Hi there, you're listening to The Hellenistic Age podcast.

Episode 78, the Indo-Greeks, Heracles, Menander, and the Buddha. The region of Gendarra, encompassing much of Pakistan and Eastern Afghanistan, was a major hub of political, commercial, and cultural activity in the ancient world.

One of the most important contributions of the region was the cultivation of Buddhism,

one of the great religions of the world that had been established centuries earlier by Siddhartha Gautama,

later known as the Buddha.

It is no surprise that during their invasion of India, the Indo-Greek kings made Gondara their base of power.

Following nearly two centuries of occupation, a mingling of Buddhist and Hellenic traditions occurred in Gondara's

cosmopolitan environment, manifesting in both art and literature in powerful and enchanting ways.

From its origins in roughly the 5th century BC, Buddhism was largely

a philosophical movement rather than a strictly religious one. The figure known as Siddhartha Gautama,

or Shakya Muni, sage of the Shakyakya clan, had established his teachings in the region of Magada

along the lower Ganges. In the centuries after his death, it remained localized in the region of Magada along the lower Ganges.

In the centuries after his death, it remained localized in the Ghanjic plain, but the rule of

the Morian emperors would provide the opportunity to propel it to the status of a major world religion.

Ashoka the Great, the third of his dynasty who ruled from roughly 268 to 232, became a similar figure as

Constantine was for Christianity. After a particularly brutal conquest of the Kalinga

peoples along the Bay of Bengal, Ashoka experienced something of a moral epiphany over his

warlike behavior, and in his repentance, he found himself a devoted patron, if not convert,

of Buddhism. Under his direction, thousands of monuments and temples were built across his empire,

and missionaries carrying the Buddha's message were sent throughout India and beyond.

While its modern population is overwhelmingly Muslim in practice, Gendarri received many

of these missions, and Buddhism became deeply entrenched in the region, giving rise to a core

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