In fact, the Roman Empire had long-lasting trade ties with ancient India – finely woven cotton cloth that felt like air was a luxury fashion item for centuries, which actually cost more than Chinese silk! Roman gold and silver poured into India, and many coins have been found all over India – ranging from the time of the first Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar in the 30s BC, to Justinian I, 600 years later! You might be wondering why Roman coins make an appearance in this list. In fact, the earliest known depiction of Lord Krishna is on the coin of a King Agathokles, who depicts him in a chiton (an ancient Greek dress worn by men), along with his chakra! (from bottom left) Coin of Indo-Greek king Apollodotos I, Coin of the Bactrian King Agathokles(Source: Classical Numismatic Group/Wikimedia Commons), Demetrius I MET coin, Coin of Menander (Source: Wikimedia Commons) 3. They started worshipping the Buddha and Hindu gods like Vishnu and Krishna. Over time, these Indo-Greek kings became ever more Indian. The early coins seem like they could have come directly from Greece itself, with their diadems and helmets, Greek scripts and Greek goddesses, and Greek names like Demetrios and Appollodotos. We know about them mostly from their coins. From around 200 BC, many Greek adventures rode off with their armies to try their hand at conquering their own little kingdoms in the fabled land of golden fortune, India. He died soon after, but for many centuries, a Greek ruling class endured in large swathes of Central Asia. The Indo-GreeksĪs Alexander carried on his swift conquests eastward, he stationed Greek troops in all the lands from Greece up to India. Kosala Karshapana (Source: CNG Coins/Wikimedia Commons) 2.
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