Indo-Greeks

Also called: Bactrian Greeks · Topic: Post-Mauryan India: Shungas to Kushanas · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation"; Class 12, Ch 2 "Kings, Farmers and Towns"; Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"

Meaning

The Indo-Greeks, also called Bactrian Greeks or Yavanas in Indian texts, were Greek kings who ruled the northwest of the subcontinent (roughly today's Pakistan and Afghanistan) after the Mauryan empire weakened around 185 BCE, until the Shaka invasions ended their rule. They matter because they issued the first coins in India that carried a ruler's name and image. Their bilingual coins, with the same words in Greek and Kharosthi, became the key to reading Kharosthi. They also show foreign rulers being absorbed into Indian religion and culture.

Explanation

Background: how Greeks came to rule in India

• Alexander of Macedon invaded the northwest in 327–325 BCE.
• When he left, he kept some men behind as satraps (governors of a province) in the Indus plains.
• These Greek settlements slowly became independent kingdoms:
• the satraps and settlers did not go home;
• over time their governorships grew into independent Indo-Greek kingdoms;

• after 185 BCE the Mauryan empire was weak, and the Indo-Greeks used this gap to take the northwest.

• Their home base was Bactria, the land around the Oxus (Amu Darya) river in north Afghanistan and Central Asia. This is why they are called Bactrian Greeks.

• Demetrius, king of Bactria and son of Euthydemus, led the push into India. He, or a king close to him, was the first to strike coins with a bilingual legend in Greek and Prakrit. This suggests he wanted Indian subjects and Bactrian Greeks to be treated as equals [3].

Menander, the greatest Indo-Greek king

• Menander was the greatest of the Indo-Greek kings. Both Western classical writers and Indian writers knew of him [2].
• His kingdom [2]:
• west to east: from the Kabul river valley to the Ravi river;

• north to south: from the Swat valley (modern Pakistan) to Arachosia (the Kandahar region of Afghanistan).

• He is believed to have been a patron of Buddhism [2].

• He is the king in the Buddhist text Milinda-panha ("The Questions of Milinda"). In this text the monk Nagasena converts him to Buddhism after a long, sharp debate [2].
• Many of his coins have been found, mostly silver and copper [2]:
• this suggests his reign was long;
• it also suggests trade in his kingdom was busy.

Main features: coins, script and religion

• Coins:
• Indo-Greek coins were made of gold, silver, copper and nickel.
• The usual design was the king's head on one side and a Greek god on the other.
• Some coins show the Indian deities Vasudeva-Krishna and Lakshmi.

• These were the first coins in India to carry the ruler's name and image (c. 2nd century BCE). Earlier Indian punch-marked coins (coins with symbols stamped on them) had symbols only, with no named king.

• Bilingual coins and Kharosthi:

• Many coins give the same text in Greek on one face and Kharosthi on the other. Kharosthi is a script written right to left that was used in the northwest.
• Coins of Menander and Apollodotus are the standard examples.

• How Kharosthi was deciphered:

  • scholars could already read Greek;
  • the king's name appeared in both scripts on the same coin;
  • so they matched the Greek letters to the Kharosthi letters one by one;
  • James Prinsep then worked out that the language written in Kharosthi was Prakrit.

• Religion: the Greeks took on Indian faiths:

• Menander is linked with Buddhism [2].
• Heliodorus, a Greek envoy, became a Bhagavata, a devotee of Vasudeva (Vishnu) [5].

Results and end of their rule

• The Indo-Greeks came as conquerors, but local culture absorbed them. This mixing shows up in governance, art, language and daily life.
• Greek contact fed into Gandhara art, Indian astronomy and astrology (the term horashastra), and coin-making methods.
• Their political power ended with the Shaka (Indo-Scythian) invasions. The Shakas were a Central Asian people who took the northwest and later western India.
• Order of foreign rulers to remember: Indo-Greeks → Shakas → Parthians (Pahlavas) → Kushanas.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: after 185 BCE, roughly the 2nd–1st centuries BCE. The exact dates of many kings are uncertain.
• Region: the northwest: the Kabul valley, Swat, the Punjab up to the Ravi, and Arachosia (Kandahar). Their parent land was Bactria on the Oxus.
• Key people: Demetrius (son of Euthydemus) [3], Menander [2], Apollodotus, Antialcidas of Taxila [5], and Heliodorus [5].
• How we know about them:
• Coins are the main source. Very few written records survive.
• Text: the Buddhist Milinda-panha, where Menander debates the monk Nagasena [2].
• Inscription: the Heliodorus pillar
  • Place: Besnagar, near Vidisha (old Bhilsa), Madhya Pradesh. Besnagar is identified with ancient Vidisa (Nagara). Old texts call it the capital of Akara, a centre of culture with trade routes running through it [4].
  • Found by: Alexander Cunningham [4].
  • Set up by: Heliodorus, the Greek envoy (ambassador) of Antialcidas of Taxila, who was sent to the court at Vidisha [5].
  • Date: late 2nd century BCE; ASI dates it to 113 BCE [5][6].
  • Language: Prakrit [5].
  • Form: a column topped by Garuda, the bird-mount and emblem of Vishnu. It was raised in honour of Vasudeva. Heliodorus calls himself a Bhagavata [5].
  • Content: it praises Vasudeva as "god of gods" and names three "immortal precepts" that lead to heaven:
  • self-restraint (damo);
  • charity (chaga);
  • consciousness (apramada, staying alert).
  • Importance: ASI says it shows the strong Vaishnavite (Bhagavata) movement in north India and its adoption by a foreigner. ASI lists it among the important early epigraphs (inscriptions) of north India [6].

Don't confuse with

• Shakas (Indo-Scythians): they were Central Asian people, not Greeks. They ended Indo-Greek rule in the northwest, and came after the Indo-Greeks.
• Demetrius and Menander: Demetrius, son of Euthydemus, led the push into India and is linked to the first Greek–Prakrit bilingual coins [3]. Menander is the greatest Indo-Greek king and the king of the Milinda-panha [2].
• Heliodorus pillar and Ashokan pillars: the Heliodorus pillar is a Garuda pillar set up by a Greek envoy in honour of Vasudeva (113 BCE, ASI) [6]. Ashoka's pillars are Mauryan and carry his dhamma messages (moral rules for everyone).
• Kharosthi and Brahmi: Kharosthi was used in the northwest and written right to left. It was deciphered with the help of bilingual Indo-Greek coins. Brahmi was used across most of India and is written left to right.

Prelims Hooks

• Heliodorus pillar: at Besnagar, near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh. It is a Garuda pillar in Prakrit, dated 113 BCE by ASI. It was found by Alexander Cunningham [4][5][6].
• Heliodorus: he was the Greek envoy of Antialcidas of Taxila. He calls himself a Bhagavata and Vasudeva the "god of gods". His three precepts are self-restraint, charity and consciousness [5].
• Menander: his text is the Milinda-panha and the monk who debated him is Nagasena. His kingdom ran from the Kabul valley to the Ravi, and from Swat to Arachosia (Kandahar). Most of his surviving coins are silver and copper [2].
• Demetrius of Bactria, son of Euthydemus, is linked to the first Greek–Prakrit bilingual coins [3].
• Trap: the Indo-Greeks issued the first coins in India bearing a ruler's name and image. Punch-marked coins did not. Indo-Greek coins were made in gold, silver, copper and nickel.
• Order of foreign rulers: Indo-Greeks → Shakas → Parthians (Pahlavas) → Kushanas. Greek–Kharosthi coins helped decipher Kharosthi, and James Prinsep identified its language as Prakrit.

Mains Points

• "Invaders who stayed": the exchange went both ways. The Indo-Greeks changed Indian coins, art and script. They also adopted Indian gods, an Indian language and Indian sects. The best single proof is the Heliodorus pillar, where a Greek ambassador of Antialcidas worships Vasudeva in Prakrit [5][6]. The political kingdoms ended with the Shaka invasions, but the cultural mixing continued through Gandhara art, horashastra and coin-making.
• Coins as a source: what they can and cannot tell us.
• Strengths: for the Indo-Greeks, coins give us lists of kings, their portraits, the metals used, religious symbols, and signs of busy trade, such as Menander's large silver and copper finds [2]. Bilingual coins also unlocked a lost script.

• Limits: coins say little about administration, land revenue or society. A GS-I answer on sources for post-Mauryan history should argue both sides.

• Foreign rulers seeking Indian legitimacy (acceptance as rightful rulers). The Indo-Greeks started a pattern that the Shakas and Kushanas continued: outsiders took up Indian religions such as Buddhism and Bhagavatism in order to be accepted. Menander's link with Buddhism and Heliodorus' devotion to Vishnu are the earliest clear cases [2][6].

Related concepts

• Demetrius
• Menander
• Heliodorus pillar
• Indo-Greek coins
• Gondophares

Read more

• Indo-Greeks: invaders who stayed