1) Greek garrisons left by Alexander were overrun after 325 BC, and by 305 BC Mauryan control extended to Kabul. 2) Between 250-208 BCE, the Bactrian Greeks revolted against the Seleucids and established an independent kingdom in Bactria and parts of northern India. 3) By 155 CE, most of eastern Afghanistan, the Punjab, and parts of Sindh were being governed by Indo-Greek governors, though the areas of western Afghanistan were soon conquered by outside invaders like the Parthians, Kushanas, and Shakas.

1. Indo-Greeks and Graeco-Bactrians
Greek garrisons left by Alexander in the Indus region were
overrun soon after he left in 325 BC
- the precise dates are controversial but by 305 BC
Mauryan control extended to Kabul – treaty with Seleukos
Nikator -
Menander sent as ambassador to the court of
Chandragupta Maurya
- by 250
BCE
Bactrian
Greeks
revolt

2. - 246-241 BCE, Parthia (eastern Iran)gains independence
- 208 BCE the Seleucids formally recognize Graeco-
Bactrian King Euthydemus
- by 155 CE most of eastern Afghanistan, the Punjab and
parts of Sindh were being governed by Indo-Greek
governors (satraps or strategoi)
The areas of western Afghanistan were soon to be
conquered by outside invaders; the Parthians
(Pahlavas) of Iran, the Yueh-chi (Kushana) and Sakas
(Scythians) from the north.

3. Kushana or Yueh-chi
- Kushana rulers emerged from the Yueh-chi nomadic
tribes who moved into Bactria from somewhere in
western China between 165-135 BC
- by the 1st century CE, they had begun to expand to the
south, displacing earlier Graeco-Bactrian rulers

4. -characterized as
foreigners, official
portraits on coins and
sculptures depict them
in Central Asian dress
and with Kushana
names- often lumped
together with the Shaka
or Scythians , but the
elite classes did become
more integrated over
time
- Kanishka statue, Mat,
Mathura

5. Kujala Kadphises – united five main Yueh-chi principalities
– extended power south, driving out the Parthians from
Kabul circa 50 CE – controls Kashmir and eventually
Gandhara, Punjab and Sindh
V’ima I and Vima II Kadphises – extend control to Mathura
on the Yamuna and eventually the Ganga region
New Calendar established Saka Era circa 78 (or 120) CE

6. Kanishka – 120-143 CE
-enlightened ruler and
excellent military strategist
- convened the third major
Buddhist council that resulted
in the establishment of
Mahayana Buddhism
- Deification of Kushana rulers
was the continuation of a
process begun much earlier by
Hellenistic states in Egypt and
the Near East
- royal sculptures set up in
ritual centers at Mathura and in
other major cities

7. Gandhara and Mathura style
Buddhas,1st-3rd c. CE

8. Bamiyan Buddha
- 5th century Gupta period

9. Political organization
Kingship – rulers used titles in different
languages and associated with different major
religions by including images of specific deities

10. - appointed a Kushana or Saka Kshatrapa or
governor to replace local rulers
- allowed local headmen to govern and collect taxes
at the village level

11. Trade- controlled the subcontinent from the northwest –
a strategic location for international overland trade
- strengthened and revived internal trade networks that
had become disrupted at the end of the Mauryan empire

12. Depictions of different ethnic groups with appropriate
dress - Indian gods and elites, and Indo-Greek
musicians and revelers

13. Greek style clothing and postures
from Gandhara

14. -Indian trade to
Roman world
represented in
texts and actual
objects
- Indian ivory
from Pompei -
1st century CE
- Begram,
Afghanistan,
1st-3rd CE

15. Roman silver
and gold
coins found
in Southern
India
- Hadrian
117-138 CE

16. -Connected Indian commercial system to the Roman
world by using the same weight gold coins and even
names of coins - double and single dinar 15.97 and 7.96
grams-
-led to
resurgence of
production
- increased
importance of
the merchant
class
- inflow of cash-
gold from Rome

17. -Kushana controlled the major production centers
- maritime trade from coastal areas was controlled
by Saka Kshatrapas in Sindh and Satavahana
Hindu rulers in peninsular India

18. Urbanism
- major period of urban growth and expansion
New types of cities emerge
Nigama – banking town, Janapya – district town,
Khandavara – military camp, Nivesa – encampment
8 types of fortified cities
Royal capital - Rajadhaniya nagara , Non-royal
capital - kevala nagara
Pura, Nagari, Kheta, Kharvata, Kubjaka, Pattana
- smaller settlements referred to as villages – gram
or grama

19. SIRKAP

20. - city planning includes outside influences – Greek,
Parthian, Sasanian, etc. along with indigenous
styles of drains, wells and central courtyards

21. Art and Architecture
- increased patronage of
religious institutions by rulers
and merchants
- temples, monasteries and
stupas
- Gandhara and Mathura styles

22. Gandhara
style
carvings

23. Mathura style Bodhisatva,
Kushana period,
Ahichchhattra, UP
Vasantasena, courtesan of
Ujjain, flees a suitor

24. Sirkap- Shaka capital (1-3rd c.
CE) , terracotta figurines and
household shrine reveal a
mixture of many different styles

25. Caste System - Jati
- hereditary endogamous occupational specialists
(jati) grouped in the four varna according to ritual
purity or pollution
- codification of social hierarchy in the Laws of
Manu (Manavadharmashastra), a text that had been
passed down for hundreds of years but was
codified between 200BCE-200 CE

26. Gupta Period: 320- 540 CE
- urban decay and decentralization, due in part to
the decline in long distance trade and the collapse
of the Roman Empire
- first clear evidence off World Systems model –
where major economic, political and social changes
can be linked to global transformations in another
part of the world