From The Oxus to The Indus

From the Oxus to the Indus explores the political and cultural history of the Indo-Iranian borderlands during the reign of the Bactrian and the Indo-Greek rulers known as Yavanas in the subcontinent. This was a region sans frontiere and shows unrestricted exchanges between cultures. In a sweeping survey of the power politics of the region this book identifies certain salient features of the political processes in the period discussed.

One of the major themes this book explores is that of ‘Hellenism’, and its changing nature. From a study of the sites from the Oxus to the Indus, the foremost among them being Ai Khanum, it is evident that the region should be treated as an independent cultural zone. The iconography and languages used by the Indo-Greek rulers have a direct relationship with their own religious beliefs and cultures as well as with the ethnicity of their subjects.