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Scylax of Caryanda ( el, Σκύλαξ ὁ Καρυανδεύς) was a Greek explorer and writer of the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE. His own writings are lost, though occasionally cited or quoted by later Greek and Roman authors. The periplus sometimes called the ''Periplus of Scylax'' is not, in fact, by him; that so-called '' Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax'' was written in about the early 330s BCE by an unknown author working in the ambit of the post-
Platonic Academy The Academy (Ancient Greek: Ἀκαδημία) was founded by Plato in c. 387 BC in Classical Athens, Athens. Aristotle studied there for twenty years (367–347 BC) before founding his own school, the Lyceum (classical), Lyceum. The Academy ...
and/or the Aristotelian Peripatos (Lyceum) at Athens.


Exploration

Scylax was from
Caryanda Caryanda or Karyanda ( grc, Καρυάνδα) was a city on the coast of ancient Caria in southwestern Anatolia. Stephanus of Byzantium describes it as a city and harbour (λίμην) near Myndus and Cos. But λιμήν, in the text of Stephanu ...
, a small city on an island close to Iasos in
Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
. He was probably an ethnic Carian, who might have been familiar with Greek and used it for his writings. Not much is known about Scylax, except for the few fragments of information relayed by later Greek writers.
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
calls him a sea-captain from Ionia. He is said to have sailed down the
Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
at the behest of the Achaemenid emperor
Darius I Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his ...
(522–486 BCE) and then around the Arabian peninsula to reach Suez. In the narrative of Herodotus: Several questions have been raised about this narrative. The city of Caspatyrus and the country of Pactyica have not been traced to any real locations. Assuming that it is somewhere in the vicinity of
Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...
, which was under the control of the Achaemenid emperor, it is unclear how Scylax was able to assemble a fleet of vessels in this land-locked country. More importantly, the Indus does not flow east, but rather in a south-westerly direction. Due to these reasons, some commentators doubted if Scylax's journey ever took place. But these doubts are now laid to rest by the excavations at Suez, which seem to corroborate Scylax's account, and Darius's subsequent acquisition of control over
Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
. Scholars have constructed various explanations for these questions.
David Bivar Adrian David Hugh Bivar, FRAS (abbreviated A.D.H. Bivar) (1926 - 2015) was a British numismatist and archaeologist, who was Emeritus Professor of Iranian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He specialized ...
has noted that 'Caspatyrus' was written as 'Caspapyrus' by the later Greek writer Hekataios, and both the names seem to have been misspellings of 'Paskapyrus', a known Greek spelling of the name of
Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
. Scylax is presumed to have started by sailing east along the Kabul River and turned south after its confluence with the
Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
near
Attock Attock ( Punjabi and Urdu: ), formerly known as Campbellpur (), is a historical city located in the north of Pakistan's Punjab Province, not far from the country's capital Islamabad. It is the headquarters of the Attock District and is 61st larg ...
. The idea that the Indus itself flowed east must have been a misunderstanding by Herodotus or his source. Scholars state that Scylax's expedition was not merely for exploration, but rather for reconnaissance for future conquest by Darius. According to Matthew R. Christ and
Grant Parker Grant Parker (born 16 March 1967) is a South African-born Associate Professor of Classics at Stanford University in the United States. Parker’s principal research interests are Imperial Latin Literature, the portrayal of Egypt and India in ...
, "Herodotus presents geographical curiosity as a feature of foreign kings, particularly when they plan conquest". Olmstead characterised it as a "spying" expedition. It lasted thirty months. Soon afterwards, Darius seems to have added to his empire the lands explored by Scylax as a new province called ''Hinduš''. It was referred to as "India" by the Greek writers. The extent of the province is not precisely known, though Herodotus's description of it as lying to the west of the desert (
Thar desert The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, Subcontinent that covers an area of and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's Li ...
) limits it to essentially
Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
(middle and lower Indus basin). Darius also commissioned the completion of the canal connecting the Nile with the Red Sea, stating in an inscription: Afterwards, oceanic communication between India and Persia as well as Egypt and Mediterranean were established and maintained for some time.


Works

Scylax wrote an account of his travels, perhaps entitled ''Periplus'' (Circumnavigation) and said to have been dedicated to Darius. The work has disappeared except for seven quotations by later writers. The surviving quotations indicate it was not merely a logbook, but contained accounts of people, landscape, the natural conditions and perhaps also political affairs. Scholar Klaus Karttunen believes that it might have been written in Greek, in which case it would have been among the first works to be written in Greek prose. Hekataios was influenced by the work and Herodotus knew about it, though he may not have actually seen it himself. The surviving quotations appear fabulous. One talks about Troglodytes (cave-dwellers), another about Monophthalmic (one-eyed people), yet another about Henotiktontes (people that produce only one offspring). According to Tzetzes, Scylax claimed that all these things were true and not made up. Scholar R. D. Milns states that Scylax would have reported the stories he heard from the natives, which he would have accepted in good faith. Scylax's ''Periplus'' provided the West with its first account of the easterly people and served as a model for later Greek writers. More lastingly, it gave India its name. The people of the Indus region were referred to as ''Hiduš'' or ''Hindush'' in Persian (due to sound change of ''*s'' > ''h'' from Proto-Iranian '' Sindhu''). If Scylax wrote in the Ionic dialect of Greek, which did not pronounce initial ''h'' sounds, he would have transformed it to ''Indos'' (plural: ''Indoi''). Their land was characterised as ''Indike'' (the adjectival form, meaning "Indian"). Herodotus uses these terms as equivalent to the Persian terms ''Hiduš'' and ''Hindush'', even though he also generalised them to all the people living east of Persia, leading to considerable ambiguities. Scylax was famous in the ancient world. He is mentioned by
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
as an "ancient writer." According to the ''
Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...
'', he also wrote (perhaps "in the decades around 480 BC"
Arnaldo Momigliano Arnaldo Dante Momigliano (5 September 1908 – 1 September 1987) was an Italian historian of classical antiquity, known for his work in historiography, and characterised by Donald Kagan as "the world's leading student of the writing of history i ...
, ''The Development of Greek Biography'', Harvard UP, 1971, p. 29
) a life of his contemporary, Heraclides of Mylasa (τὰ κατὰ Ἡρακλείδην τὸν Μυλασσῶν βασιλέα), who is mentioned in Herodotus 5.121.


In popular culture

In the historical fiction novel ''
Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...
'' by Gore Vidal Scylax of Caryanda appears as a character who is on such familiar terms with King Darius I of Persia that they engage in humorous banter about extending Persian rule to India.


See also

*
List of explorers The following is a list of explorers. Their common names, countries of origin (modern and former), centuries when they were active and main areas of exploration are listed below. List See also * Age of Discovery * ...


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * *


Ancient sources

* Herodotus, ''
Histories Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to: * the plural of history * ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus * ''The Histories'', by Timaeus * ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius * ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), ...
'', 4.44 *
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
, ''
Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
'', 7.13.2 * ''Suda'', s.v
Σκύλαξ


External links



* {{Authority control 6th-century BC births 5th-century BC deaths Ancient Greek explorers Ancient Greek geographers Ancient Greek biographers Ancient Greeks in Caria Explorers of Asia Explorers of India Peripluses 6th-century BC geographers 5th-century BC geographers