Hellenistic India

[Leo Caesius]

Even so, I suspect that it's much more likely that the Greeks would assimilate to the local cultures; even if they do remain in control, the ruling culture would likely be hybrid.

I suspect that Greek would survive only as a formal (written) language, and the vernacular of the ruling Hellenes would be a kind of jargon, Greek vocabulary overlaying Sanskrit grammar. They, of course, would not be aware of any major difference between the written Greek and the spoken vernacular, at least not until the Grammarians come along (probably earlier in TTL). At that point, it's possible that the vernacular will become a literary language on its own, as Urdu eventually did.

 

[Faeelin]

Even so, I suspect that it's much more likely that the Greeks would assimilate to the local cultures; even if they do remain in control, the ruling culture would likely be hybrid.

I suspect that Greek would survive only as a formal (written) language, and the vernacular of the ruling Hellenes would be a kind of jargon, Greek vocabulary overlaying Sanskrit grammar. They, of course, would not be aware of any major difference between the written Greek and the spoken vernacular, at least not until the Grammarians come along (probably earlier in TTL). At that point, it's possible that the vernacular will become a literary language on its own, as Urdu eventually did.

Indeed; witness how the Greeks minted coins in the Indus Valley in Khathorsi, one of the more important scripts in the region. And the Buddhists, etc. etc.

India in this period has a few useful technologies that the Greeks would find interesting, such as making Damascus steel and possibly some things in alchemy. But the Greeks also have a variety of technolgoies that India lacks; advanced mining techniques, frex.

 

[Rick Robinson]

They, of course, would not be aware of any major difference between the written Greek and the spoken vernacular, at least not until the Grammarians come along (probably earlier in TTL).

Probably much earlier. Classical-era India had extremely sophisticated linguistic concepts, way beyond those of Greek or Latin grammarians. A grammarian named Panini analysized the sound changes between Sanscrit and the vernaculars of his own day, sometime around 300-400 BCE.

Throw a Greek-speaking ruling class into this mix and there's a good chance that someone will recognize the shared Indo-European background of Sanskrit and Greek. Persian dialects, if known, will be recognized as members of the same family, and someone in the classical era might even do a fair job of reconstructing Proto-Indo-European.

-- Rick

 

[Flocculencio]

One point that I think needs to be made here is that there is little chance of their being any lasting Hellenistic bent to an Indian civilization without a regular and established line of communication to the mainstream of the Hellenistic world.

The thing is- there will be lines of contact through trade etc. Heraklid merchants are going to be setting up shop in all the major trading centres of the Classical world.

The ideas about assimilation and such are true but linguistically, I think a form of corrupted Greek (probably, as you guys said, mixed with sanskrit and the dravidian languages of S. India) is going to become the lingua franca of the peoples of the Heraklid Hegemony.

And the various technological contacts should produce some interesting effects- I'm thinking that a hellenic influence on India and SE Asia combined with influence from China might lay the seeds for an Asian industrial revolution. Heraklid Musketeers turning back the Mongols, anyone?