248 Notes to Pages 201–207
Kang (2011) includes Heron’s works in his third category of actually constructed
automata, 16.- Ruffell 2015– 16; for more 3- D re- creations and explanations of Heron’s self- moving
artifices, see the Heron of Alexandria/Automaton Project directed by Ian Ruffell
and Francesco Grillo at the University of Glasgow. http:// classics .academicblogs
.co .uk /heros -automata -first -moves/. - Medieval Islamic and European automata: Brunschwig and Lloyd 2000, 410, 490–
91, 493– 94. Zielinski and Weibel 2015, 20– 21; James and Thorpe 1994, 138– 40;
Truitt 2015a, 18– 20. By the tenth century, Arabic translations of the automata de-
signs of Greek inventors such as Philo and Heron were adapted in India; Ali 2016,
468. Strong 2004, 132n17. - Needham 1986; 4:156– 63 and throughout, on the history of Chinese mechanical en-
gineering and automatic devices. As Forte (1988, 11) points out, not all mechanical
innovations in China were transmitted from Europe; some arose from what Needham
termed “diffusion stimulus.” South- pointing chariot, James and Thorpe 1994, 140– 42. - Tang inventions, Benn 2004, 52, 95– 96, 108– 9, 112, 143– 44, 167, 271. Empress Wu
Zetian’s ambition to outdo Asoka: Strong 2004, 125 and n6 sources. Empress Wu
was also called Wu Zhao. - Keay 2011, 69 and n19, citing R. K. Mookerji, in History and Culture of the Indian
People, 2:28. Mookerji describes the armored war chariot with whirling clubs or
blades as like a “tank”; Keay calls it a “robot” swinging a club; others compare the
“machine” to a scythed chariot with spinning blades attached to the wheels. - Strong 2004, 124– 38. Keay 2011, 78– 100; Ali 2016, 481– 84.
- Strong 2004, 132– 38; Pannikar 1984; there are other versions in Cambodian and
Thai. Higley 1997, 132– 33. Cohen 2002. Zarkadakis 2015, 34. “Drew on a rich store
of legends,” Ali (2016, 481– 84) discusses the legend and the date and sources of the
Lokapannatti. - Strong 2004, 132– 33. In some versions, the engineer is beheaded by the robot as-
sassin sent to kill Asoka, Higley 1997, 132– 33, and Pannikar 1984. - Cohen 2002, 73– 74. It is assumed that the Lokapannatti story was solely influenced
by later Byzantine and early medieval automata. For the history of automata and
elaborate mechanical wonders, comparable to the fabulous Byzantine “Throne of
Solomon,” in early medieval India, see Ali 2016, esp. 484 on the circulation of techne,
and Brett 1954 on the automated Throne of Solomon. - Ali 2016, 484.
- Greco- Buddhist syncretism, McEvilley 2001; Boardman 2015.
- Asoka and Hellenistic rulers, Hinuber 2010, 263 (Megasthenes). Megasthenes Indica
fragments; Arrian Indica 10. Megasthenes and Deimachus were envoys to Mauryan
emperor Chandragupta and his son; Dionysius was Ptolemy’s envoy to Asoka. See
Arrian Anabasis 5; Pliny 6.21; Strabo 2.1.9– 14; 15.1.12. - Keay 2011, 78– 100; McEvilley 2000, esp. 367– 70; on Indian technology, 649 and
n19. On Asoka’s envoys to Hellenistic rulers, Jansari 2011.