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79-461: The decoration of the stupa provides an interesting case of Greco-Buddhist art, combining Hellenistic and Indian artistic elements. The reconstitution consists of several parts, the decorated stupa base, the canopy, and various decorative elements. The stupa was surmounted by an elaborate canopy, a beautiful example of Indo-Corinthian capital , although typically expanded longitudinally compared to their Western counterparts. The central space of

158-856: A battle against King Porus of Pauravas in Punjab, the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC. The Mauryan Empire would later defeat the successor Seleucid Empire, during the Seleucid-Mauryan War . Resulting in the transfer of the satraps in the Indus Valley and Gandhara , that had been part of the Achaemenid , Macedonian and Seleucidian , to the Mauryan Empire. However, contacts were kept with his Greco-Iranian neighbors in

237-418: A betrayal of their pure truth. By this reasoning, adding an incompatible belief corrupts the original religion, rendering it no longer true. Indeed, critics of a syncretistic trend may use the word or its variants as a disparaging epithet, as a charge implying that those who seek to incorporate a new view, belief, or practice into a religious system pervert the original faith. Non-exclusivist systems of belief, on

316-632: A common religious focus for populations with different traditions: a well-known example is Serapis , introduced by Ptolemy I Soter in Hellenistic Egypt , who combined aspects of Greek and Egyptian Gods. In India as well, it was only natural for the Greeks to create a single common divinity by combining the image of a Greek god-king ( Apollo , or possibly the deified founder of the Indo-Greek Kingdom , Demetrius I of Bactria ), with

395-563: A culture is conquered, and the conquerors bring their religious beliefs with them, but do not succeed in entirely eradicating the old beliefs or (especially) practices. Religions may have syncretic elements to their beliefs or history, but adherents of so-labeled systems often frown on applying the label, especially adherents who belong to "revealed" religious systems, such as the Abrahamic religions , or any system that exhibits an exclusivist approach. Such adherents sometimes see syncretism as

474-442: A factor that has recommended it to rulers of multiethnic realms . Conversely, the rejection of syncretism, usually in the name of " piety " and " orthodoxy ", may help to generate, bolster or authenticate a sense of uncompromised cultural unity in a well-defined minority or majority. All major religious conversions of populations have had elements from prior religious traditions incorporated into legends or doctrine that endure with

553-463: A height of about 1 meter. The base combines very contrasted scenes and sculptural motifs: Hellenistic scenes at the bottom tier, and Indian Buddhist scenes at the top two tiers. The first tier displays several purely Hellenistic scenes, of which the one on the far right is by far the best preserved. The left scene is a well-known Hellenistic scene often found in Gandhara . On the left is represented

632-424: A large part of the symbolism of Indo-Greek coinage, but refrained from ever using the elephant, suggesting that its meaning was not merely geographical. Finally, after the reign of Menander I, several Indo-Greek rulers, such as Amyntas Nikator , Nicias , Peukolaos , Hermaeus , Hippostratos and Menander II , depicted themselves or their Greek deities forming with the right hand a benediction gesture identical to

711-651: A legend preserved in the Pali Canon , two merchant brothers from Kamsabhoga in Bactria, Tapassu and Bhallika, visited Gautama Buddha and became his disciples. The legend states that they then returned home and spread the Buddha's teaching. In 326 BC, Alexander conquered the Northern region of India. King Ambhi of Taxila, known as Taxiles , surrendered his city, a notable Buddhist center, to Alexander. Alexander fought

790-452: A lion-skin, the protector deity of Demetrius I of Bactria , "served as an artistic model for Vajrapani , a protector of the Buddha". In Japan , this expression further translated into the wrath-filled and muscular Niō guardian gods of the Buddha, standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples. According to Katsumi Tanabe, professor at Chūō University, Japan, besides Vajrapani, Greek influence also appears in several other gods of

869-523: A migration of ideas is generally successful only when there is a resonance between both traditions. While, as Bentley has argued, there are numerous cases where expansive traditions have won popular support in foreign lands, this is not always so. In the 16th century, the Mughal emperor Akbar proposed a new religion called the Din-i Ilahi ("Divine Faith"). Sources disagree with respect to whether it

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948-460: A naked man, possibly an amorini dancing with a woman in Greek dress. On the left is another amorini holding a large wine flask. A man on the right is holding something to his mouth, probably a flute to which the couple is dancing. The scene is seemingly Bacchanalian . The scene on the right is by far the clearest. It precisely shows: a woman in Greek dress, holding an amphora and giving a grape to

1027-412: A new, cohesive belief system. Syncretism also manifests in politics , known as syncretic politics . The English word is first attested in the early 17th century It is from Modern Latin syncretismus , drawing on the [[[:wikt:συγκρητισμός|συγκρητισμός]]] Error: {{Langx}}: invalid parameter: |labels= ( help ) , supposedly meaning "Cretan federation"; however, this is a spurious etymology from

1106-724: A noticeable Greek influence on Gandharan Buddhism beyond the artistic realm. Cultural interactions between ancient Greece and Buddhism date back to Greek forays into the Indian subcontinent from the time of Alexander the Great . A few years after Alexander's death, the Easternmost fringes of the empire of his general Seleucus were lost in a war with the Mauryan Empire , under the reign of Chandragupta Maurya . The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka would convert to Buddhism and spread

1185-688: A satrap following the Battle of the Hydaspes . Alexander's army would mutiny and retreat along the Beas River when confronted by the Nanda Empire , thus wouldn't conquer Punjab entirely. Thanks to relocation by the Persian Empire, there was established Greek culture in the far east of Alexander's empire. He founded several cities in his new territories in the areas of the Amu Darya and Bactria , and Greek settlements further extended to

1264-540: A single Greco-Roman pantheon , and then identifying members of that pantheon with the local deities of various Roman provinces. Some religious movements have embraced overt syncretism, such as the case of melding Shintō beliefs into Buddhism or the amalgamation of Germanic and Celtic pagan views into Christianity during its spread into Gaul, Ireland, Britain, Germany and Scandinavia. In later times, Christian missionaries in North America identified Manitou ,

1343-400: A small child, a man in himation holding a kantaros drinking vessel, a young man in chiton playing a hand drum, and a woman in Greek dress playing a two-stringed lute-family instrument . The second tier of the stupa base displays a Buddhist Indian scene. Depending on interpretations, it seems to show a princely couple whose son is convinced to shave his head and become a Buddhist monk. In

1422-544: A very active part in it. Several Buddhist dedications by Greeks in India are recorded, such as that of the Greek meridarch (civil governor of a province) named Theodorus , describing in Kharosthi how he enshrined relics of the Buddha . The inscriptions were found on a vase inside a stupa, dated to the reign of Menander or one of his successors in the 1st century BC. Finally, Buddhist tradition recognizes Menander as one of

1501-551: A wider audience: One of the distinguishing features of the Gandharan school of art that emerged in north-west India is that it has been clearly influenced by the naturalism of the Classical Greek style. Thus, while these images still convey the inner peace that results from putting the Buddha's doctrine into practice, they also give us an impression of people who walked and talked, etc. and slept much as we do. I feel this

1580-420: A young couple, the woman holding a drinking cup in the right hand, and with her left hand opening the man's chlamys (a Greek cloak) to show his naked body. On the right is an elderly couple in Greek dress, the man bearded, with a small child clinging to the man. It is thought that this scene may symbolize the cycle of life, from childhood, to adulthood and maturity. The middle scene is less clear, but represents

1659-580: Is also accepted that the policy of sulh-i-kul , which formed the essence of the Dīn-i Ilāhī, was adopted by Akbar as a part of general imperial administrative policy. Sulh-i-kul means "universal peace". The syncretic deism of Matthew Tindal undermined Christianity's claim to uniqueness. The modern, rational, non-pejorative connotations of syncretism arguably date from Denis Diderot 's Encyclopédie articles Eclecticisme and Syncrétistes, Hénotiques, ou Conciliateurs . Diderot portrayed syncretism as

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1738-441: Is often used to describe the product of the large-scale imposition of one alien culture, religion, or body of practices over another that is already present." Others such as Jerry H. Bentley , however, have argued that syncretism has also helped to create cultural compromise. It provides an opportunity to bring beliefs, values, and customs from one cultural tradition into contact with, and to engage different cultural traditions. Such

1817-628: Is sided by triangular stair risers , which depict a Hellenistic winged Ketos sea monster , a motif often seen with such a function in Greco-Buddhist art. It is thought that the Ketos symbolizes the transition to the other world after death. Some of the Buner reliefs are much better preserved and give a better picture of the original Ketos design. Only fragments of the third tier remain, but they also depict Indian palatial scene similar to those of

1896-446: Is very important. These figures are inspiring because they do not only depict the goal, but also the sense that people like us can achieve it if we try. During the following centuries, this anthropomorphic representation of the Buddha defined the canon of Buddhist art, but progressively evolved to incorporate more Indian and Asian elements. Several other Buddhist deities may have been influenced by Greek gods. For example, Heracles with

1975-1009: The Kambojas , the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods' instructions in Dharma . Finally, some of the emissaries of Ashoka, such as the famous Dharmaraksita , are described in Pali sources as leading Greek (" Yona ") Buddhist monks active in Buddhist proselytism (the Mahavamsa , XII ), founding

2054-756: The Khyber Pass , Gandhara (see Taxila ), and the Punjab . Following Alexander's death on June 10, 323 BC, the Diadochi or "successors" founded their own kingdoms. General Seleucus set up the Seleucid Empire in Anatolia and Central Asia and extended as far as India. The Mauryan Empire , founded by Chandragupta Maurya , would first conquer the Nanda Empire . Chandragupta would then defeat

2133-537: The Pāli canon ; we find the same description in the Dāsāṣṭasāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā . Additionally, the nudity of Jainist sculptures might have been inspired by Apollonian archetypes. Greek artists were most probably the authors of these early representations of the Buddha, in particular the standing statues, which display "a realistic treatment of the folds and on some even a hint of modelled volume that characterizes

2212-499: The Seleucid Empire . Emperor Seleucus I Nicator came to a marital agreement as part of a peace treaty, and several Greeks, such as the historian Megasthenes , resided at the Mauryan court. Chandragupta's grandson Ashoka embraced the Buddhist faith and became a great proselytizer in the line of the traditional Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism, insisting on non-violence to humans and animals ( ahimsa ), and general precepts regulating

2291-788: The Twenty-fifth Dynasty in Manetho's Aegyptiaca , developed a syncretic worship identifying their own god Dedun with the Egyptian Osiris . They maintained that worship even after they had been driven out of Egypt. A temple dedicated to this syncretic god, built by the Kushite ruler Atlanersa , was unearthed at Jebel Barkal . Syncretism was common during the Hellenistic period, with rulers regularly identifying local deities in various parts of their domains with

2370-466: The theology and mythology of religion , thus asserting an underlying unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths. While syncretism in art and culture is sometimes likened to eclecticism , in the realm of religion, it specifically denotes a more integrated merging of beliefs into a unified system, distinct from eclecticism, which implies a selective adoption of elements from different traditions without necessarily blending them into

2449-472: The "other" cult may survive or infiltrate without authorized syncresis . For example, some conversos developed a sort of cult for martyr-victims of the Spanish Inquisition , thus incorporating elements of Catholicism while resisting it. The Kushite kings who ruled Upper Egypt for approximately a century and the whole of Egypt for approximately 57 years, from 721 to 664 BCE, constituting

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2528-403: The 18 months they were in India, they were able to interact with Indian philosophers who pursued asceticism , generally described as gymnosophists ("naked philosophers"). Pyrrho returned to Greece and founded Pyrrhonism , considered by modern scholars as the first Western school of skepticism . The Greek biographer Diogenes Laërtius explained that Pyrrho's equanimity and detachment from

2607-550: The 5th century, with remaining strongholds such as Bengal largely ended during the Islamic invasions of India . The length of the Greek presence in Central Asia and northern India provided opportunities for interaction, not only on the artistic but also on the religious plane. When Alexander invaded Bactria and Gandhara, these areas may already have been under Sramanic influence, likely Buddhist and Jain . According to

2686-679: The Buddha and was famous for his religious syncretism, convened the Fourth Buddhist council around 100 in Kashmir in order to redact the Sarvastivadin canon . Some of Kanishka's coins bear the earliest representations of the Buddha on a coin (around 120), in Hellenistic style and with the word "Boddo" in Greek script. Kanishka also had the original Gandhari Prakrit Mahāyāna sūtras translated into Sanskrit , "a turning point in

2765-623: The Buddha himself are often considered a result of the Greco-Buddhist interaction. Before this innovation, Buddhist art was " aniconic ": the Buddha was only represented through his symbols (an empty throne, the Bodhi Tree , Buddha footprints , the Dharmachakra ). This reluctance towards anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha, and the sophisticated development of aniconic symbols to avoid it (even in narrative scenes where other human figures would appear), seem to be connected to one of

2844-464: The Buddha in a conventional scene (the visit to the Brahman). At the time of the manufacture of the stupa, groups of Greek populations from the earlier Indo-Greek kingdom probably still remained, and were even organized under a king ( Strato II ) in the Punjab region , which would account for the rich Hellenistic influence in the stupa and the representations of people in Greek dress and attitudes on

2923-525: The Buddha's sayings reported in the Digha Nikaya that discouraged representations of himself after the extinction of his body. Probably not feeling bound by these restrictions, and because of "their cult of form, the Greeks were the first to attempt a sculptural representation of the Buddha". In many parts of the Ancient World, the Greeks did develop syncretic divinities, that could become

3002-635: The Buddhist monk Nagasena . The Mahavamsa , chapter 29, records that during Menander's reign, a Greek thera (elder monk) named Mahadharmaraksita led 30,000 Buddhist monks from "the Greek city of Alexandria" (possibly Alexandria on the Caucasus , around 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of today's Kabul in Afghanistan), to Sri Lanka for the dedication of a stupa, indicating that Buddhism flourished in Menander's territory and that Greeks took

3081-656: The Buddhist vitarka mudra (thumb and index joined together, with other fingers extended), which in Buddhism signifies the transmission of Buddha's teaching. According to Ptolemy , Greek cities were founded by the Greco-Bactrians in northern India . Menander established his capital in Sagala (modern Sialkot , Punjab, Pakistan ) one of the centers of the blossoming Buddhist culture . A large Greek city built by Demetrius and rebuilt by Menander has been excavated at

3160-734: The Dharma") in Prakrit written in Kharoshthi . Some of the coins of Menander I and Menander II incorporate the Buddhist symbol of the eight-spoked wheel, associated with the Greek symbols of victory, either the palm of victory, or the victory wreath handed over by the goddess Nike . According to the Milinda Pañha , at the end of his reign Menander I became a Buddhist arhat , a fact also echoed by Plutarch , who explains that his relics were shared and enshrined. The ubiquitous symbol of

3239-539: The Greco-Bactrians and invading the northern parts of Pakistan and India from around 1 AD. By that time they had already been in contact with Greek culture and the Indo-Greek kingdoms for more than a century. They used the Greek script to write their language, as exemplified by their coins and their adoption of the Greek alphabet . The Kushan King Kanishka, who honored Zoroastrian, Greek and Brahmanic deities as well as

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3318-576: The Greco-Bactrians were followed by the secession of the Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BC – 10 AD). Even when, centuries later, these Hellenized regions were conquered first by the Yuezhi , then by the Indo-Scythians and the Kushan Empire (1st–3rd centuries AD), Buddhism continued to thrive there. Buddhism in India was a major religion for centuries until a major Hindu revival from around

3397-507: The Greek king Antiochos (Antiyoga) rules, and beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy (Turamaya), Antigonos (Antikini), Magas (Maka) and Alexander (Alikasu[n]dara) rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas , the Pandyas , and as far as Tamraparni . Ashoka also claims he converted to Buddhism Greek populations within his realm: Here in the king's domain among the Greeks,

3476-651: The Mahayana pantheon such as the Japanese Fūjin , inspired from the Greek divinity Boreas through the Greco-Buddhist Wardo , or the mother deity Hariti inspired by Tyche . Syncretism Syncretism ( / ˈ s ɪ ŋ k r ə t ɪ z əm , ˈ s ɪ n -/ ) is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought . Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions , especially in

3555-773: The Mauryan Era, where it became the most prevalent branch of Buddhism in Central Asia. Mahayana Buddhism was later transmitted through the Silk Road into the Han dynasty during the Kushan era under the reign of Emperor Kanishka . Buddhist tradition details the monk, Majjhantika of Varanasi , was made responsible for spreading Buddhism in the region by Emperor Ashoka. Later on, the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek king Menander I , who may have converted to Buddhism, stimulated

3634-642: The Seleucid Empire during the Seleucid-Mauryan War . This resulted in the transfer of the Macedonian satraps in the Indus Valley and Gandhara to the Mauryan Empire. Furthermore, a marriage alliance was enacted which granted Seleucus's daughter as Chandragupta's wife for diplomatic relations. The conflict additionally led to the transfer of 500 war elephants to the Seleucid Empire from the Mauryan Empire, presumably as reparations for lives lost and damages sustained. The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka established

3713-528: The added benefit or aim of reducing inter-religious discord. Such chapters often have a side-effect of arousing jealousy and suspicion among authorities and ardent adherents of the pre-existing religion. Such religions tend to inherently appeal to an inclusive, diverse audience. Sometimes the state itself sponsored such new movements, such as the Living Church founded in Soviet Russia and the German Evangelical Church in Nazi Germany , chiefly to stem all outside influences. According to some authors, "Syncretism

3792-414: The archaeological site of Sirkap near Taxila , where Buddhist stupas were standing side-by-side with Hindu and Greek temples , indicating religious tolerance and syncretism. Evidence of direct religious interaction between Greek and Buddhist thought during the period include the Milinda Pañha or "Questions of Menander", a Pali-language discourse in the Platonic style held between Menander I and

3871-408: The best Greek work. This is Classical or Hellenistic Greek, not archaizing Greek transmitted by Persia or Bactria, nor distinctively Roman ." The Greek stylistic influence on the representation of the Buddha, through its idealistic realism, also permitted a very accessible, understandable and attractive visualization of the ultimate state of enlightenment described by Buddhism, allowing it to reach

3950-434: The best philosophy [is] that which liberates the mind from [both] pleasure and grief". Cynicism, particularly the Cynic Peregrinus Proteus was further influenced by the tales of the gymnosophists , particularly the examples set by Kalanos , Dandamis , and Zarmanochegas . The Cyrenaic philosopher Hegesias of Cyrene , from the city of Cyrene where Magas of Cyrene ruled, is thought by some to have been influenced by

4029-399: The capital must have accommodated a small statuette of a seated Buddha, as usually for these architectural elements in northwestern India. Details reveal elaborate carving, and the presence of naked amorini and vines in the acanthus foliage. The stupa base is an elaborate construction, consisting of three tiers organised in a stair, and two sides. It has a breath of roughly 3 meters, for

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4108-400: The civilization of the Indians. Megasthenes sent detailed reports on Indian religions, which were circulated and quoted throughout the Classical world for centuries: Megasthenes makes a different division of the philosophers, saying that they are of two kinds, one of which he calls the Brachmanes , and the other the Sarmanes ... The Greco-Bactrians maintained a strong Hellenistic culture at

4187-683: The concordance of eclectic sources. Scientific or legalistic approaches of subjecting all claims to critical thinking prompted at this time much literature in Europe and the Americas studying non-European religions such as Edward Moor's The Hindu Pantheon of 1810, much of which was almost evangelistically appreciative by embracing spirituality and creating the space and tolerance in particular disestablishment of religion (or its stronger form, official secularisation as in France) whereby believers of spiritualism , agnosticism , atheists and in many cases more innovative or pre-Abrahimic based religions could promote and spread their belief system, whether in

4266-461: The door of India during the rule of the Maurya Empire in India, as exemplified by the archaeological site of Ai-Khanoum . When the Maurya Empire was toppled by the Shunga Empire around 180 BC, the Greco-Bactrians expanded into India, where they established the Indo-Greek Kingdom , under which Buddhism was able to flourish. Northern India was the Indo-Greek Kingdom, centered approximately around Alexandria Eschate . They controlled various areas of

4345-404: The elephant in Indo-Greek coinage may also have been associated with Buddhism, as suggested by the parallel between coins of Antialcidas and Menander II , where the elephant in the coins of Antialcidas holds the same relationship to Zeus and Nike as the Buddhist wheel on the coins of Menander II. When the Zoroastrian Indo-Parthian Kingdom invaded North India in the 1st century AD, they adopted

4424-527: The eponymous Dharmaguptaka school of Buddhism. Alexander had established in Bactria several cities (such as Ai-Khanoum and Bagram ) and an administration that were to last more than two centuries under the Seleucid Empire and the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom , all the time in direct contact with Indian territory. The Greeks sent ambassadors to the court of the Maurya Empire , such as the historian Megasthenes under Chandragupta Maurya , and later Deimachus under his son Bindusara , who reported extensively on

4503-449: The evolution of the Buddhist literary canon" The Kanishka casket , dated to the first year of Kanishka's reign in 127, was signed by a Greek artist named Agesilas , who oversaw work at Kanishka's stupas ( cetiya ), confirming the direct involvement of Greeks with Buddhist realizations at such a late date. Several Greek philosophers , including Pyrrho , Anaxarchus , and Onesicritus accompanied Alexander in his eastern campaigns. During

4582-407: The faces, all rendered with strong artistic realism . A large quantity of sculptures combining Buddhist and purely Hellenistic styles and iconography were excavated at the modern site of Hadda, Afghanistan . The curly hair of Buddha is described in the famous list of the physical characteristics of the Buddha in the Buddhist sutras. The hair with curls turning to the right is first described in

4661-411: The far end of the Persian Empire, those central Asian provinces. When Alexander the Great conquered Achaemenid Empire and further regions of Central Asia in 334 BC, he thus encountered many Greeks already established in the easternmost stretches of its empire. He then ventured into Punjab (land of five rivers). Alexander crossed the Indus and Jhelum River when defeating Porus and appointing him as

4740-457: The great benefactors of the faith, together with Ashoka and Kanishka the Great . Buddhist manuscripts in cursive Greek have been found in Afghanistan, praising various Buddhas and including mentions of the Mahayana figure of " Lokesvararaja Buddha" ( λωγοασφαροραζοβοδδο ). These manuscripts have been dated later than the 2nd century CE. The Kushan Empire , one of the five tribes of the Yuezhi , settled in Bactria around 125 BC, displacing

4819-424: The king's domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas , the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras, and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods' instructions in Dharma . The decline and overthrow of the Mauryans by the Shunga Empire , and of the revolt of Bactria in the Seleucid Empire led to the formation of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (250–125 BC). To their north,

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4898-399: The largest Indian empire. Following the destructive Kalinga War , Ashoka converted to Buddhism. Abandoning an expansionist agenda, Ashoka would adopt humanitarian reformation in place. As ascribed in the Edicts of Ashoka , the Emperor spread Dharma as Buddhism throughout his empire. Ashoka claims to have converted many, including the Greek populations within his realm to Buddhism: Here in

4977-442: The last scene on the right, he is seen in Buddhist garb, bidding farewell to his parents. Stylistically, it is most interesting that these Indian scenes were realized by the same artist, or at least the same atelier and at the same time as the Hellenistic ones. Indeed it had been suggested previously (Marshall) that the Hellenistic scene belonged to a previous period, before the emergence of Gandharan Buddhist scenes. The second tier

5056-442: The life of laypeople. According to the Edicts of Ashoka , set in stone, some of them written in Greek and some in Aramaic , the official language of the Achaemenids , he sent Buddhist emissaries to the Greek lands in Asia and as far as the Mediterranean. The edicts name each of the rulers of the Hellenistic period : The conquest by Dharma has been won here, on the borders, and even six hundred yojanas [4,000 miles] away, where

5135-421: The lower friezes. Greco-Buddhist Greco-Buddhism or Graeco-Buddhism denotes a supposed cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism developed between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD in Gandhara , in present-day Pakistan and parts of north-east Afghanistan . While the Greco-Buddhist art shows clear Hellenistic influences, the majority of scholars do not assume

5214-551: The naive idea in Plutarch 's 1st-century AD essay on "Fraternal Love (Peri Philadelphias)" in his collection Moralia . He cites the example of the Cretans , who compromised and reconciled their differences and came together in alliance when faced with external dangers. "And that is their so-called Syncretism [Union of Cretans]". More likely as an etymology is sun- ("with") plus kerannumi ("mix") and its related noun, "krasis", "mixture". Overt syncretism in folk belief may show cultural acceptance of an alien or previous tradition, but

5293-403: The newly converted laity . Religious syncretism is the blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from unrelated traditions. This can occur for many reasons, and the latter scenario happens quite commonly in areas where multiple religious traditions exist in proximity and function actively in a culture, or when

5372-517: The northern Indian territory until 10 AD. Buddhism prospered under the Indo-Greek kings, and it has been suggested that their invasion of India was intended to protect the Buddhist faith from the religious persecutions of the Shungas (185–73 BC), who had overthrown the Mauryans. Zarmanochegas was a śramana (possibly, but not necessarily a Buddhist) who, according to ancient historians such as Strabo , Cassius Dio , and Nicolaus of Damascus traveled to Antioch and Athens while Augustus (died 14 AD)

5451-545: The other hand, may feel quite free to incorporate other traditions into their own. Keith Ferdinando notes that the term "syncretism" is an elusive one, and can refer to substitution or modification of the central elements of a religion by beliefs or practices introduced from elsewhere. The consequence under such a definition, according to Ferdinando, can lead to a fatal "compromise" of the original religion's "integrity". In modern secular society, religious innovators sometimes construct new faiths or key tenets syncretically, with

5530-415: The relevant god or goddess of the Greek Pantheon as a means of increasing the cohesion of their kingdom. This practice was accepted in most locations but vehemently rejected by the Jews , who considered the identification of Yahweh with the Greek Zeus as the worst of blasphemy. The Roman Empire continued the practice, first by the identification of traditional Roman deities with Greek ones, producing

5609-451: The religious philosophy throughout his domain, as recorded in the Edicts of Ashoka . This spread to the Greco-Bactrian kingdom , which itself seceded from the Seleucid Empire. Following the collapse of the Mauryan Empire, Buddhism continued to flourish under the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom , Indo-Greek Kingdoms , and Kushan Empire . Mahayana Buddhism was spread from the Gangetic plains in India into Gandhara and then Central Asia during

5688-467: The second tier. A beautiful decorative garland with flowers in included at the bottom of these scenes. Various decorative elements have also been found in relation with the stupa. In particular, a Hellenistic cupids and garland design, a representation of the Buddha and Maitreya within decorated arches, a Buddhist narrative frieze, and a head of Garuda . The left part of the narrative frieze represents

5767-939: The spiritual and fundamental life force in the traditional beliefs of the Algonquian groups , with the God of Christianity . Similar identifications were made by missionaries at other locations in the Americas and Africa who encountered a local belief in a Supreme God or Supreme Spirit of some kind. Indian influences are seen in the practice of Shi'i Islam in Trinidad . Others have strongly rejected it as devaluing and compromising precious and genuine distinctions; examples include post- Exile Second Temple Judaism , Islam , and most of Protestant Christianity. Syncretism tends to facilitate coexistence and unity between otherwise different cultures and world views ( intercultural competence ),

5846-457: The spread of the religion as well. The introduction of Hellenistic Greece to central Asia started after the conquest of that region by Darius the Great and his Persian Achaemenid Empire . He and his successors also conquered the Anatolian peninsula , which at the time was inhabited by many Greek cultures. When they rebelled, those Greeks were often ethnically cleansed by being relocated to

5925-401: The teachings of Ashoka's Buddhist missionaries. Numerous works of Greco-Buddhist art display the intermixing of Greek and Buddhist influences in such creation centers as Gandhara . The subject matter of Gandharan art was definitely Buddhist, while most motifs were of Western Asiatic or Hellenistic origin. Although there is still some debate, the first anthropomorphic representations of

6004-472: The traditional physical characteristics of the Buddha . Many of the stylistic elements in the representations of the Buddha point to Greek influence: himation , the contrapposto stance of the upright figures, such as the 1st–2nd century Gandhara standing Buddhas, the stylized curly hair and ushnisha apparently derived from the style of the Apollo Belvedere (330 BC) and the measured quality of

6083-414: The world were acquired in India. Pyrrho was directly influenced by Buddhism in developing his philosophy, which is based on Pyrrho's interpretation of the Buddhist three marks of existence . Another of these philosophers, Onesicritus, a Cynic , is said by Strabo to have learnt in India the following precepts: "That nothing that happens to a man is bad or good, opinions being merely dreams. ... That

6162-400: Was one of many Sufi orders or merged some of the elements of the various religions of his empire. Din-i Ilahi drew elements primarily from Islam and Hinduism but also from Christianity , Jainism , and Zoroastrianism . More resembling a personality cult than a religion, it had no sacred scriptures, no priestly hierarchy, and fewer than 20 disciples, all hand-picked by Akbar himself. It

6241-485: Was ruling the Roman Empire . The coins of the Indo-Greek king Menander I (r. 160–135 BC), found from Afghanistan to central India, bear the inscription "Saviour King Menander" in Greek on the front. Several Indo-Greek kings after Menander, such as Zoilos I , Strato I , Heliokles II , Theophilos , Peukolaos , Menander II , and Archebius display on their coins the title "Maharajasa Dharmika" (lit. "King of

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