De Atenas a Pataliputra

Historiografia sobre contatos entre gregos e indianos durante o período helenístico

Abstract

The Hellenistic period has been regarded as the moment when relations and cultural exchanges between ancient Greeks and Indians reached a level of intensity and complexity never seen before. It does not surprise, subsequently, that historians during the last century paid extreme attention to this cultural interaction. However, the ways it was comprehended varied, and one of the causes was the influence of contemporary political and social context over scholars. In this article, we propose the identification of two main historiographical moments or paradigms in the 20th century. The first one was influenced by colonial discourse and practices and the second emerged as a nationalist claim against imperialism. Through an analysis of the works of three authors –W. W. Tarn, A. K. Narain and J. Nehru– we attempt to show that, behind the clear differences between both moments, there is a common conception of culture that conduced them to very similar conclusions.