How Did Central Asia Influence Greek Art

For my Final Project I will be examining how Greek presence within Central Asia played a key role in influencing early stylistic choices in Buddhist art. I will begin by covering how Greek influence spread throughout Central Asia, beginning with Alexander of Macedon’s conquering of Bactria and Gandhara, the western areas of Central Asia during the 4th century BCE. Greek presence in Central Asia did not disappear after the death of Alexander, rulership of all his conquered lands were divided amongst his generals and the territories in Central Asia were given to the general Seleucus (Lendering). The time period in which Seleucus and his ancestors ruled was called the Seleucid Empire and lasted from 300 to 200 BCE. From this time we have recovered

greco-bactrian coins that show the presence of hellenistic style that would later influence buddhist art in the area (“Tetradrachm of Seleucus I”). A Greco-Bactrian conqueror named Menandros took over Gandhara in 150 BCE and ruled as King there until 135 BCE. During this time he treated the Buddhist locals kindly, which created an atmosphere of religious tolerance amongst the various groups of people he ruled over (Foltz 44). The tolerance Menandros showed aided in the mixing of his Greek subjects with the Buddhist locals and both groups influenced each other stylistically. These Indo-Greek Kingdoms (Menandros being the ruler of only one of them) lasted until 130 BCE. In 130 BCE they were overthrown by the Yuezhi, a group of Indo-Europeans from the North who later formed the Kushan Empire (Simonin). The Yuezhi’s early interaction with the Indo-Greeks exposed them to greek influences. For example, they wrote in a form of the Greek alphabet as well as made coins in the Roman style (Department of Asian Art “Kushan Empire”). The Kushan Empire was centered in Kabul and spread out from Gandhara to the Aral Sea. It is from this period that many early Buddhist works have been recovered with distinct Hellenistic style influences. Corinthian style columns, draped tunics and large palm leaves are just some examples of the many greek styles and motifs that are depicted in these early buddhist works. For my Final Project I will look at each of these time periods and research how this greek presence in Central Asia affected the stylistic choices of early Buddhist art.