Megasthenes was an ancient Greek historian, indologist, diplomat, ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period.
14 Facts About Megasthenes
1.
2.
Megasthenes described India in his book Indica, which is lost, but has been partially reconstructed from literary fragments found in later authors that quoted his work.
3.
Megasthenes was the first person from the Western world to leave a written description of India.
4.
Megasthenes spent time at the court of Sibyrtius, who was a satrap of Arachosia under Antigonus I and then Seleucus I Megasthenes was then an ambassador for Seleucid king Seleucus I Nicator and to the court of the Mauryan Emperor Chandragupta Maurya in Pataliputra.
5.
Megasthenes was a Greek ambassador of Seleucus I Nicator in the court of Chandragupta Maurya.
6.
Arrian explains that Megasthenes lived in Arachosia, with the satrap Sibyrtius, from where he visited India:.
7.
Megasthenes lived with Sibyrtius, satrap of Arachosia, and often speaks of his visiting Sandracottus, the king of the Indians.
8.
Megasthenes visited Pataliputra sometime during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya but it is not certain which other parts of India he visited.
9.
Megasthenes appears to have passed through the Punjab region in north-western India, as he provides a detailed account of the rivers in this area.
10.
Megasthenes must have then traveled to Pataliputra along the Yamuna and the Ganga rivers.
11.
The dates of Megasthenes' visit or visits to India is uncertain and disputed among scholars.
12.
Arrian claims that Megasthenes met Porus; this implies that Megasthenes accompanied Alexander the Great during the Macedonian invasion of India.
13.
Megasthenes then compiled information about India in the form of Indica, a document which is a lost work.
14.
Diodorus quotes Megasthenes while omitting some parts of his narratives.