Greco-Buddhism

Greco-Buddhism, sometimes spelled Graeco-Buddhism, is the cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 800 years in Central Asia in the area corresponding to modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, between the 4th century BCE and the 5th century CE. It is a cultural consequences of a long chain of interactions, starting with the Greek forays into India from the time of Alexander the Great, followed by the installation of direct Indo-Greek rule for several centuries, and prolonged with the flourishing of the Hellenized empire of the Kushans. Greco-Buddhism influenced the artistic (and, possibly, conceptual) development of Buddhism, and in particular Mahayana Buddhism, before it was adopted by Central and Northeastern Asia from the 1st century CE, ultimately spreading to China, Korea and Japan.