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GREEK DYNASTIES
GREEK (6th
Cen. BCE– 10 CE) Bactrian-Greeks & Indo-Greeks (250 BCE-10 CE)
SOURCES:
1. Literature [Indian-Foreign]
a. Religious- Milinda Panha (100 BCE and 200 CE)-Dialogue between the Nāgasena and Menander I,
Gargi Samhita (One of the chapter of Yug Puran- c.100 BCE-300 CE), Brihat Samhita of Varahamihira
(c. 600 CE), Mahabharat of Vyas, Bhagwat Puran.
b. Secular: Mahabhashya of Pantanaji (c. 200 BCE), Avadana Kalpalata of Kshemendra (c. 990 – c. 1070
CE) based on Buddhism, Malavikaagnimitra of Kalidas (c.500 CE).
c. Foreign- Greek writers Justin (c. 200 CE), ‘Parallel Lives’ and ‘Moralia’ of Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus
(c. 46-120 CE), Strabo (63 BCE- 24 CE), The Histories (event of the Roman empire in 44 Vols.) of
Polybius (c. 208 – c. 125 BCE), Geographia of Claudius Ptolemy (c. 100- 170 CE), Mythology of Simhal
Lit., History of Buddhism by Tibetan scholar Taranath (1575–1634 CE), Indica (Available in the
writings of Greek and Latin writes Diodorus Siculus, Strabo (Geographica), Pliny, and Arrian (Indica))
of Megasthenes (Mauryan Period), Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (100 CE).
2. Archaeological [Epigraphs, Numismatics, Architecture- Art]:
a. Epigraphs- Kharwela Inscription Hathigumpha (the eighth year of his reign he defeated greek ruler
Dimit at Rajgriha) (c.200 BCE- 100 CE), Inscriptions of Chaldean (c.705-681 BCE), Reh Inscription
(Fatehpur district, UP)- c.200 BCE and 200 CE-mentioned about Menander (?), Besnagar pillar
Inscription of Heliodorus (c. 113 BCE).
b. Coins/ Numismatics- Trimit coins from Besnagar, All Indo-Greek Coins c.200 BCE to 100 CE in
Northern and North-western India (30 rulers).
c. Monuments (Stupa, Monastery, Rock Cut Caves)- An image of Greek Soldiers from Sanchi, Bharahut,
Bodhgaya, Gandhara, Stupas, Monasteries from the Swat valley etc.
d. Excavations- Sirkup (Taxila), Stupas from the Swat valley and many more.
NOMENCLATURE- Greek and Indo-Greek:
Greek
1. The word ‘Yauna’ was first mentioned in the Old Persian texts (as early as 520 BCE, i.e. the time
of Darius who conquests in India),
2. Why ?- Because they belongs to the Ionia of ancient Anatolia (today’s Turkey),
3. In India ‘Yavan’ Ashoka quoted in his Edict, Katyayana (c. 300 BC) explain in his Sanskrit grammar
‘yavanānī’ as the script of the Yavanas, Pāṇini - Ashtadhyayi- ‘Yavanānī’, The word appears in
the Mahabharata too.
Indo-Greek
3. Persian Called the land Bactria or Bactra (It is due to the river Balk/Balkh) as Vaakhtri/Vakhtri
later on became Balkh,
4. Later on when Yavan started to occupy the said land, the occupier known as ‘Vaakhtri-Yavan,
Greeco-Bactrian.
5. And those who occupied the today’s North-western region of Indian Subcontinent, they
addressed by the Persian as Hind-Yavan (In English Indo-Yavan/Indo-Greek) in their Old Persian
records.

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TODAY’S POLITICAL EXTEND:
India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan,
WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF REGION ?:
1. The capital Balkh was located in between the Hindu Kush and Oxus,
2. It was located on the major trade centre,
3. The place Balkh was also on importance trade route,
4. The land of this region was fertile for agriculture,
5. The availability of natural resources,
6. Geographical Protection from the outside attack.
a. East- Hindu Kush and Pamir hill,
b. West- Parthian state and Caspian sea,
a. Jaxartes जगजार्टिस river (ancient name)/Syr Darya and Oxus river,
a. Paropanisadae पैरोपेनीसेडाई and Arachosia region.
RELATION BETWEEN GREEK AND INDIA:
1. During the Persian king Darius-I (c. 522-486 BCE), He
came upto today’s Western Pakistan- This is the time of
Mahajanpadas in Indian History (Map). The Battle of
Gaugamela in 331 BCE between Alexander and Darius III
was the decline of Persian Empire from this region.
2. Alexander (c. 326-323 BCE) (Argead Dynasty from
Macedonia, Present Greece) entered in to the Indian
land. This is the time of Nanda dynasty in ancient India
(Map).
3. According to Indian sources, Greek (“Yavana“) troops
seem to have assisted Chandragupta Maurya in toppling
the Nanda Dynasty and founding the Mauryan Empire.
4. Seleucus Nicator (c. 358-281 BCE), He fought against
Chandragupta Maurya (c. 321-297 BCE) and made
peace by giving him 500 war elephants which Seleucus
used in the war of Ipsus against Antigonus in 301 BCE
and married his daughter Helena, and also found
Arachosia (modern Kandahar), Herat, Kabul and
Makran. Megasthenes a Greek Ambassador visited
Northern India for 04 years.
5. Megasthenes talks about the older Indians who knew
about the prehistoric arrival of Dionysus and Hercules in
India (as mentioned in his Indica).
6. Antiochus I Soter (c. 324/23-261 BCE) from Seleucid
dynasty (Greek) sent his Ambassador Deimachos
(c.320-273 BCE) to visit India during Bindusara (c. 297-
273 BCE) Time’s.

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DIFFERENT OPINION ABOUT CONQUEST OVER THE LAND OF INDIA:
a. The 1st century BCE Greek historian Apollodorus, quoted by Strabo, affirms that the Bactrian
Greeks, led by Demetrius I and Menander, conquered India and occupied a larger territory than
the Macedonians under Alexander the Great, going beyond the Hyphasis (modern Beas River)
towards the Himalayas. “India” only meant the upper Indus for Alexander the Great.
b. The Roman historian Justin cited the Indo-Greek conquests, describing Demetrius as “King of the
Indians”, and explaining that Eucratides in turn “put India under his rule”.
c. Since the appearance of Megasthenes, “India” meant to the Greeks most of the northern half of
the Indian subcontinent.
d. Greek and Indian sources tend to indicate that the Greeks campaigned as far as Pataliputra until
they were forced to retreat following a coup in Bactria in 170 BCE.
DYNASTIES and RULERS:
Bactrian Domain
Diodotus Dynasty (c.285-239 BCE)-
The King Diodotus I, who was the Seleucid satrap of Bactria, rebelled against Seleucid rule soon after
the death of Antiochus II in c. 261-246 BCE (4th generation of Seleucus dynasty), and wrested
independence for his territory, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. According to Justin Diodotus, governor of
thousand cities of Bactria defected and proclaimed himself king; all the other people of the Orient
followed his example and seceded from the Macedonians. He married to the daughter of the Hellenistic
Seleucid Empire king Antiochus II Theos and wife Laodice I and had two children: Diodotus II and a
daughter who married Euthydemus I. The marriage was offered by Antiochus because he knew that
Diodotus is important for his conquest against Parthia (North-eastern Iran).

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Diodotus II (c.252-223 BCE) (Son of Diodotus I) managed the alliance to Parthians because during his
reign they were totally against the Syria rulers. Around 230 or 223 BCE, Diodotus was killed by a
usurper, his brother-in-law Euthydemus I (he was commander in Diodotus II reign), founder of the
Greco-Bactrian Euthydemid dynasty.
Euthydemus Dynasty (c.230-170 BCE)- Indo-Greeks/Vakhtri-Yavan during the reign to Euthydemus (c.
260 BC – 200/195 BC), Here in India Mauryan empire is in decline. Euthydemus was the Satraps (the
governors of the provinces and viceroy to the king) of Sogdia or Sogdiana which was an ancient Iranian
civilization located in present-day Kazakhstan,Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Indian Domain
Euthydemus Dynasty (c.230-170 BCE)- Son of Euthydemus; Demetrius I (c. 200–180 BC):
1. He was commander of Diodotus II,
2. He was never defeated in battle and was posthumously qualified as the
‘Invincible’ (Aniketos- अपराजेय) on the pedigree coins of his successor Agathocles.
3. He was the initiator of the Yavana era, starting in c. 186–185 BCE,
4. The first ruler of Indo-Greek who attacked in India (Gandhara),
5. The ruler of that time was Pushyamitra Shunga of Shunga dynasty,
6. HE issued coins- depicting the goddess Lakshmi, bilingual type with Greek and Kharoshthi legends.
Demetrius II (c. 147-125 BCE) was a later king, possibly a son of Demetrius I, 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 BCE. Demetrius II left behind his
generals Apollodotus and Menander, who in turn became kings of India and rulers of the Indo-Greek
Kingdom following his death.
Eucratides Dynasty- Eucratides I (c.171-145 BCE) “The Savoir of Asia”
1. He was an important Greco-Bactrian kings, descendants of dignitaries of Alexander the Great.
2. He uprooted the Euthydemid dynasty of Greco-Bactrian kings and replaced it with his own lineage.
3. He fought against the Indo-Greek kings, the easternmost Hellenistic rulers in northwestern India,
temporarily holding territory as far as the Indus,
4. Eucratides campaigned extensively in present-day northwestern India, and ruled 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.
5. Justin- He was murdered on his way back from India by his own son,
6. The murder of Eucratides probably brought about a civil war amongst the members of the dynasty.
The successors to Eucratides were Eucratides II and Heliocles I (145–130 BCE), who was the last Greek
king to reign in Bactria. Once the Yuezhi tribes overpowered Heliocles, the Greco-Bactrians lost
control of the provinces north of the Hindu Kush.
7. Gold 20-stater of Eucratides, the largest gold coin of Antiquity. The coin weighs 169.2 grams, and has
a diameter of 58 millimeters.

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Menander I Soter (c.155-130 BCE)-
1. Capital at Sagala (northern Punjab province Sialkot, Pakistan),
2. Menander is noted for having become a patron of Buddhism,
3. Strabo- He conquered more tribes than Alexander the Great,
4. Strabo - He came upto today’s Pataliputra,
5. The Indian records also describe Greek attacks on Mathura, Panchala, Saketa, and Pataliputra.
6. Conversations with the Buddhist sage Nagasena are recorded in the important
Buddhist work, the Milinda Panha ("The Questions of King
Milinda"; panha meaning "question" in Pali),
7. After his death in 130 BC, he was succeeded by his wife Agathokleia (Sister of
Demetrius) who ruled as regent for his son Strato I and later upto Strato II (10
CE).
8. Coins are both in Greek and Kharoshthi.
DECLINE:
1. Regular rebellion from their own-Internal disputes ,
2. Invasions of the following new dynasties and tribes (From West):
a. Indo-Scythians (Saka and Scythian origin-c.200 BCE- 400 CE),
b. Indo-Parthians (c. 19 -240 CE)
c. Kushans (c.100-300 CE)
3. Regular attacked from Indian rulers (From East):
a. Shunga Dynasty
b. Chedi Dynasty
c. Tribal dynasties like Audumbra (Himanchal Pradesh), Kuninda (Uttarakhand & Southern
Himanchal Pradesh), Yavadheya (Haryana), Arjunayana (Punjab & North-Eastern Rajasthan).
IMPORTANCE OF THIS PERIOD:
Political-
1. Long interaction with western world,
2. Open the gate for all the time trade and commerce,
3. The idea of issuing inscriptions is probably copied from Greeks.
Sciences-
Medical Science (India copied from Greek)
1. The theory of Charak (c. 300 BCE)- Father of Indian Medicine is similar to the Greek Hippocrates
(c. 460- 370 BCE)- The Father of Medicine,
2. It is mentioned in Greek record that during 300 BCE in the schools of Sikandariya the Surgery
was the course for teaching.
Astrology (India copied from Greek)
1. The Astrology of Greek described in Gargi Samhita,
2. The Zodiac Signs are Greek,
3. Among the five theories of Astrology the Romak and Polish are the work of Greeks,

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Socio-Cultural-
Language (Greekwordswere adoptedin Sanskrit)
1. “ink” (Sankrit: melā, Greek: “melan“)
2. “pen” (Sanskrit: kalamo, Greek: “kalamos“)
3. “book” (Sanskrit: pustaka, Greek: “puksinon“)
4. “bridle”, a horse’s bit (Sanskrit: khalina, Greek: “khalinos“)
5. “centre” (Sanskrit: kendram, Greek: “kendron“)
6. “siege mine” (used to undermine the wall of a fortress): (Sanskrit: surungā, Greek: “suringa”)
7. “barbarian, blockhead, stupid” (Sanskrit: barbara, Greek: “barbaros“)
Technology-Economical-
Numismatics (India copied from Greek)
1. Drachma/Drakhma, Dramm became Daam in India.
2. The Indo-Greek weight and size standard for silver drachms was adopted by the contemporary
Buddhist kingdom of the Kunindas in Punjab, the first attempt by an Indian kingdom to produce
coins that could compare with those of the Indo-Greeks.
3. In central India, the Satavahanas (200 BCE-200 CE) adopted the practice of representing their
kings in profile, within circular legends.
4. The direct successors of the Indo-Greeks in the northwest, the Indo-Scythians and Indo-
Parthians continued displaying their kings within a legend in Greek, and on the obverse, Greek
deities.
5. To the south, the Western Kshatrapas (100-400 CE) represented their kings in profile with
circular legends in corrupted Greek.
6. The Kushans (1st-400 CE) used the Greek language on their coinage until the first few years of
the reign of Kanishka, whence they adopted the Bactrian language, written with the Greek
script.
7. The Guptas (4th-600 CE), in turn imitating the Western Kshatrapas, also showed their rulers in
profile, within a legend in corrupted Greek, in the coinage of their western territories.
Trade-Commerce
1. Exchange system,
2. Demand of Yavan/Greek girls for mistress in trade.
Philosophy-Religious (Greeks copied from India)-
1. Spread of Buddhism in West,
2. Following of Indian religion by the Greeks (Menander- Buddhist; Heliodorus-Vaishnavism),
3. Creation of iconography of Indian God and Goddesses,
Art and Architecture (Greek influenced Indian Art) –
1. An influence of Indian art and architecture,

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Most historians agree that the first coins of world were issued by Greeks living
in Lydia and Ionia (located on the western coast of modern Turkey). These first coins were globules of
Electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver. These were crude coins of definite weight
stamped with punches issued by the local authorities in about 650 BCE.
Cyrus the Great (558-530 BCE) built the first universal empire, stretching from Greece to the
Indus River. This was the famous Achaemenid Dynasty of Persia. An inscription at Naqsh-i-Rustam,
the tomb of his able successor Darius I (521-486 BCE), near Persepolis, records Gadara (Gandhara) along
with Hindush (Hindus, Sindh) in the long list of satrapies of the Persian Empire. In 327 BCE Alexander the
Great overran the Persian Empire. Their military significance apart, Alexander’s cities and colonies
became powerful instruments in the spread of Hellenism throughout the East. Plutarch described
Alexander’s achievements: Having founded over 70 cities among barbarian peoples and having planted
Greek magistracies in Asia, Alexander overcame its wild and savage way of life.
Alexander had indeed opened the East to an enormous wave of immigration, and his successors
continued his policy by inviting Greek colonists to settle in their realms. For seventy-five years after
Alexander’s death, Greek immigrants poured into the East. At least 250 new Hellenistic colonies were
set up.
Plutarch (46 – 120 CE) was a Greek historian, biographer and essayist, known primarily for
his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He gives an interesting description of the situation: As for the
Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance
into India. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand
infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the
river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was thirty-two furlongs (Unit of Length), its depth
a hundred fathoms (Used for depth of water), while its banks on the further side were covered with
multitudes of men-at arms and horsemen and elephants.
Afterthe deathof Alexanderin323 BCE, Seleucuswasnominatedasthe satrapof Babylonin320 BCE.
There was a succession of more than thirty Hellenistic kings, often in conflict with each other,
from 180 BCE to around 10 CE. This era is known as the Indo-Greek kingdom in the pages of history. The
kingdom was founded when the Greco-Bactrian King Demetrius invaded India in 180 BCE, ultimately
creating an entity which seceded from the powerful Greco-Bactrian kingdom centered
in Bactria (today’s northern Afghanistan). Since the term “Indo-Greek Kingdom” loosely described a
number of various dynastic polities, it had several capitals, but the city of Taxila in modern Pakistan was
probably among the earliest seats of local Hellenic rulers, though cities like Pushkalavati and Sagala
(apparently the largest of such residences) would house a number of dynasties in their times.