crawford, 1991: 151-168; Finkel, 1985: 187-202), socio-political issues (Hiebert, 1995: 199), astronomy (Garret, 1987: 360), medicine (op.cit, 351), magic (op.cit, 315-320) are sufficient testimony to prove that this link played a fairly crucial role in the contextual framework of cultural and civilizational  amalgamation of the Mediterranean, Semitic and Vedic cultures - particularly the Greek and the Indian.

The earliest written source on the correspondence between Greece and India via the Persian Empire is none other than Herodotus' the Histories (Selincourt, 1972).   The reference made to India and the Indians is actually a by-product, the main purpose of Herodotus being to, 'preserve the memory of the past by putting on record the astonishing achievements both of our own and of other peoples and more particularly to show how they came into conflict' (Histories 1.1)  It is important to note at this juncture that Herodotus' records of most cultures and people is enshrined within this framework and it is from this framework that the extent of and the degrees to which contact between India and Greece can be derived.  Despite the fact that his early life, youth and adventurous spirit and attraction to cultures other than the Greek his birth place, Halicarnassus in the north Aegean coast of Asia Minor was within the territorial limitations of the Persian empire.  Hence he may have been accustomed to a host of cultures which may have filtered to Asia Minor through the influential channel of Persia, like those of Africa, Near East, Russia and the Balkans, Afghanistan as well as had access to information on a variety of topics - religion, philosophy, customs, politics, and language.

Herodotus refers to India and the Indians on several occasions (3.219; 246-247; 7. 467, 468, 471; 8. 562; 9. 589).  Scantly though it is from these that the extent and degrees of correspondence between India and Greece could be derived.

<b>People</b>

Herodotus refers to many barbaric and nomadic Indian tribes.
'There are many tribes of Indians, speaking different languages, some pastoral and nomadic, others not.  Some live in the marsh-country by the river and eat raw flesh which they catch from boats made of reeds - each boat made from a single joint'.  (3.97)

There is also reference to a war like tribe:
'There are other Indians further north, round the city of Caspatyrus and in the country of pactyica, who in their mode of life resemble the Bactrians.  These are the most warlike of the Indian tribes, and it is they who go out to fetch the gold - for in this region there is a sandy desert'.         (3.98)

These northern tribesmen resemble the Bactrians whose Semitic origin Herodotus refers to in 1.154 and 9.114.  Reference to Bactrian culture as sophisticated and in sharp contrast to the pastoral - agricultural people represented in the Rig Veda is made in recent researches.  (Renfrew 1987: 82; Allchin, 1988: 131-41; Lamberg - Karlovsky, 1973: 72).  A point of agreement is referred to by Herodotus to Bactrians as having 'caps almost exactly like those worn by the Medes and were armed with their native cane bows and short spears.'  (7.69) and that the Indians who had joined Hystaspes and Atossa 'carried cane bows and cane arrows tipped with iron and marched under the command of Pharnazathres, the son of Artabates' (7-69). When considered together with the Babylonians, the Sacae, Ionian Greeks and Egyptians Cyrus thinks that it is more important to subdue the Bactrians an account of their almost unconquerable warlike character, (1.154).  If the north Indian tribesmen resembled the Bactrians, then in all probability the former were renowned in war.  The affinity between the Bactrians and the invading Aryans in terms of religious and social conventions is already made (Parpola, 1984: 148-149, 150; Chatterji, 1968: 23-24). So has also the more exclusive hypothetical argumentation that the latter could have originated from the former.  Nothing is more persistent than Herodotus,' own declaration that .. 'their country is a long way from Persia towards the south, and they were never subject to Darius' (3.98)  This means that even though the Aryans, probably of Indo-European or Sumerian stock imposed themselves on the indigenous population of the Indus Valley on account of their superior valour they could not be conquered by the Persians.

<b>Migration</b>

The resemblance between the invading Aryans and the Dorins is an interesting point to note.  Herodotus commenting on the latter concludes that they were of Egyptian origin (6.52) and that they were immigrants like Aeolians, Dryopes and Lemnians (8.73; 1.58).  The Dorians, always being on the move 'migrated to Dryopis and finally settled in the Peloponnese where they got their present name of Dorians.' (1.58)  Of their Pelasgian origin Herodotus has nothing much to say except that they are 'a non-Greek peoples' did not 'ever become very numerous or powerful'(1.58).  However the Aryans who were known to have occupied parts of central Asia were traditionallly known to have originated from a place located to the north of ancient Scythia (Bongard - Levin, 1980: 24).  Now scholars are of the opinion that the Aryans may have ventured to migrate to the subcontinent and elsewhere on account of severe weather conditions.  Herodotus refers to a region which stretches to the vicinity of the Indus Valley: 'The whole region I have been describing has excessively hard winters; for eight months in the year the cold is intolerable; the ground is frozen iron-hard, so that to turn earth into mud requires not water but fire.  The sea freezes over, and the whole of the Cimerian Bosphorus; and the Scythians, who live outside the trench which I mentioned previously, make war upon the ice, and drive waggons across it to the country of the Sindi.  Even apart fromthe eight months' winter, the remaining four months are cold; and a further point of difference between the winters here and in all other parts of the world is that here, in Scythis, no rain worth mentioning falls during what is the usual season for them elsewhere, but only in the summer, when they are very violent; a winter thunderstorm is looked upon as a prodigy, as are earthquakes whether in summer or winter'.  
           (4,  27-28)

That climactic conditions had been a common cause for immigration stretches to the time of the Sumerians.  Changes in the physical geography or the weather patterns may have caused migration more frequent making way for civilizational adaptation and adoption (Crawford, 1991: 5; Adams, 1975, 181-182).  If the Aryans migrated from central Asia to the subcontinent on account of climactic conditions and in search of greener habitation and if their original homeland can be perceived as somewhere in the neighbourhood of Scydia it would be plausible to discern that they could have been familiar with the Scythians and Scythian customs.  Their resemblance with the invading Dorians was felt more dramatically in terms of the affinity of their social order which was apparently a transition from the previously known matrilinear to the patrilinear (Chattopadhyaya, 1975: 150-250). 

That among the tribes living in central Asia and Afghanistan, which were referred to in Greek and Latin sources, were the following is notable:
'Panis (Greek: Parnoi)
Dasa (Iranian: Dahae and Greek: Daai)
Sindhu (Greek: Sindoi)
Parsu (Persians)
Pakhtas (Pakhtoons)
Drbhikas (Iranian: Debhikes)'
(Dhavalikar, 2007: 169)

Among other tribes which settled in the Indo-Iranian and Afghanistan boarder in the 2nd millenium B.C. some have been identified with the Hellenes. (op.cit): 168)
<b>
Flora and Fauna</b>

Herodotus refers to the Indian Ocean on several occasions as a channel of correspondence between the east and the west. (1.205; 2.8; 2.160; 4.42).  He observes it as a single source of several water channels.

'The Caspian is a sea in itself and has no connection with the sea elsewhere unlike the Mediterranean which the Greeks use and what is called the Atlantic beyond the Pillars of Hercules and the Indian Ocean, all of which are in reality parts of a single sea.'  (1.205)

But it is amazing to note that Herodotus knew nothing beyond the vast expanse of the sub continent.  Referring to Asia in general he reaches the conclusion that it is a large portion of a land which so as follow:

'Between Persia and Phoenicia lies a very large area of country; and from Phoenicia the branch I am speaking of runs along the Mediterranean coast through Palestine-Syria to Egypt, where it ends.  It contains three nations only.  Such is Asia from Persia westward; eastward, beyond Media and the territories of the Saspires and Colchians, lies the Red Sea and, at the northern limit, the Caspian Sea and the river Araxes, which flows eastwards.  Asia is inhabited as far as India; further east the country is uninhabited, and nobody knows what it is like.  Such, then, are the shape and size of Asia.'          (4.42)

The proximity between Egypt and the Red Sea, by which the India 'Ocean was known, is notable:

'Egypt itself forms a narrow neck, only about 120 miles across from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea; but it soon broadens out and what is known as Libya covers a very large area.' (4.42)

This closeness is an implication of the dispersion of flora and fauna through the Indian Ocean may certainly have been possible.  The Indian Ocean stretches from the Red Sea to south China, incorporating littoral regions of the Bay of Bengal, the gulf and the Mediterranean.  The dialogue that had taken place between these littoral regions - historically, politically and culturally encapsulating the Near East, Africa, the Mediterranean comprising of Greek states and Roman provinces seems to have been a foundational factor contributing to the dispersion of flora and fauna, of which Herodotus is aware.  Herodotus refers to Indian camels:
'Each man harnesses these camels abreast, a female, on which he rides, in the middle, and a male on each side in a leading-rein, and takes care that the female is one who has as recently as possible dropped her young.  Their camels are as fast as horses, and much more powerful carriers.  There is no need for me to describe the camel, for the Greeks are familiar with what it looks like; one thing, however, I will mention, which will be news to them: the camel in its hind legs has four thighs and four knees, and its genitals point backwards towards its tail.'      (3.98-106)

He then refers to the Indian horse:

'The most easterly country in the inhabited world is, as I said just now, India; and here both animals and birds are much bigger than elsewhere - if we except the Indian horse, which is inferior in size to the Median breed known as the Nemean.'               (3.106)

He rather enthusiastically idnetifies a species of ants encountered by the north Indians who go out digging for gold. It is fascinating to note their size:
'There is found in this desert a kind of ant of great size - bigger than a fix, though not so big as a dog.  Some specimens, which were caught there, are kept at the palace of the Persian king.  these creatures as they burrow underground throw up the sand in heaps, just as our own ants throw up the earth, and they are very like ours in shape.'            (3.98)

He also refers to crocodiles which could have been dispersed to the Greek mainland through the Indian Ocean:

'The greater part of Asia was discovered by Darius.  He wanted to find out where the Indus joins the sea - the Indus is the only river other than the Nile where crocodiles are found - and for this purpose sent off on an expedition down the river a number of men whose word he could trust.'          (4.42-45)

Of flora Herodotus writes:
'There are trees growing wild which produce a kind of wool better than sheep's wool in beauty and quality, which the Indians use for making their clothes.' (3.106)

Reference is made to a particular plant in Heordotus which could be identified with the soma plant.  Herodutus does not name the plant but refers to it as follows:
It would be feasible to develop a hypothesis that the juicy drink made with plants and herbs in several parts of Vedic India would have had some resemblance to this plant which Herodotus records:  

'There is a plant which grows wild in their country, and has seeds in pod about the size of a millet seed, they gather this and boil and wet it, pod and all.'  (3.98)

Four different variations of the plant soma is found in north India, Afghanistan, Iran, Hindukush, Chitral and Baluchistan (Kochbar, 1999: 109).  The birthplace of this plant is now believed to be located in some region between Gandhara and Bactria, the present region of Kabul, Afghanistan (Bhangara, 2001: 58).  An important drink offering during the Vedic period especially when the Aryan invaders of India had not yet separated from their kinsmen who invaded Persia, the term  soma and haoma are identical.  This implies the importance attached to libations in the religions of the Indians and the Persians (Jevons, 1988: 36).  the religious value of this particular drink offering referred to as soma or haoma, but not so named in Herodotus though, as a thank offering receives an elevated degree of reverence in the religious duties and rituals of the Brahmans whose ritualistic offerings of soma or the libation itself was viewed as the god, Soma (Jevons; 1988; 37)

Herodotus observes the degree of prosperity of the land of the Indians, particularly considering the amount of tribute paid to Persia:

'The Indians, most populous nation in the known world paid the largest sum: 360 talents of gold-dust.'  (3.92)

Reference to Indian gold is made also in 3.98 and 3.106.  This clearly denotes the idea that Herodotus was aware of the wealth and resources of India.

<b>Religion</b>

The most fascinatingly influential element in Indian culture that had fused into the Greek context to which Herodotus refers to is its mystical tradition incorporating such ascetic practices like vegetarianism and non-violence.  He records of a particular Indian tribe,
'Which behaves very differently: they will not take life in any form; they sow no seed and have no houses and live on a vegetable diet.'    (3.98)

That this Indian sect resemble those who advocated non-violence to all living organisms, the Buddhists and Jains is already noted (Gareth, 1937: 3).  The doctrines of a host of Greek religious teachers like Orpheus and philosophers like Pythagoras, Empedocles, Plato, the Cynics, the Sceptics, the Neoplatonics and the Neopythagoreans reflect the association with sacred esoteric knowledge which filtered into Greece via eastern sources but stemming originally from the Brahmanical doctrines in the Vedic and post-Vedic periods of the sub-continent.  Orpheus the earliest known Greek humanitarian who prohibited any form of violence to animals insisted on the value of a vegetarian diet is known to have acquainted the Persian magi and Phrygio-Thracian prophets whose teachings were accepted by a select minority who favoured the practice. (Frogs, vs.1030-36 ;Hippolytus, vs. 951-52; Laws, 6. 782C)

Of Pythagoras and his acquaintance with the Hindu Brahmins Garbe writes as follows:

'It is not too much to assume that the curious Greek who was a contemporary of Buddha and it may be of Zoroaster too would have acquired a more or less exact knowledge of the East in that age of intellectual fermentation through the medium of Persia.  It must be remembered in this connection that the Asiatic Greeks, at the time when Pythagoras still dwelt in his Ionian home were under the single sway of Cyrus the founder of the Persian Empire.' (Gareth, 1937: 4) That an amalgamation of cultures, Indian and Greek, did take place can be accepted on the grounds of this infiltration of ideas.  The later Hellenistic philosophers who maintained contacts with the Indian Gymnosophists, a Greek expression for sages of India and a group of imaginary sages from Ethiopia, were more akin to this infiltration.  Plutarch refers to Alexander's meeting with Gymnophists when he visited Punjab (Life of Alexander).  Apollonius of Tyana also refers to these Gymnosophists (viii. 19; 20, vi. 10-12; 18.22)

With this infiltration of ideas another predominant topic that pervaded the entire Hindu religious tradition attracts attention and that is reincarnation or metempsychosis of which Herodotus notes in 2.123.  But Herodotus does not emphatically mention India or the Indians as its precursors.  the Indian ascetic tradition to which Herodotus refers very briefly in 3.98 has some parallels to the recent Hindu expressions related to virtue and an existence devoid of malice; ego; vice.  Swami Vivekananda notes:

'A needle covered up with clay will not be attracted by a magnet but as soon as the clay is washed off it will be attracted....  God is the magnet and human soul is the needle.'
(Vivekananda, 1998: 278)

The Platonic conception of the soul's levels of realization and subsequent reunion with Beauty itself is observed in the Symposium, 211c.  Further in the Republic Plato adds another level beyond Beauty to the transcendent One.  This is expressed most succinctly in the description of the prisoner who had escaped from the dark cave:

'At first he would more easily discern the shadows and after that the likenesses or reflections in water of men and other things and later the things themselves, and from these he would go on to contemplation and appearances in the heavens and heaven itself more easily by night, looking at the light of the stars and the moon; than by day the sun and the sun's light. ...  And so finally, I suppose, he would be able to look upon the sun .... in and by itself.'       (516 a-b)

This idea is further demonstrated by Iamblichus the Neoplatonist who admits that there is a possibility for the soul to link with the higher causal order:
'So then Intellect, as leader and king of the realm of Being and the art which creates the universe is present continuously and uniformly to the gods perfectly and self sufficiently free from any deficiency established in itself purely and in accordance with one sole activity while the soul participates in a partial and multiform intellect.'
(On the Mysteries, 1.7 (21.14-22.4)

The presence of Intellect itself to the gods suggests that a highest level of realization accomplished by the human soul represents the culmination and highest summit of insight.

To sum up then, Herodotus' reference to India and the Indians in his the Histories lends support to the cultural and civilizational amalgamation between the subcontinent and Greece at an early phase of antiquity, namely the 5th cen. B.C.  Its attraction has been brought to the attention of both early and recent authors whose commentaries are invaluable for a proper understanding of its extent.

References

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