Heliodorus pillar

Also called: Garuda pillar of Besnagar · Topic: Post-Mauryan India: Shungas to Kushanas · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation"

Meaning

The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column topped by a figure of Garuda at Besnagar, near Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh. Heliodorus, a Greek envoy of King Antialcidas of Taxila, set it up in honour of Vasudeva. Its Prakrit inscription is dated to the late 2nd century BCE, and ASI places it at 113 BCE [5][6]. It matters because it is the clearest proof that the Indo-Greeks did not stay outsiders. A Greek ambassador worshipped an Indian god and said so in an Indian language.

Explanation

Background: Greeks in the northwest

• After Alexander's invasion (327–325 BCE), Greek governors called satraps (provincial governors) stayed on in the Indus plains. Their lands slowly became independent Indo-Greek kingdoms.
• The Mauryan empire weakened after 185 BCE, and the Indo-Greeks took over the northwest. Their homeland was Bactria, the region around the Oxus river. Indian texts call them Yavanas.
• They came as conquerors, but local culture absorbed them. Menander became linked with Buddhism [2]. Heliodorus became a devotee of Vasudeva.
• How Heliodorus reached Vidisha:
• Antialcidas ruled from Taxila in the northwest.
• He sent Heliodorus as his envoy (ambassador) to the court at Vidisha in central India [5].
• While there, Heliodorus put up this pillar as a sign of his faith.

Main features of the pillar

• Form: a stone column. A figure of Garuda once stood on top. Garuda is the eagle-like bird that carries Vishnu and serves as his emblem [5]. This is why the monument is also called the Garuda pillar of Besnagar.
• Dedication: it was raised in honour of Vasudeva, who is later identified with Krishna, a form of Vishnu [5].
• Patron's identity: Heliodorus calls himself a "Bhagavata". This means a follower of the Bhagavata sect, an early form of Vaishnavism (worship of Vishnu) [5].
• Language: the inscription is in Prakrit, the everyday spoken language of the time, not Greek [5].
• Praise: Heliodorus calls Vasudeva the "god of gods" (devadeva).
• Three "immortal precepts", the rules that lead a person to heaven:
• damo: self-restraint, or control over yourself;
• chaga: charity, or giving to others;
• apramada: consciousness, or staying alert and not careless.

Discovery and study

• Alexander Cunningham discovered the pillar [4]. He later became the first head of the ASI.
• ASI lists the Besnagar Garuda pillar record among the important early inscriptions of north India. It studies the record under epigraphy, the study of inscriptions [6].

Results and significance

• Spread of a faith:
• The pillar shows that the Vaishnavite (Bhagavata) movement was already strong in north India by the 2nd century BCE [6].

• It also shows that a foreigner adopted this faith [6].

• Two-way mixing: the Greeks changed Indian coins and art, and Indian religion and language changed the Greeks.

• A wider pattern: foreign rulers and officials took up Indian faiths. Menander turned to Buddhism and Heliodorus to Vasudeva worship. The Shakas and Kushanas later followed the same path [2][6].

Time, place and evidence

• Period: late 2nd century BCE; ASI dates it to 113 BCE [5][6]. This falls in the post-Mauryan age (c. 185 BCE – 300 CE).
• Political setting:
• Indo-Greek rule in the northwest, under Antialcidas of Taxila [5].

• Indian rule in central India, at the court at Vidisha. The inscription names the local king as Bhagabhadra, who was probably a Shunga ruler.

• Place: Besnagar, near Vidisha (old Bhilsa), Madhya Pradesh.

• Besnagar is identified with ancient Vidisa (Nagara) [4].

• Old texts call it the capital of Akara, a centre of culture with trade routes running through it [4].

• Key people:

• Heliodorus: the Greek envoy and patron of the pillar.
• Antialcidas: the Indo-Greek king of Taxila who sent him [5].

• Alexander Cunningham: discovered the pillar [4].

• How we know:

• The Prakrit inscription carved on the pillar itself [5].
• ASI's records on excavations in Madhya Pradesh and on epigraphy [4][6].
• Indo-Greek coins, which also show Vasudeva-Krishna and Lakshmi. They confirm that Greek rulers knew Indian gods.

Don't confuse with

• Ashokan pillars: these are Mauryan pillars set up by an Indian emperor to spread his dhamma (moral rules for everyone). The Heliodorus pillar is post-Mauryan. A Greek envoy set it up to show personal devotion to Vasudeva.
• Menander and the Milinda-panha: Menander is the Indo-Greek king linked to Buddhism through his debate with the monk Nagasena [2]. Heliodorus is linked to Vaishnavism (Bhagavatism). Do not swap the faiths.
• Antialcidas vs Demetrius: Antialcidas of Taxila sent Heliodorus [5]. Demetrius, son of Euthydemus, led the Bactrian push into India and is linked to the first Greek–Prakrit bilingual coins [3].
• Bilingual Greek–Kharosthi coins: these coins helped scholars decipher Kharosthi, and James Prinsep identified their language as Prakrit. The Heliodorus record is a Prakrit stone inscription, not a coin legend.

Prelims Hooks

• Heliodorus pillar is at Besnagar, near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh; Besnagar = ancient Vidisa (Nagara) [4].
• Heliodorus was the Greek envoy of Antialcidas of Taxila; the inscription is in Prakrit; ASI date 113 BCE [5][6].
• It is a Garuda pillar (Garuda = mount of Vishnu) honouring Vasudeva as "god of gods"; Heliodorus calls himself a Bhagavata [5].
• Three "immortal precepts": self-restraint (damo), charity (chaga), consciousness (apramada).
• Alexander Cunningham discovered the pillar [4].
• Trap: a Greek ambassador, not a Greek king, put up this pillar, and the faith is Vaishnava, not Buddhist. Menander is the Buddhist link [2].

Mains Points

• Best evidence for "invaders who stayed":
• A Greek envoy worshipped an Indian god, called himself a Bhagavata, and wrote in Prakrit [5].
• This shows that cultural contact flowed both ways and did not run only from Greeks to Indians.

• Use it in GS-I answers on cultural synthesis in the post-Mauryan age.

• Early history of Vaishnavism:

• ASI notes that the pillar proves a strong Bhagavata movement in north India by the 2nd century BCE, and its adoption by a foreigner [6].

• It is one of the earliest firm dates for Vasudeva worship, so it is useful for tracing the growth of Bhakti and Puranic Hinduism.

• Inscriptions as a source:

• The pillar shows that Indo-Greek history comes from coins and also from epigraphy [6].
• It records diplomatic ties between a northwest Greek kingdom and a central Indian court on a busy trade route [4][5].
• It shows that the politics of the post-Mauryan age involved both Greek and Indian rulers who dealt with each other.

Related concepts

• Demetrius
• Indo-Greeks
• Menander
• Indo-Greek coins
• Gondophares

Read more

• Indo-Greeks: invaders who stayed