Tuesday 13 August 2019

EUCRATIDES I ~ GREEK KING OF BACTRIA


Eucratides I ( Ευκρατίδης Α΄- c. 171–145 BCE), also called Eucratides the Great, was one of the most important Greco-Bactrian kings, descendants of dignitaries of Alexander the Great. Eucratides had a vast and prestigious coinage, suggesting a rule of considerable importance.

Eucratides is one of the few Greek kings in India about whom we know something from literary sources. The 2nd century Roman historian Justin described him as a great man, who commenced his rule around the same time as Mithridates in Parthia (171 BCE). Eucratides was almost certainly a scion of the Seleucid royal house, who attempted to "re-claim" the throne of the Bactrian kingdom. His "Pedigree" coins show his parents, Heliocles and Laodice, but only his mother Laodice wears a diadem, indicating that she was of royal blood. Eucratides must have defeated several Greek kings in India, including possibly Agathocles, Antimachus I, Demetrius II, Apollodtus I and Antimachus II. It is likely that the Greek kingdom in Bactria and India had fractured and Eucratides may have re-united it, thereby earning him the moniker "the Great." Justin names only one king who opposed Eucratides, Demetrius of India. 
This was possibly Demetrius II, although opinion is divided on this issue. 

Numismatic evidence suggests that Eucratides I was a contemporary of the Indo-Greek kings Apollodotus I, Antimachus II and Menander I. In any case, Eucratides' advances into India are proved by his abundant bilingual coinage.

 Eucratides was the last Greek king to rule at Ai-Khanoum, which was overrun most probably by the Yuezhi, the tribes that later coalesced into the Kushans. Eventually, Justin tells us, Eucratides was killed by his own son, who made no attempt to hide his deed and in fact ran his chariot through his father's blood and ordered his body to be cast out unburied. Unfortunately, Justin does not name this son, so we don't know if it was any of the subsequent Greek kings who issued coins.

However, the rule of the Indo-Greeks over territories south of the Hindu Kush lasted for a further 150 years, ultimately collapsing under the pressure of the Yüeh-chih and Scythian (Saka) invasions in around 10 BCE, with the last Indo-Greek ruler Strato II.


EDITED FROM: Wikipedia

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