Integrating Hellenic and Indian Traditions

Abstract

The view of Arabic civilization as merely transmitting back to Europe the tradition of Hellenic science and philosophy also ignores the significant synthesis made by Arabic scholars of the traditions of thought they inherited from the Greeks, Persians, Indians, Syrians, and others who became a part of the Islamic empire. However, the Arabic historians themselves were careful to record their indebtedness to these predecessor traditions. It is also well known that under the Sassanian Empire founded in the third century by Shapur I, there was a long tradition of study of the ancient sciences of various civilizations by scholars from diverse cultures who gathered together in Jundishapur in Persia. The school of Jundishapur continued the tradition of learning after the conquest of the Persians by the Muslim Arabs.¹