Indo-Greek Kingdom

Maximum extent of Indo-Greek territory circa 175 BCE.
Enlarge
Maximum extent of Indo-Greek territory circa 175 BCE.

The Indo-Greeks (or sometimes Greco-Indians) designate a series of Greek kings, who invaded and controlled parts of northwest and northern India from 180 BCE to around 10 BCE.

They are the continuation of the Greco-Bactrian dynasty of Greek kings (the Euthydemids) founded by the military governor Diodotus around 250 BCE, when he established the independence of his Bactrian territory from the Seleucid Empire.

Contents

The conquest of India

The founder of the Indo-Greek Kingdom Demetrius I (205-171 BCE), wearing the scalp of an elephant, symbol of his conquest of India.
Enlarge
The founder of the Indo-Greek Kingdom Demetrius I (205-171 BCE), wearing the scalp of an elephant, symbol of his conquest of India.

The Indo-Greek kingdom was established by Demetrius, the son of the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus.

Demetrius started the invasion of northern India from 180 BCE, following the destruction of the Mauryan dynasty by the general Pusyamitra Sunga, who then founded the new Indian Sunga dynasty (185-78 BCE). Demetrius went as far as the capital Pataliputra in eastern India (today Patna): "Those who came after Alexander went to the Ganges and Pataliputra" (Strabo, XV.698). The Indian records also describes Greek attacks on Saketa, Panchala, Mathura and Pataliputra (Gargi-Samhita, Yuga Purana chapter).

The invasion was completed by 175 BCE, and the Indo-Greeks ruled various part of northern and northwestern India until the end of the 1st century BCE, while the Sungas remained in the east.

The Indo-Greeks and Buddhism

Buddhism flourished under the Indo-Greek kings, and it has been suggested that their invasion of India was intended to show their support for the philhellenic Mauryan empire, and to protect the Buddhist faith from the religious persecutions of the Sungas.

Coin of the Indo-Greek king Menander I (reigned c.165- 130 BCE)
Enlarge
Coin of the Indo-Greek king Menander I (reigned c.165- 130 BCE)

Menander, one of the most famous successors of Demetrius, ruled from 150 to 135 BCE. He is presented by Greek authors as an even greater conqueror than Alexander the Great. Strabo (XI.II.I) says Menander was one of the two Bactrian kings who extended their power farthest into India.

Menander, described on his coins as the "Saviour king", seems to have converted to Buddhism, and is described in Buddhist texts as a great benefactor of the religion, on a par with Ashoka or the future Kushan emperor Kanishka. He is famous for his dialogues with the Buddhist monk Nagasena, transmitted to us in the Milinda Panha. Upon his death, the honour of sharing his remains was claimed by the various cities under his rule, and they were enshrined in stupas, in a parallel with the historic Buddha (Plutarch, Praec. reip. ger. 28, 6).

During the reign of Menander, the Greek (Pali: Yona, lit: "Ionian") Buddhist monk Mahadhammarakkhita (Sanskrit: Mahadharmaraksita) is said to have come from “Alasandra” (thought to be Alexandria of the Caucasus, the city founded by Alexander the Great, near today’s Kabul) with 30,000 monks for the foundation ceremony of the Maha Thupa ("Great stupa") at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, indicating the importance of Buddhism within Greek communities in northwestern India, and the prominent role Greek Buddhist monks played in them:

A Hellenistic Buddhist stupa in the Indo-Greek city of Sirkap, northern Pakistan, 2nd century BCE.
Enlarge
A Hellenistic Buddhist stupa in the Indo-Greek city of Sirkap, northern Pakistan, 2nd century BCE.
"From Alasanda the city of the Yonas came the thera (elder) Yona Mahadhammarakkhita with thirty thousand bhikkhus." (Mahavamsa, XXIX)

Although the spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and Northern Asia is usually associated with the Kushans, a century or two later, there is a possibility that it may have been introduced in those areas from Gandhara "even earlier, during the time of Demetrius and Menander" (Puri, "Buddhism in Central Asia").

During the reign of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas (r.c. 115-95 BCE) relations with the Sungas seem to have improved, and some level of religious reconciliation started, as suggested by the erection of the Heliodorus pillar by an ambassador of the king to the court of the Sungas.

There were over 30 Indo-Greek kings, often in competition on different territories. Many of them are only known through their coins. The Indo-Greeks correspond to a key period of cultural interaction between the Hellenistic and the Buddhist cultures, refered to as Greco-Buddhism.

Scythian and Kushan invasions

Kushan man in traditional costume with tunic and boots, 2nd century CE, Gandhara.
Enlarge
Kushan man in traditional costume with tunic and boots, 2nd century CE, Gandhara.

From 130 BCE, Indo-European nomads (the Scythians and then the Yuezhi) started to invade Bactria from the north. In 125 BCE the Greco-Bactrian king Heliocles abandoned Bactria and moved his capital to the Kabul valley, from where he ruled his Indian holdings.

Hellenistic culture in the Indian subcontinent: Greek clothes, amphoras, wine and music, archeological site of Hadda, Gandhara, 1st century CE.
Enlarge
Hellenistic culture in the Indian subcontinent: Greek clothes, amphoras, wine and music, archeological site of Hadda, Gandhara, 1st century CE.

While the Yuezhi were to stay in Bactria for more than a century, the Scythians went on to the south-east into northern Pakistan to form Indo-Scythian kingdoms, seemingly recognizing the power of the local Indo-Greeks rulers there. The coins of the Indo-Scythians displayed Greek legends and Greek divinities such as Zeus or Nike. However, towards the end of the 1st century BCE it seems they finally controled most of the territory under Azes II.

The last Indo-Greek king Hermaeus died around 1 BCE, although this dating may be related to posthumous issues. In that case Strato II (40-10 BCE) would be the last one.

From the 1st century AD, the Greek communities of central Asia and northwestern India lived under the control of the Kushan branch of the Yuezhi, apart from a short-lived invasion of the Indo-Parthian. The Kushans founded the Kushan Empire, which was to prosper for several centuries.

Main Indo-Greek kings

  • Sophytes (305-294) Independent Greek prince


  • Apollodotus I (reigned c. 174–165 BCE)
  • Demetrius II (175-170 BCE)
  • Menander (reigned c. 165–130 BCE) Successor to Apollodotus.
  • Epander (135 - 130 BCE) Coin (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/epander/Bop_1C.jpg)
  • Strato I (125 - 110 BCE) Coin (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/strato_I/SNGANS_996.jpg)
  • Zoilos I (130 - 120 BCE)
  • Lysias (120 - 110 BCE) Coin (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/lysias/Bop_4C.jpg)
  • Antialcidas (r.c. 115-95 BCE) Coin (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/antialkidas/Bop_13c.jpg)
  • Heliokles II (110 - 100 BCE) Coin (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/heliokles_II/Bop_7.jpg)
  • Philoxenus (reigned c. 100––95BCE)
  • Demetrios III & Aniketos (c. 100 BCE)
  • Diomedes (95 - 90 BCE)Coin (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/diomedes/Bop_10A.jpg)
  • Amyntas (95 - 90 BCE)
  • Theophilos (c. 90 BCE) Coin (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/theophilos/Bop_5.jpg)
  • Peukoloas (c. 90 BC)
  • Nicias (reigned c. 90–85 BCE)
  • Menander II & Dikaios (90 - 85 BCE)
  • Archebios (90 - 80 BCE) Coin (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/archebios/Bop_3C-o.jpg)
  • Hermaeus (reigned c. 90–70 BC)
  • Apollodotus II (80 - 65 BCE) Coin (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/apollodotos_II/Bop_3B.1.jpg)
  • Hippostratos (65 - 55 BCE) Coin (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/hippostratos/Bop_1a.jpg)
  • Dionysios (65 - 55 BCE)
  • Artemidoros (60-40 BCE) Coin (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/baktria/kings/artemidoros/MIG_401-o.jpg)
  • Zoilos II (55 - 35 BCE)
  • Apollophanes (35 - 25 BCE)
  • Strato II (40 BC - 15 BCE) Coin (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sg/sg7728.jpg)
  • Hermaeus (40-1BCE) Coin (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sg/sg7740-o.jpg) Posthumous issues

See also:

References:

  • "The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies" by Thomas McEvilley (Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts, 2002) ISBN 1581152035
  • "Buddhism in Central Asia" by B.N. Puri (Motilal Banarsidass Pub, January 1, 2000) ISBN 8120803728

External links

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia article. Browse Wikipedia for more information.