![]() Īccording to tradition, Menander embraced the Buddhist faith, as described in the Milinda Panha, a classical Pali Buddhist text on the discussions between Milinda and the Buddhist sage Nāgasena. Rev Palm of victory, Kharoshthi legend Māhārajasa trātadasa Menandrāsa, British Museum. ![]() To the present day ancient drachmae are current in Barygaza, coming from this country, bearing inscriptions in Greek letters, and the devices of those who reigned after Alexander, Apollodorus and Menander. The 1st-2nd century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea further testifies to the reign of Menander and the influence of the Indo-Greeks in India: ![]() Menander's empire survived him in a fragmented manner until the last Greek king Strato II disappeared around 10 AD. Menander's predecessor in Punjab seems to have been the king Apollodotus I. Guesses among historians have been that Menander was either a nephew or a former general of the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius I, but the two kings are now thought to be separated by at least thirty years. Precise dates of his reign, as well as his origin, remain elusive, however. Generous findings of coins testify to the prosperity and extension of his empire: (with finds as far as Britain) the finds of his coins are the most numerous and the most widespread of all the Indo-Greek kings. In short, Apollodorus says that Bactriana is the ornament of Ariana as a whole and, more than that, they extended their empire even as far as the Seres and the Phryni. The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so powerful on account of the fertility of the country that they became masters, not only of Ariana, but also of India, as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander- by Menander in particular (at least if he actually crossed the Hypanis towards the east and advanced as far as the Imaüs), for some were subdued by him personally and others by Demetrius, the son of Euthydemus the king of the Bactrians and they took possession, not only of Patalena, but also, on the rest of the coast, of what is called the kingdom of Saraostus and Sigerdis. His capital is supposed to have been Sagala, a prosperous city in northern Punjab (believed to be modern Sialkot, Pakistan). His territories covered Bactria (modern-day Balkh Province) and extended to India (modern-day regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Greater Punjab. Menander was born into a Greek family in a village called Kalasi adjacent to Alexandria of the Caucasus (present day Bagram, Afghanistan), although another source says he was born near Sagala (modern Sialkot in the Punjab, Pakistan). Buddhist tradition relates that he handed over his kingdom to his son and retired from the world, but Plutarch says that he died in camp while on a military campaign, and that his remains were divided equally between the cities to be enshrined in monuments, probably stupas, across his realm.Īttic Tetradrachm of Menander I in Greco-Bactrian style ( Alexandria-Kapisa mint). After his death in 130 BC, he was succeeded by his wife Agathocleia, perhaps the daughter of Agathocles, who ruled as regent for his son Strato I. Menander was also a patron of Buddhism, and his conversations with the Buddhist sage Nagasena are recorded in the important Buddhist work, the Milinda Panha ("The Questions of King Milinda" panha meaning "question" in Pali). Large numbers of Menander’s coins have been unearthed, attesting to both the flourishing commerce and longevity of his realm. Ancient Indian writers indicate that he launched expeditions southward into Rajasthan and as far east down the Ganges River Valley as Pataliputra ( Patna), and the Greek geographer Strabo wrote that he "conquered more tribes than Alexander the Great." After re-conquering the Punjab he established an empire which stretched from the Kabul River valley in the west to the Ravi River in the east, and from the Swat River valley in the north to Arachosia (the Helmand Province). Menander might have initially been a king of Bactria. Menander is noted for having become a patron and convert to Greco-Buddhism and he is widely regarded as the greatest of the Indo-Greek kings. 165/155 –130 BC) who administered a large territory in the Northwestern regions of the Indian Subcontinent from his capital at Sagala. Menander I Soter ( Ancient Greek: Μένανδρος Σωτήρ, romanized: Ménandros Sōtḗr, Menander the Saviour Pali: Milinda), was a Greco-Bactrian and later Indo-Greek King (reigned c.
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