1 The Panjab ruled
2 by the kings of Kash-
3 mir, 613 a.D,
4 The Indian embassy
5 to the Roman em-
6 peror, 20-22 B.c,
7 Qeeek influenco in
8 the Panjab.
9 74 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB,
10 Portions of the Panjab were also, from time to time, conquered by the
11 kings of Kashmir, and when the Chinese pilgrim Huen-Thsang visited that
12 country, in the year 613 A. D., he found the territory between the Indus
13 and the Jhelum ruled over by a Kdshmir king of the Ndgd, or Karkota,
14 dynasty. ; ;
15 In 20-22 B.c., according to Orosius, Porus, an Indian prince, sent an
16 ambassador to the Emperor Augustus of Rome, to court his friendship.
17 The Roman emperor received the embassy in Spain, and, a considerable
18 time having been spent in fruitless negotiations, another embassy was sent
19 by the Indian king to try and arrange affairs. These ambassadors, who had
20 been reduced to three, the rest having died of fatigue at Antioch, were seen
21 by Nicolas of Damascus, and were the bearers of a friendly letter, written
22 on parchment, or vellum, in Greek. It: is said that Porus ruled over six
23 hundred kings, and was anxious to cement a friendship with Cesar, to whom
24 he would have been glad to render any service that might have been re-
25 quired of him. The ambassadors had a large retinue, and were the bearers
26 of valuable presents from their king, being accompanied by a Brahmin,
27 Zarmanochagos, who subsequently burnt himself on a pile at Athens, as
28 Kalanos had done before him at Pasargadae, a great and ancient city of
29 Persia, on the river Cyrus. The following inscription was engraved on a
30 monument which was raised to his honour :—“ Here lies Zarmanochagos, an
31 Indian of Bargosa, who voluntarily terminated his life in conformity with
32 the custom prevailing among his countrymen.” . .
33 The fact that the credentials of the Indian sovereign were written
34 on a skin indicates plainly how far Grecian influence had operated on
35 Hindu prejudices. Inthe Panj&éb, where the Greeks had settled in consider-
36 able numbers, their influence was great. The architecture of the country
37 owed its first impulse to Grecian art, and the Buddhist monasteries abound
38 with statues and figures chiselled after the fashion of the Greeks. These
39 monuments of Buddho-Grecian art have been excavated from various parts
40 of the Panjdb border, and now form a beautiful collection in the Léhore
41 Museum.
42 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com