Thread by @oulosP

THREAD:

This is a continuously updated thread on Greek history, influence, culture, philosophy etc in India.

Relief of Dionysus, God of religious ecstasy, in Nagarjunakonda, Southern India, 3rd century CE.

Dionysus was called Nysian or Nysean (Νύσιος) by the Indians.

#India

Greek mythological hero Heracles/Iraklis/Hercules depiction of Vajrapani as the protector of the Buddha, 2nd century AD Gandhara.

Heracles was the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene.

The relief can be seen in the British museum.

The coinage (circa 180 BC) of King Agathocles the Just (Greek: Ἀγαθοκλῆς ὁ Δίκαιος), a Greco-Bactrian/Indo-Greek king.

The coins incorporated the Brahmi and Greek script and several deities from India, interpreted as Vishnu, Shiva, Vasudeva, Balarama or the Buddha.

The Heliodorus pillar, erected circa 115 BCE by Indo-Greek ambassador Heliodorus, is the first known inscription related to Vaishnavism in India. Heliodorus was one of the earliest recorded Indo-Greek converts to Hinduism.

Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription (Greek and Aramaic) by King Ashoka.

Found in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Sirkap (Urdu: سرکپ) in today's Punjab (Pakistan) was built by the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius after he invaded ancient India at around 180 BC.

According to the Mahavamsa, the Great Stupa in Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka) was dedicated by Mahadharmaraksita, a Greek Buddhist master who lived during the reign of the Indo-Greek king Menander, and his 30,000-strong "Yona" (Greek) delegation at around 130 BC.

Kanishka coin with Greek lettering "ΒΟΔΔΟ" (Buddha), Kushan Empire, 2nd century CE.

Greek sculptures on the Chakhil-i-Ghoundi Stupa, Gandhara, Afghanistan.

Greek Gods and the "Wheel of the Law" or Dharmachakra:

Left: Zeus holding Nike, who hands a victory wreath over a Dharmachakra (coin of Menander II).

Right: Divinity wearing chlamys and petasus pushing a Dharmachakra, with legend "He who sets in motion the Wheel of the Law."