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77-677: The Greek king Demetrius is regarded to have tried to invade the subcontinent after his win over the Kabul Valley . The Shungas were able to successfully resist the invasion and expel the Greeks out of Mathura . The first phase of the invasion starts with the Greek ruler Demetrius I 's conquest of the Kabul Valley . He invaded the Indian subcontinent during the rule of the Mauryan Empire . He first invaded

154-498: A Greek by the name of Heliodotos, dedicating a fire altar to Hestia , mentions Euthydemus and Demetrius: τόνδε σοι βωμὸν θυώδη, πρέσβα κυδίστη θεῶν Ἑστία, Διὸς κ(α)τ᾽ ἄλσος καλλίδενδρον ἔκτισεν καὶ κλυταῖς ἤσκησε λοιβαῖς ἐμπύροις Ἡλιόδοτος ὄφρα τὸμ πάντων μέγιστον Εὐθύδημον βασιλέων τοῦ τε παῖδα καλλίνικον ἐκπρεπῆ Δημήτριον πρευμενὴς σώιζηις ἐκηδεῖ(ς) σὺν τύχαι θεόφρον[ι] "Heliodotos dedicated this fragrant altar for Hestia , venerable goddess, illustrious amongst all, in

231-620: A Hellenistic army and composed mostly of native Bactrian, Sogdian and other Indo-Iranian light horsemen. Polybius mentions 10,000 horse at the Battle of the Arius river in 208 BC. Greco-Bactrian armies also included units of heavily armored cataphracts and small elite units of companion cavalry . The third arm of the Greco-Bactrian army was the Indian war elephants , which are depicted in some coins with

308-613: A faithful observer, and that at the right time, of all the various acts of devotion and ceremony enjoined by his own sacred hymns concerning things past, present, and to come. Many were the arts and sciences he knew--holy tradition and secular law ; the Sankhya , Yoga , Nyaya , and Vaisheshika systems of philosophy; arithmetic ; music ; medicine ; the four Vedas , the Puranas , and the Itihasas ; astronomy , magic , causation , and magic spells;

385-516: A nomadic steppe nation called Sakastan . Around 140 BC, eastern Scythians (the Saka , or Sacaraucae of Greek sources), apparently being pushed forward by the southward migration of the Yuezhi started to invade various parts of Parthia and Bactria. Their invasion of Parthia is well documented: they attacked in the direction of the cities of Merv , Hecatompolis and Ecbatana . They managed to defeat and kill

462-567: A period of great cultural syncretism, exemplified by the development of Greco-Buddhism in the region of Gandhara . Back in Bactria, Eucratides I , either a general of Demetrius or an ally of the Seleucids , managed to overthrow the Euthydemid dynasty and establish his own rule, the short-lived Eucratid dynasty, around 170 BC, probably dethroning Antimachus I and Antimachus II . The Indian branch of

539-809: A representation of peace between the Greeks and the Shungas , and likewise between Buddhism and Hinduism (the caduceus also appears as a symbol of the punch-marked coins of the Maurya Empire in India, in the 3rd-2nd century BC). Unambiguous Buddhist symbols are found on later Greek coins of Menander I or Menander II , but the conquests of Demetrius I did influence the Buddhist religion in India. Greco-Bactrian The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom ( Greek : Βασιλεία τῆς Βακτριανῆς , romanized :  Basileía tês Baktrianês , lit.   'Kingdom of Bactria')

616-610: A river bearing the same name and emptying into the Oxus ), and Darapsa, and several others. Among these was Eucratidia , which was named after its ruler. In 247 BC, the Ptolemaic empire (the Greek rulers of Egypt following the death of Alexander the Great ) captured the Seleucid capital, Antioch . In the resulting power vacuum, Andragoras , the Seleucid satrap of Parthia, proclaimed independence from

693-522: A sepulcher: As Eucratides returned from India, he was killed on the way back by his son, whom he had associated to his rule, and who, without hiding his parricide, as if he didn't kill a father but an enemy, ran with his chariot over the blood of his father, and ordered the corpse to be left without a sepulture. During or after his Indian campaigns, Eucratides was attacked and defeated by the Parthian king Mithridates I , possibly in alliance with partisans of

770-558: A tower ( thorakion ) or howdah housing men armed with bows and javelins. This force grew as the Greco-Bactrian kingdom expanded into India and was widely depicted in Greco-Bactrian coinage. Other units in the Bactrian military included mercenaries or levies from various surrounding peoples such as the Scythians , Dahae , Indians, and Parthians . Greeks first began settling the region long before Alexander conquered it. The Persian Empire had

847-774: A vast territory, as indicated by his minting of coins in many Indian mints, possibly as far as the Jhelum River in Punjab . In the end, however, he was repulsed by the Indo-Greek king Menander I , who managed to create a huge unified territory. In a rather confused account, Justin explains that Eucratides was killed on the field by "his son and joint king", who would be his own son, either Eucratides II or Heliocles I (although there are speculations that it could have been his enemy's son Demetrius II ). The son drove over Eucratides' bloodied body with his chariot and left him dismembered without

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924-481: Is a high chronology ( c.  255 BC) and a low chronology (c. 246 BC) for Diodotus' secession. The high chronology has the advantage of explaining why the Seleucid king Antiochus II issued very few coins in Bactria, as Diodotus would have become independent there early in Antiochus' reign. On the other hand, the low chronology, from the mid-240s BC, has the advantage of connecting the secession of Diodotus I with

1001-699: Is also described in western Classical sources from the 1st century BC: The best known tribes are those who deprived the Greeks of Bactriana, the Asii, Pasiani, Tochari , and Sacarauli, who came from the country on the other side of the Jaxartes , opposite the Sacae and Sogdiani . Around that time the king Heliocles abandoned Bactria and moved his capital to the Kabul valley, from where he ruled his Indian holdings. Apparently there were two other Greco-Bactrian kings preceding Heliocles in

1078-494: Is known only from numismatic evidence. The father of Demetrius, Euthydemus , was attacked by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III around 210 BC. Although he commanded 10,000 horsemen, Euthydemus initially lost a battle on the Arius and had to retreat. He then successfully resisted a three-year siege in the fortified city of Bactra , before Antiochus finally decided to recognize the new ruler. The final negotiations were made between Antiochus III and Demetrius. Antiochus III

1155-495: Is naturally associated with the Indian Demetrius II . A series with the king in diadem are likely to be early issues of Demetrius I. There is also one series representing a Gorgon shield on the obverse and a trident on the reverse. There are also three types depicting elephants. The first type shows Demetrius (I) with elephant-crown, a well-known symbol of India, which simply denotes his conquests in India, as Alexander

1232-744: The Achaemenid cavalry contingents. 2,000 Bactrian horsemen fought at the Granicus against Alexander and 9,000 at the Battle of Gaugamela on the left flank of Darius' army. Herodotus also mentions the widespread use of chariots among the Bactrians. After Alexander's conquest of Bactria, Bactrian cavalry units served in his army during the invasion of India and after the Indian campaign, Alexander enlarged his elite companion cavalry by adding Bactrians, Sogdians and other east Iranian cavalrymen. Both Aeschylus (The Persians, v. 318) and Curtius mention that Bactria

1309-452: The Hydaspes towards the end of his reign ( c.  138 BC, before his kingdom was weakened by his death in 136 BC). Heliocles I ended up ruling what territory remained. The defeat, both in the west and the east, may have left Bactria very weakened and open to nomadic invasions. A nomadic steppe people called the Yuezhi inhabited a region thousands of miles to the east of Bactria on

1386-703: The Indo-Greek Kingdom following his death. According to Ptolemy , a Demetriapolis was founded in Arachosia . Geoffrey Chaucer names Demetrius among the combatants at a tournament held in Athens by Theseus : The grete Emetreus, the kyng of Inde, Upon a steede bay trapped in steel, Covered in clooth of gold, dyapred weel, Cam ridynge lyk the God of armes, Mars. The coins of Demetrius are of five types. One bilingual type with Greek and Kharoshthi legends exists; it

1463-1079: The Kuliab area of Tajikistan , in eastern Greco-Bactria, and dated to 200–195 BC, a Greek by the name of Heliodotus, dedicating a fire altar to Hestia , mentions Euthydemus as the greatest of all kings, and his son Demetrius I as "Demetrios Kallinikos", meaning "Demetrius the Glorious Conqueror": τόνδε σοι βωμὸν θυώδη, πρέσβα κυδίστη θεῶν Ἑστία, Διὸς κ(α)τ᾽ ἄλσος καλλίδενδρον ἔκτισεν καὶ κλυταῖς ἤσκησε λοιβαῖς ἐμπύροις Ἡλιόδοτος ὄφρα τὸμ πάντων μέγιστον Εὐθύδημον βασιλέων τοῦ τε παῖδα καλλίνικον ἐκπρεπῆ Δημήτριον πρευμενὴς σώιζηις ἐκηδεῖ(ς) σὺν τύχαι θεόφρον[ι]. tónde soi bōmòn thuṓdē, présba kydístē theôn Hestía, Diòs kat' álsos kallídendron éktisen kaì klytaîs ḗskēse loibaîs empýrois Hēliodótos óphra tòm pántōn mégiston Euthýdēmon basiléōn toû te paîda kallínikon ekprepê Dēmḗtrion preumenḕs sṓizēis ekēdeîs sỳn Týchai theόphroni. "Heliodotus dedicated this fragrant altar for Hestia , venerable goddess, illustrious amongst all, in

1540-654: The Shungas seem to have reconciled and exchanged diplomatic missions around 110 BCE, as indicated by the Heliodorus pillar , which records the dispatch of a Greek ambassador named Heliodorus , from the court of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas , to the court of the Shunga emperor Bhagabhadra at the site of Vidisha in central India. Demetrius I of Bactria Demetrius I Anicetus ( Ancient Greek : Δημήτριος Ἀνίκητος , romanized :  Dēmētrios Anikētos , "Demetrius

1617-729: The Third Syrian War , a catastrophic conflict for the Seleucid Empire. Diodotus, the governor of the thousand cities of Bactria ( Latin : Theodotus, mille urbium Bactrianarum praefectus ), defected and proclaimed himself king; all the other people of the Orient followed his example and seceded from the Macedonians. The new kingdom, highly urbanized and considered one of the richest of the Orient ( opulentissimum illud mille urbium Bactrianum imperium "The extremely prosperous Bactrian empire of

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1694-698: The Euthydemids tried to strike back. An Indian king called Demetrius (very likely Demetrius II ) is said to have returned to Bactria with 60,000 men to oust the usurper, but he apparently was defeated and killed in the encounter: 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. Eucratides campaigned extensively in present-day northwestern India, and ruled

1771-775: The Euthydemids: The Bactrians, involved in various wars, lost not only their rule but also their freedom, as, exhausted by their wars against the Sogdians, the Arachotes, the Dranges, the Arians and the Indians, they were finally crushed, as if drawn of all their blood, by an enemy weaker than them, the Parthians. Following his victory, Mithridates I gained Bactria's territory west of the Arius ,

1848-478: The Great had also done on his coinage before. One type represents an elephant with Nike on the other side holding a wreath of victory. This sort of symbolism can be seen on the reverse of the coins of Antialcidas in which Nike (supported by Zeus ) directly hands the victory wreath to the elephant on the same coin face. The year 186 BC, with the invasion of the Greco-Bactrians into India, marks an evolution in

1925-459: The Great . These territories possibly are identical with the Bactrian satrapies of Tapuria and Traxiane . Demetrius , the son of Euthydemus, started an invasion of the subcontinent before 180 BC, and a few years after the Mauryan empire had been overthrown by the Shunga dynasty . Historians differ on the motivations behind the invasion. Some historians suggest that the invasion of the subcontinent

2002-480: The Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus I confronted the invasion of the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great , he commanded 10,000 horsemen). Zhang Qian actually visited Bactria (named Daxia in Chinese ) in 126 BC, and portrays a country which was totally demoralized and whose political system had vanished, although its urban infrastructure remained: Daxia (Bactria) is located over 2,000 li southwest of Dayuan, south of

2079-482: The Greco-Bactrian kingdom, and was subsequently ruled by kings Pantaleon and Apollodotus I . Historical records indicate that many rich and prosperous cities were present in the kingdom, but only a few such cities have been excavated, such as Ai-Khanoum and Bactra . The city of Ai-Khanoum, in north-eastern Afghanistan, had all the hallmarks of a true Hellenistic city with a Greek theater , gymnasium and some houses with colonnaded courtyards. The kingdom reached

2156-535: The Greco-Bactrians. Demetrius may have first started to recover the province of Arachosia , an area south of the Hindu Kush already inhabited by many Greeks but ruled by the Mauryas since the annexation of the territory by Chandragupta from Seleucus . In his Parthian stations , Isidorus of Charax mentions a colony named Demetrias, supposedly founded by Demetrius himself: The Greek campaigns may have gone as far as

2233-405: The Greeks gained control on the territories of Saketa , Panchala , Mathura and Pataliputra ( Yuga Purana ). However, Demetrius is said to have invaded only the northern territories of India. Later conquests had been done by Menander . The Buddhist text Milinda Panha describes Menander as: King of the city of Euthymedia in India, Milinda by name, learned, eloquent, wise, and able; and

2310-511: The Gui (Oxus) river. Its people cultivate the land and have cities and houses. Their customs are like those of Dayuan. It has no great ruler but only a number of petty chiefs ruling the various cities. The people are poor in the use of arms and afraid of battle, but they are clever at commerce. After the Great Yuezhi moved west and attacked Daxia, the entire country came under their sway. The population of

2387-682: The Iaxartes forms also the boundary between the Sogdians and the nomads. Euthydemus was attacked by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III around 210 BC. Although he commanded 10,000 horsemen, Euthydemus initially lost a battle on the Arius and had to retreat. He then successfully resisted a three-year siege in the fortified city of Bactra , before Antiochus finally decided to recognize the new ruler, and to offer one of his daughters to Euthydemus's son Demetrius around 206 BC. Classical accounts also relate that Euthydemus negotiated peace with Antiochus III by suggesting that he deserved credit for overthrowing

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2464-672: The Parthian king Phraates II , son of Mithridates I, routing the Greek mercenary troops under his command (troops he had acquired during his victory over Antiochus VII ). Again in 123 BC, Phraates's successor, his uncle Artabanus I , was killed by the Scythians. When the Han Chinese diplomat Zhang Qian visited the Yuezhi in 126 BC, trying to obtain their alliance to fight the Xiongnu , he explained that

2541-507: The Parthians, partly because, used to the rule of the Macedonians, they disliked the arrogance of this new people. Thus, Demetrius, supported by the Persians, Elymes and Bactrians, routed the Parthians in numerous battles. At the end, deceived by a false peace treaty, he was taken prisoner. The 5th century historian Orosius reports that Mithridates I managed to occupy territory between the Indus and

2618-585: The Seleucids, declaring himself king. A decade later, he was defeated and killed by Arsaces of Parthia, leading to the rise of a Parthian Empire . This cut Bactria off from contact with the Greek world. Overland trade continued at a reduced rate, while sea trade between Greek Egypt and Bactria developed. Diodotus was succeeded by his son Diodotus II , who allied himself with the Parthian Arsaces in his fight against Seleucus II : Soon after, relieved by

2695-491: The Yavana king is not clear, but it contains three letters, and the middle letter can be read as ma or mi . Some historians, such as R. D. Banerji and K.P. Jayaswal reconstructed the name of the Yavana king as "Dimita", and identified him with Demetrius. However, several other historians, such as Ramaprasad Chanda , Sailendra Nath Sen and P.L. Gupta disagree with this interpretation. Demetrius I died of unknown reasons, and

2772-484: The Yuezhi again invaded his territory in the Paropamisadae (while the "eastern" Indo-Greek kings would continue to rule until around AD 10 in the area of the Punjab region ). Overall, the Yuezhi remained in Bactria for more than a century. They became Hellenized to some degree, as suggested by their adoption of the Greek alphabet to write their later Iranian court language, and by numerous remaining coins, minted in

2849-450: The Yuezhi were settled north of the Oxus but also held under their sway the territory south of Oxus, which makes up the remainder of Bactria. According to Zhang Qian, the Yuezhi represented a considerable force of between 100,000 and 200,000 mounted archer warriors, with customs identical to those of the Xiongnu, which would probably have easily defeated Greco-Bactrian forces (in 208 BC when

2926-401: The accounts might be the product of exaggeration from Buddhist missionaries. Thapar attributes purely economic motivations to the Indo-Greek invasion of Southern Asia. One of Demetrius' "elephant" types represents a rejoicing elephant, depicted on the front on the coin and surrounded by the royal bead-and-reel decoration, and therefore treated on the same level as a King. The elephant, one of

3003-587: The area by the time that Alexander the Great conquered Bactria in 328 BC. Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria (and probably the surrounding provinces) founded the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom when he seceded from the Seleucid Empire around 250 BC and became Basileus , or king Diodotus I of Bactria. The preserved ancient sources (see below) are somewhat contradictory, and the exact date of Bactrian independence has not been settled. Somewhat simplified, there

3080-443: The art of war; poetry; conveyancing in a word, the whole nineteen. As a disputant he was hard to equal, harder still to overcome; the acknowledged superior of all the founders of the various schools of thought. And as in wisdom so in strength of body, swiftness, and valour there was found none equal to Milinda in all India. He was rich too, mighty in wealth and prosperity, and the number of his armed hosts knew no end. The first phase of

3157-527: The borders of the Qin State in China by about 230 BC. Although a Greek population was already present in Bactria by the 5th century BC, Alexander the Great conquered the region by 327 BC and founded many cities, most of them named Alexandria , and further settled with Macedonians and other Greeks . After the death of Alexander, control of Bactria passed on to his general Seleucus I Nicator . The fertility and

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3234-451: The capital Pataliputra in eastern India (today Patna ): It is generally considered that Demetrius ruled in Taxila (where many of his coins were found in the archaeological site of Sirkap ). The Indian records also describes Greek attacks on Saketa , Panchala , Mathura and Pataliputra (Gargi-Samhita, Yuga Purana chapter). However, the campaigns to Pataliputra are generally attested to

3311-629: The country is large, numbering some 1,000,000 or more persons. The capital is called the city of Lanshi ( Bactra ) and has a market where all sorts of goods are bought and sold. ( Records of the Great Historian by Sima Qian , quoting Zhang Qian, trans. Burton Watson) The Yuezhi further expanded southward into Bactria around 120 BC, apparently further pushed out by invasions from the northern Wusun . It seems they also pushed Scythian tribes before them, which continued to India, where they came to be identified as Indo-Scythians . This invasion of Bactria

3388-455: The date 180 BC is merely a suggestion aimed to allow suitable regnal periods for subsequent kings, of which there were several. Even if some of them were co-regents, civil wars and temporary divisions of the empire are most likely. The kings Pantaleon , Antimachus , Agathocles and possibly Euthydemus II ruled after Demetrius I, and theories about their origin include all of them being relatives of Demetrius I, or only Antimachus. Eventually,

3465-412: The death of Diodotus, Arsaces made peace and concluded an alliance with his son, also by the name of Diodotus; some time later he fought against Seleucos who came to punish the rebels, and he prevailed: the Parthians celebrated this day as the one that marked the beginning of their freedom. Euthydemus , an Ionian Greek from Magnesia according to Polybius , and possibly satrap of Sogdiana , overthrew

3542-540: The design of single-die cast coins in the coinage of Gandhara, as deities and realistic animals were introduced. At the same time coinage technology also evolved, as double-die coins (engraved on both sides, obverse and reverse) started to appear. The archaeological excavations of coins have shown that these coins, as well as the new double die coins, were contemporary with those of the Indo-Greeks . According to Osmund Bopearachchi these coins, and particularly those depicting

3619-560: The dynasty of Diodotus II around 230–220 BC and started his own dynasty. Euthydemus's control extended to Sogdiana, going beyond the city of Alexandria Eschate founded by Alexander the Great in Ferghana : And they also held Sogdiana, situated above Bactriana towards the east between the Oxus River, which forms the boundary between the Bactrians and the Sogdians, and the Iaxartes River. And

3696-740: The edges of the Han Empire called the Hexi Corridor . Shortly before 176 BC, the Xiongnu invaded the Hexi Corridor, forcing the Yuezhi to flee the region. In 162 BC the Yuezhi were driven west to the Ili River valley by the Xiongnu. In 132 they were driven out of the Ili valley by the Wusun . The surviving Yuezhi migrated again south towards the territory just north of the Oxus River where they encountered and expelled

3773-506: The end of the 1st century BC. Antigonus might have briefly won a battle against the Yuezhi or the Saka before he was overrun himself. Around 12 BC the Yuezhi then moved further to northern India where they established the Kushan Empire . Before the Greek conquest, the armies of Bactria were overwhelmingly composed of cavalry and were well known as effective soldiers, making up large portions of

3850-411: The fashion of the Macedonian army . A Greek army in Bactria during the anti-Macedonian revolt of 323 BC numbered 23,000. The army of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom was then a multi-ethnic force with Greek colonists making up large portions of the infantry as pike phalanxes, supported by light infantry units of local Bactrians and mercenary javelin-wielding Thureophoroi . The cavalry arm was very large for

3927-432: The general Pushyamitra Shunga , who then founded the new Indian Shunga dynasty (180–78 BC). Sri Lankan monks state that Brihadratha , the last Mauryan Emperor, married a daughter of Demetrius, Berenice. The Greco-Bactrians might have invaded the Indus Valley to protect Greek expatriates in the Indian Subcontinent. Also, the Mauryans had had diplomatic alliances with the Greeks, and they may have been considered as allies by

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4004-467: The goddess Lakshmi , were probably minted by Demetrius I following his invasion of Gandhara. Buddhism flourished under the Indo-Greek kings, and it has been suggested by W. W. Tarn that their invasion of India was intended to show their support for the Mauryan empire in reaction to the persecution by the Sungas against Buddhism. However, that persecution in turn is debatable, with contemporary historians such as Romila Thapar suggesting that some of

4081-404: The grove of Zeus , with beautiful trees; he made libations and sacrifices, so that the greatest of all kings Euthydemos, as well as his son, the glorious, victorious and remarkable Demetrios, be preserved from all pains, with the help of Tyche with divine thoughts." Demetrius started the invasion of northwestern India in 186 BC, following the destruction of the Mauryan dynasty by

4158-512: The grove of Zeus , with beautiful trees; he made libations and sacrifices so that the greatest of all kings Euthydemus , as well as his son, the glorious, victorious and remarkable Demetrius , be preserved of all pains, with the help of Tyche with divine thoughts." Following the departure of the Seleucid army, the Bactrian kingdom seems to have expanded. In the west, areas in north-eastern Iran may have been absorbed, possibly as far as into Parthia , whose ruler had been defeated by Antiochus

4235-466: The height of its power under king Eucratides the Great , who seems to have seized power through a coup around 171 BC and created his own dynasty. Eucratides also invaded India and successfully fought against the Indo-Greek kings. However, soon after this the kingdom began to decline. The Parthians and nomadic tribes such as Sakas and Yuezhi became a major threat. Eucratides was killed by his own son in about 145 BC, which may have further destabilised

4312-401: The historian Strabo, as having "subdued more tribes than Alexander." The invasion was completed by 175 BC. This established in the northwestern Indian Subcontinent what is called the Indo-Greek Kingdom , which lasted for almost two centuries until around 10 AD. The Buddhist faith flourished under the Indo-Greek kings, especially Menander who was arguably the most powerful of them all. It was also

4389-540: The invasion ended here, followed by a civil war in Bactria . The Gargi-samhita states that the Yavanas who laid siege to Pushpapura did not remain in Madhyadesa for long due to "interregnum struggles, which escalated into "a cruel and dreadful war in their own kingdom." As a result, the Greeks seem to have lost control of Madhyadesa, as well as parts of the Punjab and the lower Sindhu valley, to Pushyamitra, at least temporarily. The King Demetrius returned back to Bactria leaving his governors to rule. The Indo-Greeks and

4466-438: The kingdom of Bactria fell to the able newcomer Eucratides . Demetrius II was a later king, possibly a son or nephew of his namesake, and he ruled in India only. Justin mentions him being defeated by the Bactrian king Eucratides , an event which took place at the end of the latter's reign, possibly around 150 BC. Demetrius II left behind his generals Apollodotus and Menander , who in turn became kings of India and rulers of

4543-460: The kingdom. Heliocles was the last Greek king to rule in Bactria. Even after the fall of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, their rich Hellenistic influence remained strong for many more centuries. The Yuezhi invaders settled in Bactria and became Hellenized . They subsequently founded the Kushan empire around 30 AD, and adopted the Greek alphabet to write their language and added Greek deities to their pantheon . The Greco-Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum

4620-464: The later king Menander I and Demetrius I probably only invaded areas in Pakistan . Other kings may have expanded the territory as well. By c. 175 BC, the Indo-Greeks ruled parts of northwestern India, while the Shungas remained in the Gangetic, Central, and Eastern India. The Hathigumpha inscription of the Kalinga king Kharavela mentions that fearing him, a Yavana (Greek) king or general retreated to Mathura with his demoralized army. The name of

4697-403: The original rebel Diodotus and that he was protecting Central Asia from nomadic invasions thanks to his defensive efforts: ... for if he did not yield to this demand, neither of them would be safe: Seeing that great hordes of Nomads were close at hand, who were a danger to both; and that if they admitted them into the country, it would certainly be utterly barbarised. In an inscription found in

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4774-406: The prosperity of the land by the early 3rd century BC led to the creation of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom by Diodotus as a successor state of the Seleucid empire. The Bactrian Greeks grew increasingly more powerful and invaded north-western India between 190 and 180 BC under king Demetrius , the son of Euthydemus . This invasion led to the creation of the Indo-Greek kingdom , as a successor state of

4851-440: The province of Arachosia and was successful in taking control of the region. He then decided to raid the eastern territories of the subcontinent. He entered the Punjab region and again gained success. He may have had control over the Indian territories of Mathura and Patliputra for a short period of time. "Those who came after Alexander went to the Ganges and Pataliputra" ( Strabo , XV.698) Hindu texts also suggest that

4928-433: The region have also attested to a major Macedonian presence, as evidenced by the presence of symbols, style of coinage, and epigraphic names. Greek garrisons in the satrapy of Bactria were housed in fortresses called phrouria and at major cities. Military colonists were settled in the countryside and were each given an allotment of land called a kleros . These colonists numbered in the tens of thousands, and were trained in

5005-400: The regions of Tapuria and Traxiane : "The satrapy Turiva and that of Aspionus were taken away from Eucratides by the Parthians." In the year 141 BC, the Greco-Bactrians seem to have entered in an alliance with the Seleucid king Demetrius II to fight again against Parthia: The people of the Orient welcomed his (Demetrius II's) arrival, partly because of the cruelty of the Arsacid king of

5082-449: The same region and from the same dynasty, named Eucratides II and Plato Epiphanes , the latter probably being a brother of Eucratides I. Since Heliocles left the Bactrian territory, he is technically the last Greco-Bactrian king, although several of his descendants, moving beyond the Hindu Kush, would form the western part of the Indo-Greek kingdom . The last of these "western" Indo-Greek kings, Hermaeus , would rule until around 70 BC, when

5159-422: The style of the Greco-Bactrian kings, with the text in Greek. There is evidence for the persistence of Greek populations in Bactria after the collapse of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. For example, an obol of a previously unknown ruler called Antigonus has been found and it seems he ruled after the kingdom's collapse, as evidenced by the use of a lunate sigma and the lower art quality of the coin, perhaps dating from

5236-400: The symbols of Buddhism and Gautama Buddha , possibly represents the victory of Buddhism brought about by Demetrius. Alternatively, though, the elephant has been described as a possible symbol of the Indian capital of Taxila (Tarn), or as a symbol of India as a whole. The reverse of the coin depicts the caduceus , symbol of reconciliation between two fighting serpents, which is possibly

5313-483: The thousand cities", according to the historian Justin ), was to further grow in power and engage in territorial expansion to the east and the west: 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 Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander… Their cities were Bactra (also called Zariaspa, through which flows

5390-443: The time of Darius I , when the entire population of Barca , in Cyrenaica , was deported to the region for refusing to surrender assassins. Greek influence increased under Xerxes I , after the descendants of Greek priests who had once lived near Didyma (western Asia Minor ) were forcibly relocated in Bactria, and later on with other exiled Greeks, most of them prisoners of war. Greek communities and language were already common in

5467-457: The unconquered"), also called Damaytra was a Greco-Bactrian and later Indo-Greek king ( Yona in Pali language, " Yavana " in Sanskrit ) (reigned c. 200–167 BC), who ruled areas from Bactria to ancient northwestern India. He was the son of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 's ruler Euthydemus I and succeeded him around 200 BC, after which he conquered extensive areas in what is now southern Afghanistan , Iran and Pakistan and India . He

5544-664: Was a Greek state of the Hellenistic period located in Central Asia . The kingdom was founded by the Seleucid satrap Diodotus I Soter in about 256 BC, and continued to dominate Central Asia until its fall around 120 BC. At its peak, the kingdom consisted of present-day Afghanistan , Tajikistan , Uzbekistan , and Turkmenistan , and for a short time, small parts of Kazakhstan , Pakistan and Iran . An extension further east, with military campaigns and settlements, may have reached

5621-627: Was able to field a force of 30,000 horse. Most of these horsemen were lightly armed, using bows and javelins before closing with sword and spear. Herodotus describes the Persian cavalry of Mardonius at the Battle of Plataea (which included Bactrians) as horse archers ( hippotoxotai ). Bactrian infantry is described by Herodotus as wearing caps in the Median style, short spears and reed Scythian style bows. Alexander and Seleucus I both settled Macedonians and other Greeks in Bactria, and archeological finds in

5698-478: Was at the doorstep of India and known for its high level of Hellenistic sophistication. Greek art travelled from Bactria with the Indo-Greeks and influenced Indian art, religion and culture, leading to new syncretic art called Greco-Buddhist art . Due to the influence of the Greeks, both Buddhist and Hindu deities were represented in human form for the first time. Bactria was inhabited by Greek settlers since

5775-545: Was intended to show their support for the Mauryan empire , and to protect the Buddhist faith from the religious persecutions of the Shungas as alleged by Buddhist scriptures (Tarn). Other historians have argued however that the accounts of these persecutions have been exaggerated ( Thapar , Lamotte ). Demetrius may have been as far as the imperial capital Pataliputra in today's eastern India (today Patna ). However, these campaigns are typically attributed to Menander . His conquests were mentioned along with that of Menander by

5852-569: Was never defeated in battle and was posthumously referred to as "the Unconquered" ( Aniketos ) on the pedigree coins of his successor Agathocles . Demetrius I may have been the initiator of the Yavana era , starting in 186–185 BC, which was used for several centuries thereafter. "Demetrius" was the name of at least two and probably three Bactrian kings. The much debated Demetrius II was a possible relative, whereas Demetrius III ( c.  100 BC ),

5929-404: Was reportedly highly impressed by the demeanour of the young prince, and offered him one of his daughters in marriage, around 206 BC: The term used for "young prince" is neaniskos (νεανίσκος), suggesting an age around 16, which in turn gives a birth date for Demetrius around 222 BC. In an inscription found in the Kuliab area of Tajikistan , in western Greco-Bactria, and dated to 200-195 BC,

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