What is ‘Indica’? Who wrote it?
‘Indica’ is a book written by the Greek Ambassador Megasthenes. He had been sent to Chandragupta Maurya’s court by the Greek ruler Seleucus. Megasthenes remained in Pataliputra, the capital of the Mauryan empire and wrote ‘Indica’ during his stay. In the book, he records his impressions of India of the Mauryan period. Megasthenes’s original Indica has been lost, but parts of it still survive in the writings of later Greek authors like Starbo, Arrian, Diodorous, Plutarch and Justin.