Indica (Arrian)

Indica (Ancient Greek: Ἰνδική Indikḗ) is the name of a short military history about interior Asia, particularly India, written by Arrian in the 2nd century CE.

However, much of the importance of the work comes from Arrian's in-depth asides describing the history, geography, and culture of Ancient India.

Alexander planned to return himself over land but wanted to learn about the mouth of the Indus (which he himself did not reach) and the sea between India and Babylon.

Indica was written by Arrian, a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period.

Indica begins with a description of the geography of India, in particular focusing on the size of the rivers Indus and the Ganges, together with their tributaries.

The text also describes their manner of hunting (which includes a description of many of the great fauna of India) and making war.

Arrian also drew on a number of other ancient writers, including Eratosthenes and, most notably, Megasthenes (whose own book was also named Indica).

Nearchus' voyage explains how Alexander went about learning about the world and gives some insight into the amount of never before exchanged knowledge his conquests resulted in spreading.