India and the Greek World. India and the Greek World; A study in the transmission of culture. Concentration Camp Lists. Afghanistan: Land of the Afghans A Brief History Of China. The Asian Way Of Life: CHINA. Author: Robert Guisepi. China: The Formative Centuries. The formative period of Chinese. Hellenistic age - Hellenistic civilization: The greatest of Alexander ’s foundations became the greatest city of the Hellenistic world, Alexandria-by-Egypt. Get information, facts, and pictures about Nigeria at Encyclopedia.com. Make research projects and school reports about Nigeria easy with credible articles from our. Sedlar, Jean W. New Jersey, 1. III Classical Notes on India. ![]() ![]() ![]() The word is derived from the Indus river (Sanskrit sindhu means . Herodotos, however, already used the term in a wider sense to denote the whole country; and classical Greek usage followed his example. Prior to the time of Alexander, Greek knowledge of India was acquired on the whole by way of Persia. King Cyrus, founder of the Persian empire and of the Achaemenid dynasty (reigned 5. B. C.), added to his territories the region called Gandhara, directly south of the Hindu Kush mountains. About 5. 18- 5. 15 B. C. Dareios I extended this conquest southward as far as the Indus river. Thereby the Indus became the easternmost boundary of the vast Persian colossus, which sprawled across all of western Asia to include, after 5. B. C., most of the Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor. Communications between the extremities of this huge polity were now unimpeded by political frontiers. Moreover, Persian policies served inadvertently to promote that mixture of nationalities which so frequently provides intellectual stimulus. ![]() Large- scale deportations of peoples occurred on occasion, while slaves captured in war of often came to reside in portions of the empire far removed from their original homes. The skills and labor power of all of Persia's subjects, Greeks included, were employed in imperial building projects. Many Greeks served as officials or mercenaries in the various Achaemenid provinces; on occasion Greek physicians were employed at the Persian royal courts Conversely, Indian troops formed a contingent of ! Persian army which invaded Greece in 4. B. C., and of the army which opposed Alexander at Gaugamela in 3. B. C. Unquestionably the requirements of war, administration and commerce in the far- flung Persian empire produced numerous encounters between Indians and . Most of these, no doubt, were inconsequential; but even genuine exchanges of ideas will ordinarily have left no trace for posterity. One Greek in Persian employ who allegedly both travelled to India and wrote a book on the subject is Skylax of Karia, a mercenary soldier and subject of King Dareios I. At the command of this ruler, who wished to know at what point the Indus flows into the ocean, Skylax reputedly took a fleet of ships from the headwaters of the river down to its mouth, thence westward across the ocean and into the Red Sea as far as Suez. As described by Herodotos, this voyage was exploratory in nature, and was later followed by Dareios' conquest of the Indus territory. Unfortunately, there is good reason to question whether Skylax really made this voyage, or published an account of it which was available in the Greek world. In view of the warlike tribes whom Alexander the Great later encountered along this route, it is difficult to imagine a small explorer's party making this journey successfully. At the same time, extant evidence scarcely permits the alternative conclusion that Skylax. More importantly, a genuine voyager cannot have believed that the Indus flows eastward, as Herodotos reports, or that the trip required two and a half years. The latter notion is explainable only upon the historian's assumption that the expedition involved the circumnavigation of India. Herodotos (4. 84- 4. B. C.)Knowledge communicated via Persia was doubtless also the source for those few Indian names which appear in surviving remnants of Hekataios of Miletos' Geography (ca. ![]() ![]() Unfortunately, the small number of the fragments makes it nearly impossible to tell precisely what Hekataios did know about India. By contrast, information is plentiful concerning his successor, Herodotos of Halikarnassos (4. B. C.), whose Histories have survived in their entirety. The work of Herodotos provides an enormous variety of data about many countries - some of it in fact derived from Hekataios. Although it is probably safe to assume that Herodotos himself never visited India, he was an indefatigable collector of anecdotes from many sources. He knew, for example, that India embraced diverse peoples of widely varying physical appearance, customs and language. Some Indians were nomadic an ate raw flesh; others refused to kill any living creature. Apparently he also recognized the distinction between the Aryan and Dravidian races; the latter he compares to the Ethiopians in skin color and notes that they . Indian birds and beasts he regards as much bigger than those existing elsewhere, except for horses; Indian clothing he describes as . Herodotos' notions of geography were understandably inaccurate: for instance his belief that the Indus flows eastward, and that India constitutes the easternmost inhabited region of Asia, with only desert wastes beyond. Interestingly, nothing in his remarks gives the impression that India possessed much in the way of civilization, let alone the philosophic and religious eminence for which it became noted in Hellenistic times. ![]() ![]() ![]() Herodotos' most famous statement about India- that gold is produced in the Indian desert by fierce ants larger than foxes- appears at first sight utterly fantastic. Ktesias (4. 05- 3. B. C.). A medical doctor by profession, he served for eight years (4. B. C.) as personal physician to the Persian king Artaxerxes Mnemon. Living thus at the Achaemenid court, he had unexampled opportunities to communicate with Persians of high rank and acquire an insight into the workings of the Persian empire. Upon his return to Greece Ktesias wrote a book called Persika, covering the entire history of the Near East from its beginnings down to his own time, as well as a much smaller work called Indika. Both of these have disappeared; but a number of fragmentary citations remain extant, together with extensive excerpts made by the Byzantine patriarch Photios in the 9th century. Official site of Europa Barbarorum, mod for Rome:Total War.![]() Ktesias' credibility as a historian was already questioned by Aristotle, . His books were full of entertaining stories and descriptions, including undoubted exaggerations if not pure fantasy in some cases. Thus he has been described as a founder of the historical novel. He claimed to have used Persian royal archives in gathering his material, though this seems unlikely, given the legendary character of so much that he relates. Unfortunately he had slight critical sense, and superimposed improbable stories upon what may originally have been genuine traditions. But he was a popular author, as the survival of his works into the 9th century demonstrates. Until the age of Alexander the Great he was a standard authority on Persia and India. With respect to India the information Ktesias has to offer is occasionally accurate, though more often exaggerated. Even from the vantage- point of the Persian court at Susa, India was still a strange and virtually unknown country; at such a distance, marvels become credible. He did take care, nonetheless, to distinguish between things he had seen himself and information he had only acquired by hearsay. He never claimed to have visited India, though we may suppose that he sometimes had occasion to meet Indians, or Persian officials who had served in the empire's Indian territories. Presumably he had seen articles of tribute or presents offered by Indian princes to the powerful Persian monarch. Thus he knew that India contained elephants, little monkeys with long tails, huge birds and talking parrots, and silver and gold in the mountains. But with equal assurance he describes Indian wonders: a fountain which fills with liquid gold each year; dogs large enough to fight lions; a river consisting of honey: a spring in which the water curdles like cheese, and if drunk becomes a truth serum; people who live as long as 2. He does not examine such tales according to any standard of verisimilitude - except to say that he has omitted to relate even more extraordinary matters for fear he will not be believed! If we may judge from the wide dissemination of his books, Greek. As the fruit of writings like those of Hekataios, Herodotos and Ktesias, educated Greeks of the period undoubtedly possessed some rudimentary awareness of India's existence. Presumably such information did not remain totally without effect. Knowledge of foreign peoples was a prime stimulus in causing the Greeks to examine their own traditions in a critical spirit; and this in turn had enormous importance in the development of Greek intellectual life. Herodotos himself gives evidence of how foreign contacts might produce a relativistic point of view: he notes that while each nation possesses its own customs, each also considers its own to be superior. As an example . The Greeks, of course, held precisely the opposite view. Not totally to be discounted is the possibility that Indian religious ideas filtered into Greece through the agency of wandering holy man. The itinerant ascetic has been a familiar figure in India since the beginning of that country's recorded history. Buddhist missionary impulses in particular may have inspired occasional monks to proselytize beyond the Himalayas, though this becomes more likely from the 3rd century B. C. One edict of the Buddhist emperor Ashoka (3rd cen. B. C.) actually records that he sent envoys into various Hellenistic countries to propagate the . Nonetheless, pre- Hellenistic sources totally fail to mention the presence of Indians of any kind among the Greeks. Sokrates (4. 69- 3. B. C.)On this theme, however, a curious anecdote is told about the philosopher Sokrates (4. B. C.). According to the story, Sokrates in Athens once conversed with an Indian, who inquired what sort of philosopher he was. When Sokrates replied that he . B. C.). But even if the citation is accurate, the incident as recorded is highly improbable. Certainly a stray Indian holy man may have wandered somehow as far as Athens in the classical period, and even learned Greek along the way, though the probabilities are against it. Liberia facts, information, pictures . There are no Liberian notes. US notes in the denominations of 5, 1. Both US and Liberian coins of 1, 5, 1. Liberian coin was issued. Roberts (first president), 1. March; Fast and Prayer Day, 2nd Friday in April; National Redemption Day, 1. April; Unification Day, 1. May; Independence Day, 2. July; Flag Day, 2. August; Thanksgiving Day, 1st Thursday in November; Anniversary of 1. Coup Attempt, 1. 2 November; President Tubman's Birthday, 2. November; Christmas, 2. December. Good Friday and Easter Monday are movable religious holidays. TIME: GMT. Located on the west coast of Africa, Liberia has an area of about 1. Comparatively, the area occupied by Liberia is slightly larger than the state of Tennessee. On the n it is bounded by Guinea, on the e by C. The low coastal belt is about 4. The land then rises to rolling hills, with elevations of 6. The third belt, comprising the bulk of Liberia, is marked by abrupt changes of elevation in a series of low mountains and plateaus, less densely forested than the hilly region. The Nimba Mountains are near the Guinea frontier. The Wologizi Mountains reach a maximum of about 1,3. Mt. Wutuvi, the nation's highest point. Of the six principal rivers, all of which are at right angles to the coast and flow into the Atlantic Ocean, only the Farmington is of much commercial importance. Sandbars obstruct the mouths of all rivers, making entrance hazardous, and upstream there are rocky rapids. The climate is tropical and humid, with little change in temperature throughout the year. The mean is 2. 7. On the coast the heat is tempered by an almost constant breeze. Yearly rainfall is as high as 5. There are distinct wet and dry seasons, most of the rainfall occurring between late April and mid- November. Average relative humidity in the coastal area is about 8. December and March, when the dust- laden harmattan blows from the Sahara. Liberia, together with adjoining Sierra Leone and C. There are about 2. The bombex (cotton tree), the oil palm, and the kola tree are common. The wild rubber tree (Funtumia elastica) is indigenous, but the cultivated Hevea brasiliensis is the source of Liberia's commercial rubber. A variety of coffee peculiar to Liberia, Coffea liberica, was formerly common but has given way to the preferred Coffea robusta. Fruit trees include citrus varieties, the alligator apple, papaya, mango. Pineapples grow wild. Among the cultivated plants are cassava, cotton, cacao, indigo, and upland rice. Elephant and buffalo, once common in Liberia, have largely disappeared, but several species of antelope are found in the interior; two of these, the white- shouldered duiker and the zebra antelope, are peculiar to Liberia. A lemur called Bosman's potto and several species of monkey, including the long- haired and the Diana, are found in the forests. Wild pigs and porcupines exist in sparsely settled areas, and several members of the leopard group are also found. Most of the 1. 5 species of snakes are venomous. Termites build lofty nests throughout the country. In some areas the tsetse fly is found, and driver ants and mosquitoes are common. Several varieties of snail act as hosts in the propagation of certain enteric diseases. Among the birds are the hornbill, wild guinea fowl, cattle egret (cowbird), flamingo, woodpecker, and weaver. As of 2. 00. 2, there were at least 1. The nation lacks regulatory agencies to supervise the preservation of the environment. As the 1. 98. 0s began, Liberia was one of the last West African countries with significant primary forest reserves, but recent estimates suggest that deforestation continues at a rate of about 2% per year. Commercial logging, firewood cutting, and a government land- clearing program all threaten primary forestland. Forests currently account for less than 4. Liberia's land. By the mid- 1. Hunting and loss of habitat have decimated wildlife along the coastal plain, and there are no longer any large herds of big game in the interior. The water supply is usually limited to open sources such as streams, swamps, and shallow, uncovered wells; the result, especially during the rainy season, is that insects and parasites thrive, creating a major health hazard. Safe drinking water is available to 7. Liberia's urban dwellers and 5. The Mano and St. John rivers are becoming increasingly polluted from the dumping of iron ore tailings, and the coastal waters from oil residue and the dumping of untreated sewage and waste water. According to a 2. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the number of threatened species included 2. The Jentink's duiker, the whitebreasted guinea fowl, Pel's flying squirrel, the green turtle, and the Liberian mongoose are threatened species in Liberia. The population of Liberia in 2. United Nations (UN) at 3,2. In 2. 00. 5, approximately 2% of the population was over 6. There were 1. 00 males for every 1. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2. Political instability in the country has undermined the effectiveness of government reproductive health programs. The projected population for the year 2. The population density was 2. The population consists of indigenous Africans and descendants of American black settlers (also known as Liberico- Americans or Amerafricans), in the ratio of at least 3. The UN estimated that 4. The capital city, Monrovia, had a population of 5. More than one- third of the population lives within an 8. Monrovia. After Monrovia, Buchanan, Harper, and Greenville are the largest port cities; Gbarnga, Kakata, Sanniquellie, Zorzor, and Ghanpa are major interior towns. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS has had a significant impact on the population of Liberia. The UN estimated that 6. HIV/AIDS in 2. 00. The AIDS epidemic causes higher death and infant mortality rates, and lowers life expectancy. The Liberian civil war caused a great amount of migration in the early 1. In May 1. 99. 7, there were still 2. C. Since the beginning of 1. Liberia has improved as the warring factions have been disarmed. Repatriation is only possible after the rainy season ends in October and the roads become passable again; however, between 1. Liberia. Insurgencies that struck Lofa County in April and August 1. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as Lofa has been the single- largest county of return for Liberian refugees, mainly from Guinea. As of 1. 99. 9, Liberia was host to 9. Sierra Leone. In that year all Liberian refugees who had fled were presumed to have returned to their homeland. In March 2. 00. 3, armed conflict between the government and two rebel groups spread to nine of Liberia's fifteen counties. A ceasefire agreement was broken soon after signing. The end of the 1. A 1. 5,0. 00- strong UN peacekeeping force restored security to the country and disarmed and demobilized over 1. November 2. 00. 5. According to UNHCR, by the end of 2. Liberia. In addition, there were 5. In 2. 00. 4 Liberia had 1. C. In that same year, Liberia ranked eighth- highest for the origin of refugees, with 3. Guinea, Sierra Leone, C. In that same year over 5,0. Liberians sought asylum in Ghana, Guinea, Italy, Germany and France. Net migration rates have vacillated widely. In 2. 00. 5, the net migration rate was an estimated zero migrants per 1,0. These. were significant changes from 1. Indigenous African tribes constitute 9. Besides the descendants of the early settlers, Liberia is peopled by about 2. They are believed to have migrated from the north and east between the 1. Egyptian and Arabian culture, such as the spinning and weaving of cotton and the smelting of iron. Linguistically, the tribes may be divided into three main groups: the Mande people in the north and far west, the Kru tribes (including the Krahn) in the east and southeast, and the Mel in the northwest. The largest groups are the Kpell. About 2. 5% of the population is Americo- Liberian, descendants of immigrants from the United States who had been slaves. There are also two tribes not strictly Liberian: the Mandingo, who are itinerant Muslim traders, and the Fanti fishermen, who come from Ghana and stay a few years at a time in Liberia. Because of intermarriage and an aggressive national unification program, tribal divisions are rapidly becoming less distinct, especially around the capital. Nevertheless, there is a strong tendency among the indigenous people to preserve their tribal identities. Of the non- African resident population, the biggest component consists of Lebanese and Syrians. English is the official language, but only a minority of the people (about 2. The tribal people use their own languages, of which there are about 2. Of these, Vai, Bassa, and Loma can be written and are being used in correspondence by these tribes. The international phonetic alphabet, introduced by missionaries, has facilitated the use of many of the other tribal languages for correspondence and publication of local newsletters. The early settlers, freed American slaves, brought with them the culture and religion of the US deep South of the slavery era. Their descendants are generally adherents of Protestant denominations. It is estimated that about 4. Christianity exclusively or in combination with traditional indigenous religions. Christian denominations include Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, United Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal (AME), AME Zionist, and several Pentecostal churches. About 2. 0% of the population practice Islam. Mandingo traders, who live mainly in the northern and eastern counties, have made many Muslim converts and Egyptian and Pakistani Muslim missionaries have been active since 1. About 4. 0% of the population practice traditional indigenous religions exclusively. Veneration of ancestors forms the core of most Liberian traditional religion. There is also a small Baha'i community.
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