Abandoned History: The Greek Buddhist King Who Conquered India 

Thanks so much🙏. Actually my favorite comment I’ve gotten since I’ve started. Makes me so happy that people really care about the work I do. Very chill comment of you @justachilldude

Much appreciated Kushinburg! Hope it covered what you were looking for. Also thanks for sending me a couple resources on the topic!

Thank you Luis, I’m glad you enjoyed!

That’s awesome to know Steven! Thanks for the words of encouragement, it’s stuff like this that keeps me passionate!

So glad that you enjoyed!

Of course! I’m not a Christian personally but to me, getting rid of AD and BC is just another shameless attempt at revisionism.

This culture uses the Gregorian calendar charted days weeks months and years much work went into developing it and it is one of the world's if not the most accurate calendar when people use other markings other than BC and AD they just want to dechristianize but you can't get away from the fact the Gregorian calendar is a Christian calendar but the Jews and the Muslims chart time differently they have different years settings on their calendars but I don't hear anybody trying to stop Muslims and Jews also Hindus on how to chart time if that happened it would be bloody murder but thank you for respecting scholarship and actual fact you do great work keep it up

I love this idea a lot, will be covering this topic in the coming weeks. Thanks a bunch for the suggestion!!

Certainty, as someone of Buddhist faith myself I find it to be extremely interesting. I will let you know once I post another video regarding Buddhism and the Greeks. But my most recent video on Mongolia touches on some aspect of Buddhism as well. Especially as a political force in during early 20th century of Mongolian history.

Poor alexender killed by porus Sellucus sell his doughter to save his life from Indian king Pushyamitra Shunga kill indi Greek millnda Indian history>>>> Greek Western countries fooled u to feel superior.. See recent historian

Please do more of these Buddhist related videos. Especially its history along the silk road and interactions with various cultures!

Thanks Vicente for the support. I really appreciate it. I post every Monday!

Thanks for the suggestion Enzo! Much appreciated 👍

Thanks for the kind words! Great suggestion as well!!

Thanks Wilson, I really appreciate you watching many of the vids on my channel!!

I appreciate it Adam. I will certainly look into but I definitely recommend checking out @StoicHistorian for coverage of that region.

@@abandonedhistoryUS Thank you good sir I will do as you reccomend. 😎👍

I was planning on releasing one on the last Prince of Theodoro either this or next month. I’ll give you a shout when it comes out for sure. I’m loving that my viewers love the subjects in history that I love.

☸️☸️🪷🙏🙏

😂much appreciated and happy that I could provide!

Of course brotha!

🙏🙏🙏

Thanks so much for the kind words and suggestion. I will definitely look into it! Stay tuned to see if it gets chosen!

I agree completely

I don’t disagree with you per say. There is scholarly consensus that Demetrius was most likely a Buddhist, you are right in the sense that we don’t have an out right contemporaneous text that confirms his Buddhist faith. I appreciate the comment

Poor alexender killed by porus Sellucus sell his doughter to save his life from Indian king Pushyamitra Shunga kill indi Greek millnda Indian history>>>> Greek Western countries fooled u to feel superior.. See recent historian

Thank you 🙏

Poor alexender killed by porus Sellucus sell his doughter to save his life from Indian king Pushyamitra Shunga kill indi Greek millnda Indian history>>>> Greek Western countries fooled u to feel superior.. See recent historian

This is such a terrific question that really could have it’s entirely own video of its own. Greco-Bactria did remain connected with the rest of the Hellenic sphere through trade and the fact they bordered the Hellenic Seleucid Empire. The Greeks and Romans certainly knew of Buddhism, the Greeks probably had a bit more knowledge of it than the Romans although we do know that both groups were well aware of the religion. In terms of “what” they knew (for European based Greeks) it is really hard to say. We do know there were Greek Buddhists in Egypt due to grave stones with Buddhist symbols being found in Alexandria and a Buddha statue was found in southern Egypt. It’s likely safe to assume that the Greeks knew Buddhism reasonably well and that there was a minority of Greek Buddhists living in the Mediterranean world until the rise of Christianity.

@@abandonedhistoryUS "bordered the Hellenic Seleucid Empire" - for a time. After 150 B.C. Bactrian and Indo-greeks were isolated from the Hellenistic world.

Hi Andre! Thanks for asking, means a lot to me. I do not have a Patreon, I was planning to start one once I hit 2-3k followers. That could change if I have more people asking me to start one. What are your thoughts?

Thanks a bunch for the suggestion Amit! Awesome stuff!

This is a really great question and one that’s difficult to answer. What does seem pretty clear is that the officer core and generals would have spoken Greek as lingua Franca. Many Greek colonists moved to Bactria following its conquest. Likely many of the heavily armored Calvary and officers spoke Greek. While foot soldiers likely spoke mostly bactrian but were trained to fight in the Macedonian style of war.

@Rajnasya that could be possible but there is very little evidence to support this. It’s equally as possible that he died an unexpected death from medical related complications or he was killed by his own troops. But the claim that he was killed by enemy forces is an unsubstantiated claim pushed by nationalist historians. Everyone is willing to believe that outcome but you just need evidence to support it.

More than 200,000 Greeks moved to this area, Greco-Bactrian kingdom was known for its 1,000 Greek cities.

Unlike Mongols and Turks who enforced their culture or even committed genocides, Greeks were blending in with the natives and only the Greek culture lasted for a while.

@Rajnasya ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-j5uke7vIaFM.html Greeks never genocided there is no records for that. They simply assimilated by the locals. You all have about 5% Greek blood. You are a nationalist who can't accept that you don't have poor blood but you are also mixed with the Greeks. That's facts you like it or not. Nationalism is like a disease, get rid of that and open your mind to logic and historical facts.

You read mythology a lot and not the factual descriptions of the times

@@dimitriosvlissides5781 How do you know the Greek descriptions are "factual" when there is nothing to cross - referrence? And no this is not "Mythology" neither was the Mauryan Empire "Mythology". It was a fact. Lack of evidence doesn't mean lack of existence or possibility my friend.

Very interesting theory. It would obviously need more evidence to back it up. Doesn’t sound totally implausible. Thanks for sharing man, I appreciate it

@@velociraptor1596 there are descriptions of his illness and also that he was coming around after a heavy drinking session Do you have anything to cross reference for you account of the events

@@dimitriosvlissides5781Poison doesnt have to kill you directly it can be small doses here and there killing you longterm

Not sure about far superior 😂 but you are right that the Greeks eventually assimilated into Indian culture.

😂😂😂

In the video I said none of Demetrius’ ‘conquests’ were lasting. The title of the video is just a play on his epithet ‘the Unconquered’.

@@abandonedhistoryUS Ok got it now....my bad.

Unfortunately I don’t want to get involved in this debate. Indian historians tend to downplay greatly the role Indo-Greek kings played in the region and that down playing seems be rooted in nationalism. As a result of being related to politics I will not respond directly to your statement. What I will say is that my videos are made using mostly western scholarship and for an English speaking audience. If you find yourself disagreeing with western historical scholarship my videos probably are not for you. I recommend checking out some India based history channels if your looking to watch that content.

@@abandonedhistoryUS there's nothing political regarding it. What I've said is written in multiple Indian sources which Western historians happily overlook.

@@stormshadow5283 Indian sources written for Indian Nationalism. Every country has their propaganda not based on accurate history.

@@xhorxheetxeberria-td1hu what Indian nationalism? What is there Indian nationalistic about ancient scriptures ans texts? Besides there are archaeological evidences that show that Demetrius was infact defeated by Pushyamitra.

@stormshadow5283 Indian nationalism emphasizes debatable information to benefit their points of view. Everyone does it. Especially the USA. If you grew up in it you wouldn't see it or understand it for what it is. All information is bendable to the side you want it to bend.

Sorry I have to strongly disagree with you analysis of my video. I think you are presuming my view points with out fully understanding what I said. Additionally, in the video I bring up the religious conflict as a potential possibility but I mention that it lacks hard evidence. I am a Buddhist and I do know that Hindus consider him to be a reincarnation of Vishnu, that doesn’t mean Hindus haven’t discriminated against Buddhists in the past but nice try. Finally your whole statement on left wing history sources is utterly ridiculous. The juxtaposition your talking about is Indian nationalist historians vs western historians. Since I studied history in the English speaking world, generally my sources will be ones that have been translated into English. Like I have responded to other comments, if you are looking for a nationalist historian recount of Indian history, there are plenty of channels you can watch, mine is not and won’t ever be one of them. Should we not see history from all sides? I feel like the story has been told quite a bit from the side of Pushyamitra Shunga. Demetrius on the other hand has very few videos made on him.

Do you think a Buddhist India would've prevented the Islamic Invasion of India? Also aren't we already living in a world where people are seeking happiness and inner understanding.

@@notevencalm This is a Question i had a lot of time to Ponder over. The Buddhist India would have prevented Islam from starting in the first place. They would have converted the Arabs in 500yrs so there would have been no invasion just as Thailand never wanted to Invade India. There would have been no Colonial Europe either.

@@KarthikSoun But that doesn't mean that'll prevent something like Islam to emerge at all, also would the Buddhists have turned into barbaric warriors in order to fight Christianity in Europe?

@@notevencalm Christianity and Islam are both offshoot of Buddhism. There was no religious conversion on global scale untill Buddhism began. So if Buddhism never existed then neither Islam or Christianity would have had the idea to begin. Christanity is nothing but Judio-Roman Buddhism meaning body Buddhism and mind of the Jews. Buddhism is root cause of all these later proselytizing religions. It gave the blue print for global proselytizing. So if it did continue in India then the massive flood of buddhist missionaries would have converted all the enemies before they emerged. Few more centuries of Mauryan empire would have made Persia, Arabia and Europe Buddhist.

​@@notevencalmno we are not living in a world where people are seeking inner understanding. Only happiness. Quick happiness/dopamine.

Appreciate the comment but If you actually watched the video you would see that I say that Demetrius I never completed his goal! But to reference the Hathigumpha inscription, I have actually read the entire thing prior to making this video. The issue with that inscription is that few modern historians view its "account of Demetrius" as accurate in any way. The only exception is Romila Thapar and as much as I do respect her as a scholar many of the claims she makes, especially regarding the indo-greeks, are weak and mostly unsubstantiated. She does produce some very strong works on Ashoka and later Hindu-Islamic communal relations but she is not the best for Indo-Greek/Indo-Bactrian History. Quote: "Romila Thapar too, in The Past Before Us published in 2013, states that it is "probably the Indo-Greek king Demetrios"" However, according to Ramaprasad Chanda and other scholars, this identification results in "chronological impossibilities".[3] The important thing to keep in mind is that much of what is being discussed regarding the Indo-Greeks is still in hot debate but I always try to present the most widely accepted version amongst academia. In this case, especially I chose not to include the inscription due to the mathematic impossibilities of the chronology if the Hathigumpha inscription was actually referring to Demetrius. The most widely excepted theory is that they are not referencing Demetrius but one of his descendants. I hope you find this helpful! But different perspectives are welcome on my channel, I hope this clears up some of the confusion.

@@abandonedhistoryUS I appreciate your work

@@antonsokolov1771 thank you Anton!

Stop trying to diminish Greek history you Monkeydonian troll. You are a slavicized Bulgarotatar and your country's real name must be West Bulgaria.

@@abandonedhistoryUS I enjoyed the video a lot. No praise will be sufficient for the amount of effort you put into your videos. Also, the fact you're sticking to mainstream scholarship adds even more value to your channel

Great - any recommendations that might fit your definition of an understudied area for future content of mine?

No you did not

Not sure how that’s pertinent to this video. Strange comment

Third correction. Your comment is historically incorrect and a total bul....it. Stop your propaganda you Monkeydonian. You are Slavicised Bulgarotatars. The real name of your tiny country must be West-Bulgaria. Stop being jealous of Greek history.

And this is why you don't do drugs people. They are bad for you , especially if you mix em with cow dung.

@Boogie_Bubble the contradiction is that all these Bectrain Greeks and Indo-Greeks worshiped Ordoxo who has trident as well as Bull. So , worship what your ancestors told you

@@BoogieBubble Hope after taking human dung ; Quran reading people will get some advancement as Camel dung is not helping

@@antonsokolov1771 ahahahahahhaha what you are talking has nosense you noob West Bulgarian. You are West Bulgarians 🇧🇬😃 not Macedonians. Macedonian was a Hellenic Kingdom. That's basic history.

Alexander was the Greatest Greek. Stop your Monkeydonian nationalistic propaganda. The real name of your country is West Bulgaria.

Alexandros was Greek , he spoke Greek, worshiped the Greek gods of Olympus and was born in the KINGDOM of macedon in northern Greece.

Alexander was more Greek than any Greek ever existed. His family was from Argos one of the oldest Greek cities.

@@Ennea9 gigaCHADmos

/facepalm

It’s incredible how geography can have such a huge impact on the formation of states.