Scenarii that allows greek linguage to stay alive in Central Asia and India ?

Hi everybody,

Do you have some POD that allows the survival of greek linguage, or at least the emergence of a mix Greco-Persian-indian linguage, after the death of Alexander the Great, in Central Asia and in the northwest of India ?

Thanks by advance for your ideas and i wish you an happy end of the year !
 
Hi everybody,

Do you have some POD that allows the survival of greek linguage, or at least the emergence of a mix Greco-Persian-indian linguage, after the death of Alexander the Great, in Central Asia and in the northwest of India ?

Thanks by advance for your ideas and i wish you an happy end of the year !

The problem is that the Greek language was only spoken by a tiny, tiny, fragile elite, and it never gained much status at all. The Indo-Greeks learned the local languages to speak to their people, not the other way around. It would be very difficult indeed to get Greek to remain even slightly viable in Central Asia and India. But stranger things have happened.
 
The problem is that the Greek language was only spoken by a tiny, tiny, fragile elite, and it never gained much status at all. The Indo-Greeks learned the local languages to speak to their people, not the other way around.

For the record, I don't disagree with any of this. But for the purposes of discussion...

Maybe Greek could settle in as both a trade language (via the greater Hellenistic world) and the language of the ruling elite. Then have Bactria or the Indo-Greeks adopt a policy of promoting and encouraging lower and middle ranking personages lacking the social foundation of local notables. In tandem with that, have them seek to educate the children of the elite in the quasi-Greek language of the court, with said children serving as both hostages to their parents good behavior and vehicles of Hellenization.

Learning and speaking Greek thus becomes a token of power and a symbol of one's rank or education in a vaguely similar way to how the Roman elites absorbed the language. Over time, Indo-Greek mutates and absorbs words and accents from the local languages, becoming a distinctive dialect of its own.

Unfortunately, it's hard to see this lasting much longer than the political structure that builds it, especially in the Indus valley. Once the kingdom(s) collapse, the far more numerous non-Greek Indians will simply wash away the thin Hellenistic veneer. Even so, Greek would have lasted a bit longer, and contributed a bit more to regional languages in such a timeline.
 

Philip

Donor
It may not result in wide spread usage, but consider having a group of Greeks establish a Greek-speaking Buddhist monastery that also incorporates Platonic philosophy. Over a century or two, it develops into its own sect of Buddhism and spreads throughout Central Asia.
 

It is indeed possible, especially if Alexander lives a decade or so longer. It would be interesting to see more Greek influence on Central Asian languages. Additionally, if the Indo-Greeks manage to last longer than the time they did OTL, than you could see Buddhism spread out of India westward and into the Near East or Greece itself, which potentially could have huge ramifications.
 
YOu know, I don't think that Greek as a language will survive in Central Asia or India. Maybe as the basis of a trade pidgin out there, but unlikely unless the Alexandrine empire or the Greco-Bactrians last for much longer than they did. However, I do think it's entirely possible and plausible that the Greek alphabet remains and spreads through those areas.
 
YOu know, I don't think that Greek as a language will survive in Central Asia or India. Maybe as the basis of a trade pidgin out there, but unlikely unless the Alexandrine empire or the Greco-Bactrians last for much longer than they did. However, I do think it's entirely possible and plausible that the Greek alphabet remains and spreads through those areas.

The Kushans did use a Greek-based alphabet for Bactrian and worshipped some of the old Hellenic deities. Plus with a couple of loanwords, that's as best as Greek can do in the area.
 
Which was where I was getting the thought. HOwever, how do we ensure that the alphabet remains as a common thread between all the languages that come into that area prior to the (likely) Arab invasions, when they replace the script?
 
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