Indo Greek Invasion

The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Graeco-Indian Kingdom or Yavana Kingdom, existed from 180 B.C.E. to around 10 C.E. It covered various parts of Afghanistan, the northwest regions of the Indian subcontinent (all of present-day Pakistan), and a small part of Iran.

Background:

• Preliminary Greek presence in India: In 326 B.C.E., Alexander III conquered the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, established satrapies, and ceded his north-western territories to Chandragupta in 303 B.C.E.
• Greek rule in Bactria: Alexander established several cities and an administration in Bactria, which lasted more than two centuries under the Seleucids and Greco-Bactrians.
• Rise of the Sungas: Around 185 B.C.E., Pusyamitra Sunga assassinated the last of the Mauryan emperors, Brhadrata, and established the Sunga Empire, which extended its control as far west as the Punjab.

History of the Indo-Greek Kingdom:

• The invasion of northern India and the establishment of the Indo-Greek kingdom started around 180 B.C.E. when Demetrius I led his troops across the Hindu Kush.
• Menander, the conqueror of the greatest territory, led the invasion to the east. The Greeks advanced to the Ganges River and apparently as far as the capital Pataliputra.
• According to Strabo, Greek advances temporarily went as far as the Sunga capital Pataliputra in eastern India. To the south, the Greeks may have occupied the areas of the Sindh and Gujarat down to the region of Surat, including the strategic harbor of Barygaza.
• Following Menander’s reign, about 20 Indo-Greek kings ruled in succession in the eastern parts of the Indo-Greek territory.
• The Indo-Greeks may have ruled as far as the area of Mathura until sometime in the first century B.C.E.

Ideology:

• Buddhism flourished under the Indo-Greek kings, and their rule, especially that of Menander, has been remembered as benevolent.
• Greek expansion into Indian territory may have been intended to protect Greek populations in India and protect the Buddhist faith from the religious persecutions of the Sungas.
• Most coins of the Greek kings in India had inscriptions in Pali on the back, which indicate a tremendous concession to another culture never before made in the Hellenic world.

Religion:

• The Indo-Greeks were involved with local faiths, particularly with Buddhism, but also with Hinduism and Zoroastrianism.
• Histories describe Menander I as a great benefactor of the Buddhist religion, seemingly a convert to Buddhism, on a par with Ashoka or the future Kushan emperor Kanishka.

Art:

• The coinage of the Indo-Greeks is generally considered some of the most artistically brilliant of Antiquity. The Hellenistic heritage was evident in their art.
• The Hellenistic heritage (Ai-Khanoum) and artistic proficiency of the Indo-Greek would suggest a rich sculptural tradition as well, but traditionally very few sculptural remains have been attributed to them.
• Further, the possibility of a direct connection between the Indo-Greeks and Greco-Buddhist art has been reaffirmed recently as the dating of the rule of Indo-Greek kings has been extended to the first decades of the first century C.E., with the reign of Strato II in the Punjab.

Economy

• Limited knowledge of Indo-Greek economy
• Abundance of coins suggests large mining operations in Hindu-Kush
• Indo-Greek coins circulated in both Greek and Indian standards
• Coins used extensively for cross-border trade, adopted by neighboring kingdoms
• Chinese explorer Zhang Qian's visit suggests trade with Southern China through northern India
• Maritime relations developed during Indo-Greek territorial expansion along western coast of India and Kathiawar peninsula

Armed Forces

• Indo-Greek coins provide clues on uniforms and weapons
• Typical Hellenistic uniforms depicted with round or flat helmets
• Milinda Panha offers insight into military methods
• 36 Indo-Greek kings known, some recorded in historical sources, most through coins
• Chronology and sequencing of their rule still subject to scholarly inquiry and adjustments