The Indo-Greeks and Kharavela

Lesson 5 of 16 • 8 upvotes • 11:48mins

Abhyudaya Kelkar

The Greeks left in Central Asia by Alexander and his successors were known as ‘Bactrian Greeks’, who went on to secede from the Seleucids in 256 BC, to establish their own kingdom, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. As long as Ashoka was alive, there was no question to invade or encroach upon his territory. But as he died, the Mauryan Empire was weakened instantly. This has been already talked about in the previous part, ‘The Mauryan Period’. As a result, the Bactrian Greeks got an opportunity to invade the Mauryan domains and they did so c. 180 BC. These Bactrian Greek settlers in the Cis-Hindukush India, became independent of the Bactrian Greek kingdom and therefore they came to be known as Indo-Greeks. The most memorable feature of these kings was their coins which were remarkably different from those of the Mauryans. Not much is mentionable about these kings, barring Demetrius and Menander. Apart from this, there was also a king from Kalinga’s Mahameghavahana Dynasty, called Kharavela. He is known for his conquests and Hathigumpha Inscriptions. The rest is described in the lesson.