MEGASTHENES

born c. 350 BC died c. 290 ancient Greek historian and diplomat, author of an account of India, the Indica, in four books. An Ionian, he was sent by the Hellenistic king Seleucus I on embassies to the Maurya emperor Candra Gupta. Though credulous and inaccurate, he gave the most complete account of India then known to the Greek world.