WHEN THE GREEKS CONVERTED THE BUDDHA: ASYMMETRICAL TRANSFERS OF KNOWLEDGE IN INDO-GREEK CULTURES

Following the theme of this volume, this article will revisit the documented effects of Hellenistic conquests and commercial activities on the development of new forms of religious knowledge at the core and fringes of Indo-Greek communities. It will be shown that international trading centres and routes substantially enhanced the frequency and intensity of cultural exchange between Greek travellers and settlers in the Hellenistic East, following the campaigns of alexander the Great (356–323 B.C.E.), and Indian and Central Asian Laymen, ascetics and missionary Buddhists monks. The flow of commodities broke through not only geographical borders, but also ethnic, political, linguistic