401:, have characterized Megasthenes as a generally reliable source of Indian history. Schwanbeck finds faults only with Megasthenes's description of the gods worshipped in India. Brown is more critical of Megasthenes, but notes that Megasthenes visited only a small part of India, and must have relied on others for his observations: some of these observations seem to be erroneous, but others cannot be ignored by modern researchers. Thus, although he was often misled by the erroneous information provided by others, his work remained the principal source of information about India to subsequent writers.
207:
291:
rivers. The exact dates of his visit to India, and the duration of his stay in India are not certain. The dates of
Megasthenes' visit or visits to India is uncertain and disputed among scholars. A.B. Bosworth argued for an early date pre-Seleucus. This is contested by Stoneman and others who argue
198:). Dating for his journey to the Mauryan court is uncertain; Seleucus I reigned from 305 to 281 BCE for the loose range of years that Megasthenes' mission might have begun.
367:(1st century CE) calls Megasthenes a liar for writing fabulous stories about India; he also brands as liars the other earlier writers on India, including
1014:
472:
Roller, Duane W., "Megasthenes (715)", in: Brill’s New Jacoby, General Editor: Ian
Worthington (Macquarie University). First published online: 2016
279:
sometime during the reign of
Chandragupta Maurya but it is not certain which other parts of India he visited. He appears to have passed through the
957:
361:(2nd century BCE) accuses Megasthenes of engaging in falsehood, although he apparently borrowed much of his content about India from Megasthenes.
166:
found in later authors that quoted his work. Megasthenes was the first person from the
Western world to leave a written description of India.
174:
While
Megasthenes's account of India has survived in the later works, little is known about him as a person. He spent time at the court of
283:
in north-western India, as he provides a detailed account of the rivers in this area. He must have then traveled to
Pataliputra along the
354:(1st century BCE) quotes Megasthenes while omitting some parts of his narratives. Other writers explicitly criticize Megasthenes:
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963:
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859:
119:
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141:
989:
1064:
1059:
689:
Three Greek ambassadors are known by name: Megasthenes, ambassador to
Chandragupta; Deimachus, ambassador to
551:
994:
1019:
385:(1st century CE) criticizes Megasthenes's description of the fabulous races of India, and his account of
1054:
999:
693:
son
Bindusara; and Dyonisius, whom Ptolemy Philadelphus sent to the court of Ashoka, Bindusara's son
798:
410:
398:
386:
828:
420:
331:
129:
672:
571:
509:
847:
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under
Antigonus I and then Seleucus I. Megasthenes was then an ambassador for Seleucid king
778:
757:
154:
63:
8:
690:
305:
231:
191:
504:
From Polis to Empire, the
Ancient World, C. 800 B.C.-A.D. 500: A Biographical Dictionary
253:
Megasthenes lived with Sibyrtius, satrap of Arachosia, and often speaks of his visiting
918:
832:
605:
316:
267:
227:
187:
159:
145:
379:. According to Strabo, "no faith whatever can be placed in Deimachos and Megasthenes".
937:
908:
855:
802:
763:
678:
577:
513:
502:
163:
351:
78:
674:
The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies
652:
A.B Bosworth, The Historical Setting of Megasthenes, Indica, CPh. 91, 1996, 113-27
889:
878:
794:
The Land of the Elephant Kings: Space, Territory, and Ideology in Seleucid Empire
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601:
382:
301:
900:
843:
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901:"How the hoopoe got his crest: reflections on Megasthenes' stories of India"
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276:
219:
206:
836:
816:
848:"Apologetic Ethnography: Megasthenes' Indica and the Seleucid Elephant"
350:(2nd century CE) is the only one who speaks favorably of Megasthenes.
425:
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368:
327:
323:
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239:
215:
183:
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322:
Other Greek envoys to the Indian court are known after Megasthenes:
140:
290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, indologist, diplomat,
390:
376:
463:
Stoneman, R. The Greek Experience of India (Princeton, 2019), p129
722:
720:
319:. It partially survives in form of quotations by later writers.
933:
The Greek experience of India: from Alexander to the Indo-Greeks
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Modern scholars such as E. A. Schwanbeck, B. C. J. Timmer, and
364:
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Megasthenes and Indian Religion: A Study in Motives and Types
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He then compiled information about India in the form of
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for a date following the Mauryan-Seleucid settlement of
533:
531:
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120:
111:
105:
96:
661:
Stoneman, R., The Greek Experience of India, 130-135
817:"Plagiarism and prejudices in Megasthenes's Indica"
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87:
81:
501:
553:The Historical Atlas, "Mediaeval Commerce (Asia)"
971:
755:
738:
726:
625:
569:
570:Heirman, Ann; Bumbacher, Stephan Peter (2007).
887:
936:. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University press.
447:"Hercules lived here: Megasthenes's 'Indika'"
776:
711:
640:
484:
304:; this implies that Megasthenes accompanied
162:, but has been partially reconstructed from
814:
891:India as Known to Kauṭilya and Megasthenes
876:
821:Proceedings of the Indian History Congress
850:. In Eran Almagor, Joseph Skinner (ed.).
308:during the Macedonian invasion of India.
929:
905:Ancient Historiography on War and Empire
898:
549:
205:
190:and to the court of the Mauryan Emperor
16:Ancient Greek ethnographer and explorer
1015:Ancient Greece–Ancient India relations
972:
960:, as reconstructed from later accounts
842:
787:
537:
508:. Greenwood Publishing Group. p.
499:
444:
226:Megasthenes was a Greek ambassador of
495:
493:
964:Ancient India as described by Arrian
565:
563:
880:Die sieben "Kasten" des Megasthenes
852:Ancient Ethnography: New Approaches
238:explains that Megasthenes lived in
13:
870:
596:
490:
14:
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951:
780:India as Described by Megasthenes
560:
966:based on accounts by Megasthenes
907:. Oxbow Books. pp. 188–99.
201:
77:
748:
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445:Patel., Aakar (8 August 2020).
249:, from where he visited India:
903:. In Stoneman, Richard (ed.).
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1:
550:Shepherd, William R. (1926).
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671:Thomas C. Mcevilley (2012).
315:, a document which is now a
300:claims that Megasthenes met
169:
7:
1030:3rd-century BC Greek people
1025:4th-century BC Greek people
404:
346:Among the ancient writers,
10:
1081:
1050:3rd-century BC geographers
1045:4th-century BC geographers
930:Stoneman, Richard (2019).
899:Stoneman, Richard (2017).
500:Traver, Andrew G. (2002).
257:, the king of the Indians.
133:
1040:3rd-century BC historians
1035:4th-century BC historians
1010:Ancient Greek ambassadors
980:Ancient Greek geographers
894:. Kusumanjali Book World.
854:. Bloomsbury Publishing.
756:Allan Dahlaquist (1996).
677:. Allworth. p. 538.
56:
48:
35:
30:
23:
985:Ancient Anatolian Greeks
799:Harvard University Press
399:Truesdell Sparhawk Brown
1005:Ancient Greek explorers
888:Shri Ram Goyal (2001).
829:Indian History Congress
762:. Motilal Banarsidass.
214:, Megasthenes lived in
194:in Pataliputra (modern
990:Hellenistic-era people
576:. BRILL. p. 135.
573:The Spread of Buddhism
273:
223:
52:Historian and diplomat
1065:3rd-century BC deaths
1060:4th-century BC births
777:N. S. Kalota (1978).
739:Allan Dahlaquist 1996
727:Allan Dahlaquist 1996
626:Allan Dahlaquist 1996
411:Megasthenes' Herakles
251:
209:
815:U. P. Arora (1982),
275:Megasthenes visited
144:and explorer in the
995:Historians of India
958:Fragments of Indika
877:Harry Falk (1982).
334:, as ambassador to
306:Alexander the Great
232:Chandragupta Maurya
192:Chandragupta Maurya
1020:Explorers of India
268:Anabasis Alexandri
228:Seleucus I Nicator
224:
188:Seleucus I Nicator
164:literary fragments
146:Hellenistic period
1055:Ancient explorers
1000:Greek Indologists
943:978-0-691-15403-9
914:978-1-78570-299-0
808:978-0-674-72882-0
769:978-81-208-1323-6
712:N. S. Kalota 1978
684:978-1-58115-933-2
641:N. S. Kalota 1978
583:978-90-04-15830-6
519:978-0-313-30942-7
485:N. S. Kalota 1978
326:as ambassador to
218:and travelled to
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628:, p. 9.
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255:Sandracottus
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178:, who was a
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152:in his book
142:ethnographer
72:
71:
62:
58:Notable work
18:
831:: 171–180,
538:Kosmin 2014
373:Onesicritus
277:Pataliputra
242:, with the
220:Pataliputra
73:Megasthenes
25:Megasthenes
974:Categories
783:. Concept.
432:References
342:Assessment
134:Μεγασθένης
31:Μεγασθένης
451:The Hindu
426:Demodamas
421:Patrocles
416:Herodotus
369:Deimachus
332:Dionysius
328:Bindusara
324:Deimachus
317:lost work
296:303 BCE.
247:Sibyrtius
240:Arachosia
216:Arachosia
184:Arachosia
176:Sibyrtius
170:Biography
125:-thi-neez
846:(2013).
837:44141228
791:(2014),
607:Anabasis
602:"Book 5"
405:See also
391:Dionysus
387:Herakles
377:Nearchus
352:Diodorus
287:and the
260:—
136:, died
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921:
911:
858:
835:
805:
766:
681:
598:Arrian
580:
516:
365:Strabo
348:Arrian
336:Ashoka
330:, and
313:Indica
298:Arrian
285:Yamuna
263:Arrian
244:satrap
236:Arrian
212:Arrian
180:satrap
155:Indica
64:Indica
919:JSTOR
833:JSTOR
302:Porus
289:Ganga
196:Patna
150:India
938:ISBN
909:ISBN
856:ISBN
803:ISBN
764:ISBN
679:ISBN
578:ISBN
514:ISBN
389:and
160:lost
36:Died
510:252
182:of
123:GAS
121:mi-
976::
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