Indian, Greek scholars to trace Alexander's link to Malana in Kullu

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 19

Indian and Greek scholars will collaborate to trace common threads between the two countries through a detailed research in India, especially in Malana (a cluster of villages in Kullu district) where men from the Army of ‘Alexander the Great’ are believed to have settled after the war with Porus in 326 BC.

Villagers have greek features

• Experts say that the people of Malana have facial and physical features resembling Greeks
• A folklore suggests that while Alexander returned home, some of his soldiers settled down in Malana, as they were very tired

This was among the issues discussed at the first international conference of ‘Greek World and India’ in the JNU. In 2009, a Swedish University had held talks with the Institute of Tribal Studies of Himachal Pradesh University for joint research on the people of Malana, who claim to be the descendants of Alexander’s soldiers, trace their genetics and the origin of their dialect.

While there is no real scientific backing the hypothesis, some reports suggest the discovery of artifacts belonging the Alexander period from the area.

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