He was a Greek historian and diplomat who lived in the 4th century BCE. He served as the ambassador of Seleucus I Nicator, the founder of the Seleucid Empire, to the court of Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan Empire in India.
During his stay in India, Megasthenes wrote Indika, a comprehensive account of Indian society, culture, and geography. Unfortunately, the original text of Indika is lost, but fragments of it survive in the writings of later authors like Arrian, Strabo, and Diodorus Siculus.