Indo-Greeks

Introduction

For many centuries, the Seleucid Dynasty of Persia was held in the trans-Indus region of Iran following Alexander the Great. After Chandragupta Maurya defeated seleukos Nikator in 303 B.C., the Mauryas took control of the trans-Indus region. The seleucid dynasty came to an end in the third century B.C. with the help of two individuals. In 226 A.D., the Parthia and the Sassanids became independent in Iran. At the same time, the Greeks of Bactria aided an uprising led by Diodotus. The Greeks who settled in India became known as Indo-Greeks after they conquered the country and established themselves there.

When the Greco-Bactrian monarch Demetrios was in India, his Indian territories were divided among several kings, maybe originally to better administer them but later due to civil war. The primary Indo-Greek kingdom emerged around 190 BCE. India and Greece were historically separated from Bactria, and their governmental systems differed greatly from those of the Greco-Bactrian Empire.

There were previously some Greek settlers known as Yonas in these lands, but they soon became exclusive political entities with a blend of Indian culture, at least in favor of the governing elites. The timeline of the Indo-Greek provinces has been widely calculated. Greek territories in India were divided up amongst a slew of feuding Euthydemid rulers who fought each other and their Greco-Bactrian rivals between 190 and 165 BCE. The Sunga dynasty’s Indian neighbors were included in these kingdoms, which spread to Western Punjab.

Indo-Greek territories were taken over by the Greco-Bactrian mutiny Eucratides, who defeated Antimachos II and overtook the Indo-Greek kingdoms in 165 BC. Menander, his final Euthydemid adversary, pushed him back to Bactria circa 155 BCE, to the chagrin of him all. As a result, the Indo-Greek kingdoms enjoyed 25 years of stable rule under Euthydemid rule. After extending Greek power all the way to Paliputra (today’s city of Patna in northern India), however, Menander was deposed in a civil war.

The Euthydemid monarchs did manage to escape Bactria in 130 BCE via the Yuezhei and consolidate their power in Indo-Greek territory. Several Indo-Greek monarchs controlled India from 130 BCE to 80 BCE, often in petty kingdoms, while Arachosia was taken by the Sakas. Some monarchs, like Eucratids Philoxenos and Diomedes, may have come close to uniting these kingdoms but ultimately fell short. During this period, Agathokleia, a Euthydemid queen, also established a difficult regency for her son Strato. At the end of the century, the Indo-Greek provinces had become exceedingly dispersed.

After the Saka ruler, Maues attacked the Indo-Greek kingdoms in 80 BCE; the problematic component was introduced. He conquered the Paropamisadae, Gandhara, and Western Punjab from various Euthydemid and Eucratid monarchs. Both dynasties formed a coalition under the leadership of Amyntas to fight this invader, and their conflict in eastern Punjab resulted in the accumulation of Indo-Greek kingdoms, which the Indo-Greek rulers reclaimed around 65 BCE, along with their animosity.

Civil warfare marks the final moments of Indo-Greek history, with all of the Western territories falling quickly to the Indo-Saka kings. Strato II, the last Indo-Greek monarch to rule, was deposed in 10 BCE by Rajuvula, the last Indo-Saka king to rule.

Indian and Greek monarchs and domains are absent from Greek mythology because of the countries’ geographical distance from one another and political ties forged during the Parthian and Sakas empires’ reigns in India and Greece, respectively. However, the character of Indian art from the time and the revelation of the Yonas in Asoka’s edicts show that these kingdoms had a tremendous influence on their Indian subjects and their Indian or migratory neighbors.

Economy

The economy of the Indo-Greeks has only a very limited amount of data available. Large mining operations, particularly in the Hindu-Kush mountain range, and a strong monetary economy would be implied by the abundance of their coins. Bilingual coins in Greek “round” and Indian “square” codes were struck by the Indo-Greek, who recommended that monetary mobility be extended to all segments of society. For the Kunindas and Satavahanas, the introduction of Indo-Greek monetary gatherings would also suggest that Indo-Greek coins were used extensively for cross-border trade.

Conclusion

All informed, the Greek authority was typically felt in art (the Gandhara figurines, which perhaps influenced the afterwards Mathura sculptures) and in faith (which gave a boost to Mahayana Buddhist treatise and trended the Bhakti part of religion as initiated by the Vasudeva cult).

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