History of the Indo-Greek Kingdom

Also the Brahmanical text of the Yuga Purana, which describes Indian historical events in the form of a prophecy,^[17] relates the attack of the Indo-Greeks on the capital Pataliputra, a magnificent fortified city with 570 towers and 64 gates according to Megasthenes,^[18] and describes the ultimate destruction of the city's walls:

"Then, after having approached

Mathuras, the Yavanas, valiant in battle, will reach Kusumadhvaja ("The town of the flower-standard", Pataliputra

). Then, once Puspapura (another name of Pataliputra) has been reached and its celebrated mud[-walls] cast down, all the realm will be in disorder."

— Yuga Purana, Paragraph 47–48, 2002 edition.

According to the Yuga Purana a situation of complete social disorder follows, in which the Yavanas rule and mingle with the people, and the position of the Brahmins and the Sudras is inverted:

"Sudras will also be utterers of bho (a form of address used towards an equal or inferior), and Brahmins will be utterers of arya (a form of address used towards a superior), and the elders, most fearful of dharma, will fearlessly exploit the people. And in the city the Yavanas, the princes, will make this people acquainted with them: but the Yavanas, infatuated by war, will not remain in Madhyadesa."

— Yuga Purana, Paragraph 55–56, 2002 edition.

Epigraphic remains

Several depictions of Greeks in Central India dated to the 2nd-1st century BCE are known, such as the Greek soldier in

A pillar discovered in Reh, in the Ganges valley 350 km south-east of Mathura mentions Menander:

"The great king of kings, the great king Menander, saviour, steadfast in the Law (dharma), victorious and unvanquished..."

— Reh inscription.^[20]

Another inscription 17mk from Mathura, the Maghera inscription, contains the phrase "In the 116th year of the Greek kings...", suggesting Greek rule in the area until around 70 BCE, as the "Greek era" is thought to have started around 186 BCE.^[21]

Archaeological remains

Urban remains

The city of

The excavations of the Greek levels at Sirkap were however very limited and made in peripheral areas, out of respect for the more recent archeological strata (those of the

When the Indo-Greeks settled in the area of Taxila, large Buddhist structures were already present, such as the stupa of

There may also have been setbacks in the east. The

"Then in the eighth year, (Kharavela) with a large army having sacked Goradhagiri causes pressure on Rajagaha (Rajagriha). On account of the loud report of this act of valour, the Yavana (Greek) King Dimi[ta] retreated to Mathura having extricated his demoralized army and transport."

— Hathigumpha inscription, in Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XX.^[31]

The interpretation has been challenged, and a presence this far east seems difficult to attest to Demetrius I, who issued no Indian coins whatsoever.

In any case, Eucratides seems to have occupied territory as far as the

"The Yavanas, infatuated by war, will not remain in Madhadesa (the Middle Country). There will be mutual agreement among them to leave, due to a terrible and very dreadful war having broken out in their own realm."

— Yuga Purana, paragraphs 56–57, 2002 edition.

Following Menander's reign, about twenty Indo-Greek kings are known to have ruled in succession in the eastern parts of the Indo-Greek territory. Upon his death, Menander was succeeded by his infant son Thraso, but he was apparently murdered and further civil wars ensued. Judging from their coins, many of the later kings claimed descendance from either the Euthydemids or Menander, but the details remain uncertain due to the lack of sources.

The fall of Bactria

From 130 BCE, the

The Indo-Greeks may have ruled as far as the area of

The Western king

Philoxenus was succeeded by

In any case, these nomads became the new rulers of the Paropamisadae, and minted vast quantities of posthumous issues of Hermaeus up to around 40 CE, when they blend with the coinage of the Kushan king Kujula Kadphises. The first documented Yuezhi prince, Sapalbizes, ruled around 20 BCE, and minted in Greek and in the same style as the western Indo-Greek kings, probably depending on Greek mints and celators.

Scythian invasions (80 BCE – 50 CE)

Around 80 BCE, an

Another important king during this period was Amyntas, who issued the last Attic coins found in Bactria and may have attempted to reunite the Indo-Greek territories. It was however the king Apollodotus II, seemingly a descendant of Menander, who managed to regain Gandhara from remaining Greek strongholds in eastern Punjab. After the death of Apollodotus II the kingdom fragmented once more.

In the west, he was succeeded by

Although the Indo-Scythians clearly ruled militarily and politically, they remained respectful of Greek and Indian cultures. Their coins were minted in Greek mints, continued using Greek and Kharoshthi scripts, and incorporated depictions of Greek deities, particularly Zeus. The Mathura lion capital inscription attests that they adopted the Buddhist faith, as do the depictions of deities forming the vitarka mudra on their coins. Greek communities, far from being exterminated, probably persisted under Indo-Scythian rule. The Buner reliefs show Indo-Greeks and Indo-Scythians reveling in a Buddhist context.

The last eastern kingdom (50 BCE – 10 CE)

The Indo-Greeks continued to maintain themselves in the eastern Punjab for several decades, until the kingdom of the last Indo-Greek king Strato II was taken over by the Indo-Scythian ruler Rajuvula around 10 CE. The coins of these Indo-Greek rulers deteriorated constantly, both in terms of artistic quality (due to the long isolation) and in silver content. Still, the last Strato had the honour of ruling the last pocket of an independent Hellenistic state; when he disappeared, Cleopatra, usually seen as the last of the rulers who followed Alexander the Great, was already gone.

Indo-Parthian rule (10–60 CE)

The Parthians, represented by the

Kushan supremacy

The Yuezhi expanded to the east during the 1st century CE, to found the

Euthydemus I and Demetrius I (c. 200–175 BCE) Coins. Demetrius was the first Indo-Greek king to gain territories in India. It is possible that he made his first conquests as general for his father, a view supported by the Heliodorus inscription.

Territories of Paropamisadae, Gandhara

• Pantaleon
• Agathocles Coins. These two Bactrian kings, likely father and son, ruled between c. 190–175 BCE.

Territories of Gandhara, western Punjab

• Apollodotus I
  (c. 180–160 BCE)
• Antimachus II (c. 174–165 BCE or 160–155 BCE). Coins R.C Senior (2004) has suggested that this king was possibly identical with Antimachus I, but an Antimachus, who was the co-regent (and presumably son) of Antimachus I is known from a preserved tax-receipt.

Territories of Gandhara, western and eastern Punjab

• Menander I (reigned c. 165/155 – 135/130 BCE), though with some interruption in the western territories. Legendary for the size of his kingdom, and his support of the Buddhist faith. Coins

Territories of Arachosia, Paropamisadae, Gandhara

• Hindu-Kush
  .
• Zoilos I
  This king may have fought against Menander I around 150–140 BCE.
• (Demetrius III possibly c. 150 BCE). This ephemeral ruler was possibly identical with the Demetrius, king of the Indians, who fought with Eucratides.^[38]

Civil wars and nomad invasions (c. 130 BCE – 50 CE)

Territories of Gandhara or western Punjab

A smaller kingdom seems to have emerged in the Kabul valley, between c. 130–115/110 BCE.

• Thrason
  Son of Menander, ruled very briefly c. 130 BCE.
• Nicias
• Theophilos Coin
• Philoxenus

Territories of Arachosia, Paropamisadae, Gandhara, western and eastern Punjab

• Lysias Coins
  and
• Antialcidas Coins were the most important successors of Menander. They ruled most of the Indo-Greek kingdom, though perhaps as co-rulers, c. 130–110 BCE.
• Philoxenus (c. 115–105 or 100–95 BCE) Coins
  . Philoxenus temporarily united the major kingdom with the smaller state in the Kabul valley.

Territories of Arachosia and the Paropamisadae

• Diomedes (c. 105–95 BCE) Coin
• Hermaeus
  (reigned c. 95–80 BCE).
• ( Yuezhi or Saka rulers)

Territories of Gandhara, western and eastern Punjab A number of kings fought for hegemony during the period after Philoxenus' death to the advent of Maues.

• Agathokleia (c. 110–105 BCE), Probably widow of another king, she was presumably regent for her son Strato I. Coins
• Strato I (c. 110–85 BCE) Coin

The territory of

Mathura

and eastern Punjab may have been lost after Strato's death.

• Heliokles II (c. 95–80 BCE) Coins
• Archebios (c. 90–80 BCE) Coins
• Amyntas Nikator (c. 80–65 BCE) Coins

The following minor kings ruled parts of the kingdom:

• Polyxenos
  (c. 80 BCE - possibly in Gandhara)
• Peukolaos
  (c. 90 BCE)
• Demetrius III Aniketos (possibly c. 75 BCE)
• Epander (c. 95–90 BCE) Coins

Territories of the Paropamisadae and Gandhara During the 1st century BCE, the Indo-Greeks progressively lost ground against the invasion of the

Indo-Scythians. After the invasion of (Maues

), the following kings maintained themselves in the Paropamisadae or Gandhara:

• Menander II (c. 70–65 BCE) Coins
• Artemidoros (c. 75–65 BCE) Coins
  .
• Telephos (c. 65–60 BCE) Coins

Despite his Greek name, Artemidoros was the son of Maues and therefore formally a Scythian king, and the ethnicity of Telephus is unknown as well.

Territories of Gandhara, western and eastern Punjab

• Apollodotus II (c. 65–55 BCE) Coins

Apollodotus II temporarily united most of the Indo-Greek kingdom, but after his death it fragmented again.

Territories of Gandhara and western Punjab

• Indo-Scythian King Azes I
  .
• (
  Indo-Scythian
  king.

Last eastern kingdom

Territories of eastern Punjab

The last Indo-Greek kings ruled in eastern Punjab from around 55 BCE – 10 CE

• Dionysios
• Zoilos II
• Apollophanes
• Strato IICoin with Strato III, who was overthrown by
• (
  Indo-Scythian
  king.

Indo-Greek princelets (Gandhara)

After the

Indo-Scythian

Kings became the rulers of northern India, remaining Greek communities were probably governed by lesser Greek rulers, without the right of coinage, into the 1st century CE, in the areas of the Paropamisadae and Gandhara:

• Theodamas (c. 1st century CE) Indo-Greek ruler of the Bajaur area, northern Gandhara.

The Indo-Greeks may have kept a significant military role towards the 2nd century CE as suggested by the inscriptions of the

Satavahana

kings.

References

1. ^ The title "Anicetus" for Demetrius is visible on the pedigree coins minted by Agathocles.
2. Isidorus of Charax mentions Parthians ruling over Greek populations and cities in Arachosia: "Beyond is Arachosia. And the Parthians call this White India; there are the city of Biyt and the city of Pharsana and the city of Chorochoad and the city of Demetrias; then Alexandropolis, the metropolis of Arachosia; it is Greek, and by it flows the river Arachotus. As far as this place the land is under the rule of the Parthians." "Parthians stations", 1st century BCE. Mentioned in Bopearachchi, "Monnaies Greco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques", p52. Original text in paragraph 19 of Parthian stations
   .
3. ^ The word for "advance" is "προελθοντες", meaning a military expedition. Strabo 15-1-27
4. ^ Source
5. ^ Strabo quoting Apollodorus on the extent of Greek conquests:

   • "Apollodorus, for instance, author of the Parthian History, when he mentions the Greeks who occasioned the revolt of Bactriana from the Syrian kings, who were the successors of
     Eucratides (one of these kings) had a thousand cities subject to his authority." Strabo 15-1-3 Full text
   • "The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so powerful on account of the fertility of the country that they became masters, not only of Ariana, but also of India, as
     Imaüs), for some were subdued by him personally and others by Demetrius, the son of Euthydemus the king of the Bactrians." (Strabo 11.11.1 Full text
     )

6. ^ Strabo 11.11.1
7. ^ Justin on Demetrius "King of the Indians": "Multa tamen Eucratides bella magna uirtute gessit, quibus adtritus cum obsidionem Demetrii, regis Indorum, pateretur, cum CCC militibus LX milia hostium adsiduis eruptionibus uicit. Quinto itaque mense liberatus Indiam in potestatem redegit." ("Eucratides led many wars with great courage, and, while weakened by them, was put under siege by Demetrius, king of the Indians. He made numerous sorties, and managed to vanquish 60,000 enemies with 300 soldiers, and thus liberated after four months, he put India under his rule") Justin XLI,6
8. ^ "Indicae quoque res additae, gestae per Apollodotum et Menandrum, reges eorum": "Also included are the exploits in India by Apollodotus and Menander, their kings" Justin, quoted in E.Seldeslachts, p284
9. ^ "Menander became the ruler of a kingdom extending along the coast of western India, including the whole of Saurashtra and the harbour Barukaccha. His territory also included Mathura, the Punjab, Gandhara and the Kabul Valley", Bussagli p101)
10. ^ Strabo on the extent of the conquests of the Greco-Bactrians/Indo-Greeks: "They took possession, not only of Patalena, but also, on the rest of the coast, of what is called the kingdom of Saraostus and Sigerdis. In short, Apollodorus says that Bactriana is the ornament of Ariana as a whole; and, more than that, they extended their empire even as far as the Seres and the Phryni." Strabo 11.11.1 (Strabo 11.11.1)
11. ^ Periplus
12. ^ Greek provinces in India according to Classical sources:
    • Patalene - the whole Indus delta region, with an apparent capital in "Demetrias-in-Patalene;" presumably founded by Demetrius (Ptolemy, Geographia, VII 1, 55/ Strabo 11.11.1)
    • Abiria - North of the Indus delta and apparently named for the Ahbira peoples, presumably in residence of the region. (Ptolemy, Geographia, VII 1, 55).
    • Prasiane - North of Abiria and East of the main Indus channel. (Pliny, Natural history, VI 71)
    • Surastrene - Southeast of Patalene, comprising the Kathiawar peninsula and parts of Gujarat to Bharuch (modern Saurashtra and Surat), with the city of "Theophila". (Ptolemy, Geographia, VII 1, 55/ Strabo 11.11.1/ Periplus, Chap.41–47).
    • Sigerdis - a coastal region beyond Patalene and Surastrene, thought to correspond to Sindh. (Strabo 11.11.1)
    • Souastene - subdivision of
      Swat Valley
      (Ptolemy, Geographia, VII 1, 42).
    • Goryaea - smaller district located between the lower Swat river and the Kunar (
      Bajaur
      ), with the city of "Nagara, also called Dionysopolis". (Ptolemy, Geographia, VII 1, 42).
    • Peucelaitas - denotes the immediate district around Pushkalavati (Greek: Peucela). (Arrian, On India, IV 11)
    • Kaspeiria - comprising the upper valleys of the
      Chenab, Ravi, and Jhelum (i.e., southern Kashmir
      ). (Ptolemy, Geographia, VII 1, 42).
    • Pandouorum - Region of the Punjab along the
      Hydaspes
      river, with the "city of Sagala, also called Euthydemia" and another city named "Bucephala" (Ptolemy, Geographia, VII 1), or "Bucephalus Alexandria" (Periplus, 47).
    • Jumna, Beas, and Ganges
      . This report may be inaccurate, and the contents of the region somewhat smaller. (Ptolemy, Geographia, VII 1, 42).
13. Bopearachchi
    , p16.
14. ^ "tatha Yavana Kamboja Mathuram.abhitash cha ye./ ete ashava.yuddha.kushaladasinatyasi charminah."//5—(MBH 12/105/5, Kumbhakonam Ed)
15. ^ "Asui dve ca varsani bhoktaro Yavana mahim/ Mathuram ca purim ramyam Yauna bhoksyanti sapta vai" Vayupurana 99.362 and 383, quoted by Morton Smith 1973: 370. Morton Smith thinks occupation lasted from 175 to 93 BCE.
16. Bopearachchi, p16. Also: "Kalidasa recounts in his Mālavikāgnimitra (5.15.14–24) that Puspamitra appointed his grandson Vasumitra to guard his sacrificial horse, which wandered on the right bank of the Sindhu river and was seized by Yavana cavalrymen- the later being thereafter defeated by Vasumitra. The "Sindhu" referred to in this context may refer the river Indus: but such an extension of Shunga power seems unlikely, and it is more probable that it denotes one of two rivers in central India -either the Sindhu river which is a tributary of the Yamuna, or the Kali-Sindhu river which is a tributary of the Chambal
    ." The Yuga Purana, Mitchener, 2002.
17. The Asiatic Society, Kolkata
    , 2002
18. ^ "The greatest city in India is that which is called Palimbothra, in the dominions of the Prasians [...] Megasthenes informs us that this city stretched in the inhabited quarters to an extreme length on each side of eighty stadia, and that its breadth was fifteen stadia, and that a ditch encompassed it all round, which was six hundred feet in breadth and thirty cubits in depth, and that the wall was crowned with 570 towers and had four-and-sixty gates." Arr. Ind. 10. "Of Pataliputra and the Manners of the Indians.", quoting Megasthenes Text Archived 2008-12-10 at the Wayback Machine
19. ^ Source: "A guide to Sanchi" John Marshall. These "Greek-looking foreigners" are also described in Susan Huntington, "The art of ancient India", p100.
20. ^ "Original prakrit: "Maharajasa Rajarajasa/ Mahamtasa Tratarasa Dhammi/kasa Jayamtasa ca Apra/[jitasa] Minada[de?]rasa....", in R. C. Senior, 2004, p.xiv
21. ^ R. C. Senior, 2006, p.xv
22. ^ Marshall, "Sirkap Archeological Report", p 15–16
23. Taxila are the only significant excavations ever done, but only a small and peripherical portion of the city of Sirkap
    has been excavated to the Greek level ("The chief area in which digging has been carried down to the Greek strata is a little to the West of the main street near the northern gateway (...) Had it been practicable, I should have preferred to choose an area nearer to the city's center, where more interesting structures may be expected than in the outlying quarters near the city wall" ("Taxila", p120). Overall, the Greek excavations only represented a small part of the excavations: "And let me say that seven-eighths of the digging in this area has been devoted to Saka-Parthian structures of the second stratum; one-eight only to the earlier Saka and Greek remains below" ("Taxila", p119)
24. ^ Narain "The Indo-Greeks"
25. ^ "An ancient reference to Menander's invasion" The Indian Historical Quarterly XXIX/1 Agrawala 1953, p180–182.
26. ^ Reference: Domenico Faccenna, "Butkara I, Swat Pakistan, 1956–1962), Part I, IsMEO, ROME 1980.
27. ^ Marshall, "Taxila", p.120
28. ^ Chapel H, about 50 meters near the Dharmarajika stupa, in Marshall, "Excavations at Taxila", "The only minor antiquities of interest found in this building were twenty-five debased silver coins of the Greek king Zoilus II, which were brought to light beneath the foundations of the earliest chapel", p248
29. ^ "From Butkara I we know that building activities never ceased. The stupa was enlarged in a second phase under Menander, and again when the coins of Azes II were in circulation." Harry Falk "Afghanistan, ancien carrefour entre l'Est et l'Ouest", p.347. "The diffusion, from the second century BCE, of Hellenistic influences in the architecture of Swat is also attested by the archaeological searches at the sanctuary of Butkara I, which saw its stupa "monumentalized" at that exact time by basal elements and decorative alcoves derived from Hellenistic architecture", in "De l'Indus a l'Oxus: archaeologie de l'Asie Centrale" 2003, Pierfrancesco Callieri, p212
30. ^ "They were intended to hold a figured panel, relief-work, or something of the kind" Domenico Facenna, "Butkara I"
31. ^ Full text of the Hathigumpta inscription Archived 2006-11-17 at the Wayback Machine
32. Bopearachchi
    , "Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques", p76.
33. JSTOR 20616702
    .
34. ^ The Sanskrit inscription reads "Yavanarajyasya sodasuttare varsasate 100 10 6". R.Salomon, "The Indo-Greek era of 186/5 B.C. in a Buddhist reliquary inscription", in "Afghanistan, ancien carrefour entre l'est et l'ouest", p373
35. ^ Senior, 2004
36. ^ Bopearachchi's and Senior's views, respectively. See for instance Bopearachchi, 1998, and Senior, 1998,
37. ^ R. C. Senior, 2004 [1] and 1998. See also this source Archived 2007-10-15 at the Wayback Machine.
38. ^ Jakobsson, J. Relations between the Indo-Greek kings after Menander I, part 1, Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society 191, 2007

Sources

• ISBN 2-7177-1825-7.
• ISBN 0-89722-273-3
  .
• Senior, R. C, New Indo Greek Coins, Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society 186
• Senior, R. C. and MacDonald, D, The decline of the Indo-Greeks, Monographs of the Hellenic Numismatic Society, Athens, 1998
• Senior, R. C., Indo-Greek–The Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian King Sequences in the Second and First Centuries BC, 2004, Supplement to Oriental Numismatic Society Newsletter, no. 179