Where Greek Meets Indian: Sirkap, an Ancient City in Pakistan
When Alexander the Great invaded the Far East, his armies were awed by the strange cultures, exotic animals and unknown religions of India. Alexander promoted a fusion of cultures and his successors endeavored to adopt the cultures and blend in to their conquered environments. So too did Demetrios I, a young king of Greek origin, establish the wealthy city of Sirkap, (in present-day Pakistan) where excavations reveal a rich fusion of Greek and Indian cultures.
Location of Mauryan Empire CC BY-SA 3.0
Prelude to the Indo-Greek Empire
By 317 BC, in the aftermath of the death of Alexander the Great, Chandragupta the founder of the Mauryan Empire (present-day north-western India) had conquered the satraps and defeated Seleucus I, a Macedonian general from Alexander's army.
