INDICA-India in the Antiquity- Ancient Greek Historians

INDICA India in the Antiquity- Ancient Greek Historians ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Arrian ///////////////////////////////////////////////// http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrian //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Indica is the name of an ancient book about India written by Arrian, one of the main ancient historians of Alexander the Great. The book mainly tells the story of Alexander's officer Nearchus’ voyage from India to the Persian Gulf after Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Indus Valley. However, much of the importance of the work comes from Arrian’s in depth asides describing the history, geography, and culture of the ancient Indian subcontinent. Arrian wrote his Indica in the Ionic dialect, taking Herodotus for his literary mode. //////////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////////////////////////// Megasthenes ////////////////////////////////////////// http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megasthenes ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// His Indica served as an important source for many later writers such as Strabo and Arrian. He describes such features as the Himalayas and the island of Sri Lanka. He also describes a caste system different from the one that exists today, which shows that the caste system may to some extent be fluid and evolve. However, it might be that, being a foreigner, he was not adequately informed about the caste system. His description follows: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strabo /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ................................ Nearchus (Greek: Νέαρχος, Nearchos; c. 360 - 300 BC) was one of the officers, a navarch, in the army of Alexander the Great. His celebrated voyage from what is now Pakistan to Susa after Alexander's expedition in north-western Indian subcontinent is preserved in Arrian's account, the Indica. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ........................................ However, he remained in command of the fleet for the voyage from the Indus to the Persian Gulf, which he recorded in detail (and which was used extensively for Arrian’s Indica). Again, although he was the admiral, in command of the fleet, great seamanship was not required – the naval responsibilities were Onesicritus’. During the voyage, Nearchus was reputedly the first Greek commander to visit Bahrain, which was called Tylos by the Greeks. His visit marked the start of Bahrain's inclusion within the Hellenic world, which culminated in the worship of Zeus (as the Arab sun god, Shams) and Greek being spoken as the language of the upper classes. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylos ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TYLOS=Bahrain ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Tylos even became the site of Greek athletic contests ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Although Bahrain was ruled variously by the Arab tribes of Bani Wa’el and Persian governors, Bahrain continued to be known by its Greek name Tylos until the 7th century, when many of its inhabitants converted to Islam. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////