Indo-Greek Kingdom

Indo-Greek Kingdom
200 BC–10 AD
The Elephant and the Caduceus on a coin of Demetrius I, the founder of the Indo-Greek kingdom. of Indo-Greek Kingdom
The Elephant and the Caduceus on a coin of Demetrius I, the founder of the Indo-Greek kingdom.
Territory of the Indo-Greeks circa 150 BC.[1]
CapitalAlexandria in the Caucasus[2]
Taxila
Sagala
Common languagesKoine Greek
Pali
Sanskrit
Prakrit
Religion
Greco-Buddhism
Ancient Greek religion
Buddhism
Hinduism
Zoroastrianism
GovernmentMonarchy
Basileus 
• 200–180 BC
Demetrius I (first)
• 25 BC–10 AD
Strato III (last)
Historical eraAntiquity
• Established
200 BC
• Disestablished
10 AD
Area
150 BC[3]1,100,000 km2 (420,000 sq mi)
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
Maurya Empire
Indo-Scythians
Indo-Parthians
Today part ofAfghanistan
Pakistan
India
Indo-Greek Kingdom
(200 BCE–10 CE)
200–190 BCE Demetrius I
190–180 BCE Agathocles, Pantaleon
185–170 BCE Antimachus I
180–160 BCE Apollodotus I
175–170 BCE Demetrius II
160–155 BCE Antimachus II
170–145 BCE Eucratides
155–130 BCE Menander I
130–120 BCE Zoilos I, Agathokleia
155–130 BCE Lysias, Strato I
110–100 BCE Antialcidas, Heliokles II
100 BCE Polyxenos, Demetrius III
100–95 BCE Philoxenus
95–90 BCE Diomedes, Amyntas, Epander
90 BCE Theophilos, Peukolaos, Thraso
90–85 BCE Nicias, Menander II, Artemidoros
90–70 BCE Hermaeus, Archebius
75–70 BCE Telephos, Apollodotus II
65–55 BCE Hippostratos, Dionysios
55–35 BCE Zoilos II
35–25 BCE Apollophanes
25 BCE–10 CE Strato II, Strato III
Part of a series on the
Indo-Greek Kingdom
Coin of King Antialcidas

The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom,[a] was a Hellenistic-era Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India.[5][6][7][8][9][10]

The term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" loosely describes a number of various Hellenistic states, ruling from regional capitals like Taxila, Sagala, Pushkalavati, and Alexandria in the Caucasus (now Bagram).[11][12][13] Other centers are only hinted at; e.g. Ptolemy's Geographia and the nomenclature of later kings suggest that a certain Theophilus in the south of the Indo-Greek sphere of influence may also have been a royal seat at one time.

The kingdom was founded when the Graeco-Bactrian king Demetrius I of Bactria invaded India from Bactria in about 200 BC.[14] The Greeks to the east of the Seleucid Empire were eventually divided from the Graeco-Bactrian Kingdom and the Indo-Greek Kingdoms in the North Western Indian Subcontinent.[15]

During the two centuries of their rule, the Indo-Greek kings combined the Greek and Indian languages and symbols, as seen on their coins, and blended Greek and Indian ideas, as seen in the archaeological remains.[16] The diffusion of Indo-Greek culture had consequences which are still felt today, particularly through the influence of Greco-Buddhist art.[17] The ethnicity of the Indo-Greek may also have been hybrid to some degree. Euthydemus I was, according to Polybius,[18] a Magnesian Greek. His son, Demetrius I, founder of the Indo-Greek kingdom, was therefore of Greek ethnicity at least by his father. A marriage treaty was arranged for the same Demetrius with a daughter of the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III. The ethnicity of later Indo-Greek rulers is sometimes less clear.[19] For example, Artemidoros (80 BC) was supposed to have been of Indo-Scythian descent, although he is now seen as a regular Indo-Greek king.[20]

Menander I Soter, being the most well known amongst the Indo-Greek kings, is often referred to simply as "Menander," despite the fact that there was indeed another Indo-Greek King known as Menander II. Menander I's capital was at Sagala in the Punjab (present-day Sialkot). Following the death of Menander, most of his empire splintered and Indo-Greek influence was considerably reduced. Many new kingdoms and republics east of the Ravi River began to mint new coinage depicting military victories.[21] The most prominent entities to form were the Yaudheya Republic, Arjunayanas, and the Audumbaras. The Yaudheyas and Arjunayanas both are said to have won "victory by the sword".[22] The Datta dynasty and Mitra dynasty soon followed in Mathura.

The Indo-Greeks ultimately disappeared as a political entity around 10 AD following the invasions of the Indo-Scythians, although pockets of Greek populations probably remained for several centuries longer under the subsequent rule of the Indo-Parthians, the Kushans,[b] and the Indo-Scythians, whose Western Satraps state lingered on encompassing local Greeks, up to 415 CE.

  1. ^ Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. University of Chicl.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=182.
  2. ^ name=Indo-Greek: 30em">Tarn, William Woodthorpe (1966), "Alexandria of the Caucasus and Kapisa", The Greeks in Bactria and India, Cambridge University Press, pp. 460–462, doi:10.1017/CBO9780511707353.019, ISBN 978051170735
  3. ^ Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.". Social Science History. 3 (3/4): 132. doi:10.2307/1170959. JSTOR 1170959.
  4. ^ Wilson, John (1877). Indian Caste. Times of India Office. p. 353.
  5. ^ Jackson J. Spielvogel (14 September 2016). Western Civilization: Volume A: To 1500. Cengage Learning. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-305-95281-2. The invasion of India by a Greco-Bactrian army in ... led to the creation of an Indo-Greek kingdom in northwestern India (present-day India and Pakistan).
  6. ^ Erik Zürcher (1962). Buddhism: its origin and spread in words, maps, and pictures. St Martin's Press. p. 45. Three phases must be distinguished, (a) The Greek rulers of Bactria (the Oxus region) expand their power to the south, conquer Afghanistan and considerable parts of north-western India, and establish an Indo-Greek kingdom in the Panjab where they rule as 'kings of India'; i
  7. ^ Heidi Roupp (4 March 2015). Teaching World History: A Resource Book. Routledge. p. 171. ISBN 978-1-317-45893-7. There were later Indo-Greek kingdoms in northwest India. ...
  8. ^ Hermann Kulke; Dietmar Rothermund (2004). A History of India. Psychology Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-415-32919-4. They are referred to as 'Indo-Greeks' and there were about forty such kings and rulers who controlled large areas of northwestern India and Afghanistan. Their history ...
  9. ^ Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Pratapaditya Pal (1986). Indian Sculpture: Circa 500 B.C.-A.D. 700. University of California Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-520-05991-7. Since parts of their territories comprised northwestern India, these later rulers of Greek origin are generally referred to as Indo-Greeks.
  10. ^ Joan Aruz; Elisabetta Valtz Fino (2012). Afghanistan: Forging Civilizations Along the Silk Road. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-58839-452-1. The existence of Greek kingdoms in Central Asia and northwestern India after Alexander's conquests had been known for a long time from a few fragmentary texts from Greek and Latin classical sources and from allusions in contemporary Chinese chronicles and later Indian texts.
  11. ^ Mortimer Wheeler Flames over Persepolis (London, 1968). Pp. 112 ff. It is unclear whether the Hellenistic street plan found by Sir John Marshall's excavations dates from the Indo-Greeks or from the Kushans, who would have encountered it in Bactria; Tarn (1951, pp. 137, 179) ascribes the initial move of Taxila to the hill of Sirkap to Demetrius I, but sees this as "not a Greek city but an Indian one"; not a polis or with a Hippodamian plan.
  12. ^ "Menander had his capital in Sagala" Bopearachchi, "Monnaies", p. 83.
  13. ^ McEvilley supports Tarn on both points, citing Woodcock: "Menander was a Bactrian Greek king of the Euthydemid dynasty. His capital (was) at Sanghol in the Punjab, "in the country of the Yonakas (Greeks)"." McEvilley, p. 377. However, "Even if Sagala proves to be a city, it does not seem to be Menander's capital for the Milindapanha states that Menander came down to Sagala to meet Nagasena, just as the Ganges flows to the sea."
  14. ^ Thonemann, Peter (2016-01-14). The Hellenistic World: Using Coins as Sources. Cambridge University Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-316-43229-7.
  15. ^ "Indo-Greek Campaigns".
  16. ^ "A vast hoard of coins, with a mixture of Greek profiles and Indian symbols, along with interesting sculptures and some monumental remains from Taxila, Sirkap and Sirsukh, point to a rich fusion of Indian and Hellenistic influences", India, the Ancient Past, Burjor Avari, p. 130
  17. ^ Ghose, Sanujit (2011). "Cultural links between India and the Greco-Roman world". Ancient History Encyclopedia
  18. ^ 11.34
  19. ^ ("Notes on Hellenism in Bactria and India". W. W. Tarn. Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 22 (1902), pp. 268–293).
  20. ^ Osmund Bopearachchi Was Indo-Greek Artemidoros the son of Indo-Sctythian Maues
  21. ^ "Most of the people east of the Ravi already noticed as within Menander's empire -Audumbaras, Trigartas, Kunindas, Yaudheyas, Arjunayanas- began to coins in the first century BC, which means that they had become independent kingdoms or republics.", Tarn, The Greeks in Bactria and India
  22. ^ Tarn, William Woodthorpe (2010-06-24). The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108009416.


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