Cultural Consequences of Central Asian Contact

At a Glance

• Groups Greeks, Shakas, Parthians, Kushanas
• Military Better cavalry, reins, saddles
• Polity Satraps, dual rule, divine kingship
• Literature Sanskrit kavya, Hybrid Sanskrit
• Science Astronomy, glass-making
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Post-Mauryan Period and Early South India

Where Does It Fit?

This is the fourth topic of the category on the post-Mauryan period. The previous topic covered the Kushanas, and this one covers the cultural results of Central Asian contact. The next topic covers Mahayana Buddhism and Gandhara and Mathura art. Previous topic: Kushanas and Kanishka.

What Changed in Material Life and Warfare?

In short: the invaders brought building techniques, new cavalry methods, dress and trade links.

The Shaka-Kushan phase saw a distinct advance in building activities. Excavations show several layers of construction at north Indian sites, with burnt bricks used for flooring and tiles for flooring and roofing, though tiles may not have been adopted from outside, and brick walls were built. The typical pottery was red ware, plain and polished, including sprinklers and spouted channels like the thin red pottery in Kushan layers in Central Asia. The Shakas and Kushans were excellent horsemen and introduced better cavalry and the large-scale use of the riding horse. They popularised reins and saddles, which appear in Buddhist sculpture of the second and third centuries AD, and presumably the rope toe stirrup. They brought the turban, tunic, trousers and heavy long coat; Afghans and Punjabis still wear turbans, and the sherwani descends from the long coat. They also brought the cap, helmet and boots. This military technology later spread in India, and dependent princes used it against their former conquerors. Better wares and trade ties are in Milinda Panho Guilds Shrenis; at least two…">Crafts, Commerce and Urban Growth (200 BC to AD 250).

How Did Trade, Polity and Society Change?

The contact established intimate links between Central Asia and India. India received a great fund of gold from the Altai mountains, and perhaps from trade with Rome. The Kushans controlled the Silk Route and drew toll income, and promoted large-scale irrigation in Pakistan, Afghanistan and western Central Asia. The Central Asian conquerors imposed their rule on numerous petty native princes, which led to a feudatory organisation, shown in the title king of kings. The Shakas and Kushans strengthened the idea of the divine origin of kingship: the Kushans called themselves sons of god, borrowing from the Chinese son of heaven, and the lawgiver Manu says the king, even a child, is a great god ruling as a human. The Kushans strengthened the satrap system begun by the Shakas, and began hereditary dual rule with father and son ruling jointly, so there was less centralisation. The Greeks introduced military governors called strategos.

The Greeks, Shakas, Parthians and Kushans eventually became Indianised and were absorbed mainly as a warrior class, kshatriyas. Manu explained that the Shakas and Parthians were kshatriyas who had fallen from their duties, which made them second-class kshatriyas. In no other period of ancient Indian history were foreigners assimilated on such a large scale. The rulers took Indian names and religions; some Central Asian rulers adopted Vaishnavism, the Greek Menander became a Buddhist, and the Kushans worshipped both Shiva and the Buddha, whose images appear on their coins, while Vasudeva bears the name of Krishna. The political side is in Kushanas and Kanishka.

What Happened in Language, Learning and Science?

The Kushans issued coins and inscriptions in Greek, Kharoshthi and Brahmi scripts and used Greek, Prakrit, Sanskrit-influenced Prakrit and, near the end, pure Sanskrit. Some Central Asian princes patronised Sanskrit: the earliest example of the kavya style is the Junagadh inscription of Rudradaman about AD 150, after which inscriptions began to be composed in chaste Sanskrit, though Prakrit survived until the fourth century and later. Ashvaghosha, patronised by the Kushans, wrote the Buddhacharita, a biography of the Buddha, and the Saundarananda, a fine kavya. The growth of Mahayana led to the avadanas, composed in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, such as the Mahavastu and Divyavadana. The curtain entered Indian theatre under Greek influence and was called yavanika; some scholars doubt Greek influence on the plan of theatres, such as the Ramgarh hill caves. Around 150 BC Patanjali mentions scenes enacted, and Bharata’s Natyashastra marks full theatre. The Kamasutra of Vatsyayana, attributed to the third century AD, shows city life in a time of thriving urbanism.

In science, Indian astronomy and astrology profited from the Greeks, and Greek terms for planetary movement appear in Sanskrit; horoscope gave horashastra, and drachma became drama. In medicine, botany and chemistry India owed nothing striking to the Greeks, and the Charakasamhita and Sushruta dealt with these. India sent embassies to Augustus in AD 27 to 28 and to Trajan in AD 110 to 120. Glass-making progressed more in this period than in any other of ancient India, under foreign influence. The Sassanians held the lower Indus by the third century, and an inscription of AD 262 uses the term Hindustan for the region. As an analytical point, the period shows India absorbing as well as giving, as the invaders took their script, language and religion from India while bringing in military and technical ideas; the religious aspects follow in Mahayana Buddhism and the Gandhara and Mathura Schools of Art.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Cultural synthesis Core theme of the period
• Terms Yavanika, strategos
• Assimilation Foreigners as kshatriyas

What Came Next?

The next topic describes Mahayana Buddhism and the Gandhara and Mathura schools of art. Next topic: Mahayana Buddhism and the Gandhara and Mathura Schools of Art.

Key People and Terms

• Strategos Greek military governor
• Yavanika Theatre curtain
• Kavya Ornate poetry style
• Hybrid Sanskrit Buddhist Sanskrit-Prakrit blend
• Satrap Provincial governor
• Avadana Life stories and teachings

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask about the impact on Indian society and culture. These points add depth.

• Material Cavalry, dress
• Political Satraps, divine kingship
• Cultural Language, theatre, science