CONTACT BETWEEN GREECE AND INDIA 213 Questions such as these have received widely diver- gent answers, but undoubtedly the general tendency of European scholars has been to exaggerate the Hellen- izing effects of Alexander's invasion and of the Indo- Greek rule on the northwestern frontier. The most extreme " Hellenist " view is that expressed by Herr Niese, who is convinced that all the later development of India depends upon the institutions of Alexander, and that Chandragupta Maurya recognized the suze- rainty of Seleukos Nikator. Such extravagant notions are so plainly opposed to the evidence that they might be supposed to need no refutation, but they have been accepted to a certain extent by English writers of repute, who are, as already observed, inclined naturally to believe that India, like Europe and a large part of Asia, must have yielded to the subtle action of Hellenic ideas. It is therefore worth while to consider impartially and without prejudice the extent of the Hellenic influ- ence upon India from the invasion of Alexander to the Kushan or Indo-Scythian conquest at the end of the first century of the Christian era, a period of four cen- turies in round numbers. The author's opinion that India was not Hellenized by the operations of Alexander has been expressed in the chapter of this work dealing with his retreat from India, but it is advisable to remind the reader of the leading facts in connection with the more general ques- tion of Hellenic influence upon Indian civilization dur- ing four hundred years. In order to form a correct
