Megasthenes' 'Indica' is a fascinating but tricky source. As someone who loves digging into ancient histories, I’ve spent hours comparing his descriptions with later accounts and archaeological findings. His portrayal of Chandragupta Maurya’s court, for instance, has this almost mythical grandeur—golden vines, peacock thrones—that feels exaggerated. But then,
Fragments align oddly well with Ashokan edicts and Greek trade records. The elephant warfare details? Spot-on. The 'no slavery' claim? Probably too idealistic. It’s like reading
herodotus—you gotta sift through the embellishments for those golden nuggets of truth.
What really hooks me is how his outsider perspective shapes things. He calls India’s
caste system 'professional guilds,' which misses the spiritual hierarchy entirely. But his notes on crop cycles match Panini’s agricultural texts. I think he relayed what he understood through a Hellenistic lens, blending fact with hearsay. Still, without 'Indica' surviving intact, we’re piecing together a puzzle where half the pieces are secondhand quotes from Arrian and Strabo. Makes you wonder how much got lost in translation—literally.