How did Chanakya’s knowledge reach Europe? There was a stir in Athens when it was first published

Demetrius Galanos-Chanakya Niti: When western countries considered India a country steeped in darkness, it was beyond the imagination of the Greeks that there is something in Indian literature that is worth translating, that is why Dimitrios Galanos translated Chanakya Niti into Greek language. When ‘Aphorism of Chanakya’ or ‘Chanakya Sukti’ was published in Athens in Greek language, not only did it get tremendous popularity but its translator ‘Nicholas Kephalus’ also got a lot of fame. After the publication of this translation, there was a stir among the scholars of Athens.

It was discovered that Nicholas Kephalus was a ship captain, and questions arose as to how a ship captain became a scholar and translator of Indian culture. The Greeks could not digest this. After doing more research on this, it was discovered that among the people who were thanked in the ‘Aphorism of Chanakya’, one name was also of ‘Demetrius Galanos’. Later it came to light that all this work was done by Galanos.

Demetrios Galanos was a Greek Indologist who studied South Asia. He was born in Athens in 1760 but his growing interest in India brought him to India. At the age of 26, he came to Kolkata, India and started teaching children of some Greek families here and later came to Banaras. In Banaras, Demetrios Galanos completely adopted Indian culture and even changed his attire.

Galanos’ translation was published by Kephalas
It is said that Demetrius Galanos used to mingle with Sanskrit scholars in Banaras. Nicholas Kephalas met Demetrius Galanos in Banaras itself. Kephalas spent a few days with Galanos in Banaras itself. After getting to know each other a little, Galanos gave his translation from Sanskrit to Greek to Kephalas. This translation was published by Kephalas in Athens. For now, this book was a small part of the work that Demetrius Galanos had done on Indian literature.

Galanos came to India and became one of India
Demetrios Galanos lived in the house of Munshi Sheetal Prasad Singh, a famous Sanskrit scholar of Banaras, and became a resident of Banaras. Demetrios Galanos lived in India for about four and a half decades and read and translated the texts of this country. However, the recognition of his work came only after his death. Demetrios Galanos died in 1833.

These texts have been translated by Dimitrios Galanos
Demetrius Galanos’ second translation was published in 1845, 12 years after his death. This book included some verses translated from ‘Laghu Chanakya’. Demetrius Galanos also translated the Bhagavad Gita, which was published in 1848. Along with this, he has also created a Persian-English-Greek-Sanskrit dictionary. With the help of Munshi Sheetal Prasad Singh, he has worked on many Indian texts. This also includes texts like ‘Devi Mahatmya’ and ‘Markandeya Purana’.

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