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So, I thought I was well-informed in history...
My idea of ancient history has always been fairly compartmentalized. Mediterranean stuff over hear, India over there, China over *there*. Some India-China crosstalk, and Alexander marching to India, but no big deal. Of course there was trade in silk and spices, but not *ideas*, right? Well, apart from Hindu numerals turning into Arabic numerals. Nestorian Christians ended up in China but I didn't know of their mattering. (I still don't.) Nothing like Japanese gods being based on Greek ones, say.
My idea of ancient history has always been fairly compartmentalized. Mediterranean stuff over hear, India over there, China over *there*. Some India-China crosstalk, and Alexander marching to India, but no big deal. Of course there was trade in silk and spices, but not *ideas*, right? Well, apart from Hindu numerals turning into Arabic numerals. Nestorian Christians ended up in China but I didn't know of their mattering. (I still don't.) Nothing like Japanese gods being based on Greek ones, say.
Some years ago in a museum I saw some "Indian" art which screamed of Greekness to me, though my friend Sarah [not on LJ] didn't see it. "Real people" faces, defined muscles, togas, Greek columns... fortunately the placards were informative, telling me about Gandhara (Pakistan) in the 2nd century, where post-Alexander influence and Roman trade stimulated a lot of art like this. Well and good, and I've always liked seeking out Gandharan art in museums since then, but still, no big deal.
But last night I started Amartya Sen's The Argumentative Indian, and he mentioned Buddhism having been more dominant for a while in India than I'd realized, which sent me to Wikipedia to look up the history of Buddhism, and that led to a bunch of discoveries. Such as the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, a powerful Greek kingdom in Afghanistan, and its offshoot the Indo-Greek kingdoms to the east, and their great conqueror Menander, who's compared to Alexander and who converted to Buddhism, and "Greco-Buddhism" itself. The Buddhist king Ashoka mentions where he sent missionaries to, showing a clear knowledge of the whole Hellenistic world. The philosopher Pyrrho accompanied Alexander, then went home and founded Skepticism. Democritus is rumored to have travelled to India (pre-Alexander, but post-Carvaka). Some suspect Greek influence in Chinese statuary, specifically an uptick of realism in the latter. Buddhist communities in Alexandria are described by Clement and attested to by gravestones, as well as Buddhist missionaries or ambassadors in Athens and the Levant in Jesus's time (one of whom set himself on fire -- a fine old tradition.) Herakles is said to have been a model for images of Vajrapani and Japanese temple Guardian Deities. The Greek wind god Boreas looks a lot like the Shinto wind god Fujin, particular in depictions of a windsack borne by both gods. And the Romans were silk-crazy to the point that the Senate tried (and failed) to prohibit it, though this is back to plain old material trade.
But last night I started Amartya Sen's The Argumentative Indian, and he mentioned Buddhism having been more dominant for a while in India than I'd realized, which sent me to Wikipedia to look up the history of Buddhism, and that led to a bunch of discoveries. Such as the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, a powerful Greek kingdom in Afghanistan, and its offshoot the Indo-Greek kingdoms to the east, and their great conqueror Menander, who's compared to Alexander and who converted to Buddhism, and "Greco-Buddhism" itself. The Buddhist king Ashoka mentions where he sent missionaries to, showing a clear knowledge of the whole Hellenistic world. The philosopher Pyrrho accompanied Alexander, then went home and founded Skepticism. Democritus is rumored to have travelled to India (pre-Alexander, but post-Carvaka). Some suspect Greek influence in Chinese statuary, specifically an uptick of realism in the latter. Buddhist communities in Alexandria are described by Clement and attested to by gravestones, as well as Buddhist missionaries or ambassadors in Athens and the Levant in Jesus's time (one of whom set himself on fire -- a fine old tradition.) Herakles is said to have been a model for images of Vajrapani and Japanese temple Guardian Deities. The Greek wind god Boreas looks a lot like the Shinto wind god Fujin, particular in depictions of a windsack borne by both gods. And the Romans were silk-crazy to the point that the Senate tried (and failed) to prohibit it, though this is back to plain old material trade.