Indica

Indica is classical Greek and Latin for "of India". It (therefore) is used to mean various India-related things, including:

Biology / Taxonomy

If a species originates in India, its scientific name sometimes includes "Indica"

Indica (Arrian)

Indica (Greek: Ινδική Indikí) is the name of a short book about India written by Arrian, one of the main ancient historians of Alexander the Great. The book mainly tells the story of Alexander's officer Nearchus’ voyage from India to the Persian Gulf after Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Indus Valley. However, much of the importance of the work comes from Arrian’s in depth asides describing the history, geography, and culture of the ancient Indian subcontinent. Arrian wrote his Indica in the Ionic dialect, taking Herodotus for his literary mode.

Indica is also the name of a similar book by Megasthenes that also describes the history of India and was a major source from which Arrian drew.

Historical period

Indica deals with the period of Alexander the Great. After Alexander conquered the Indus Valley, he planned to return to the center of his empire in Babylon. Alexander planned to return himself over land but wanted to learn about the mouth of the Indus (which he himself did not reach) and the sea between India and Babylon. Therefore, he sent one of his officers, Nearchus, to perform such a voyage and report what he saw. Indica mostly describes what Nearchus saw on that voyage.

Indica (Finnish band)

Indica is a Finnish pop rock group founded in 2001. Jani Jalonen of Sony Music became interested in the group, and a recording contract was signed 2003. Indica's first album, Ikuinen virta was released in 2004. It has since sold platinum in Finland.

Indica supported Nightwish during their Scandinavian tour 2007 in which they performed English versions of their songs. Tuomas Holopainen of Nightwish produced their next album, Valoissa, while many of the songs employed the orchestral talents of Pip Williams and the literary talents of their lyrics collaborator Rory Winston. The band was also added to the line-up for Nightwish's 2nd half of the Dark Passion Play Tour with Pain.

History

Johanna Salomaa (vocals, violin), Heini Säisä (bass), Sirkku Karvonen (keyboards), Jenny Julia (guitar) and Laura Häkkänen (drums) founded Indica in 2001. Before this the girls had already spent their entire childhood surrounded by classical music and had also played in a few different band line-ups. In the Christmas of 2002 Indica signed a management contract with Peter Kokljuschin and in 2003 a record deal with SonyMusic, leading to Indica starting work on their debut album.