THE ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM OF THE GRECO ~ BACTRIAN KINGDOM

The structure of the administration of Greco-Bactrian kingdom closely followed that set up by Alexander, who in his turn had based his on the Iranian model of Darius I. Darius I had established in his provinces, beside the army commander and the Satrap a third post, that of royal representative or viceroy, but this post was abolished by Alexander. The ruler of the province was now known as ‘Strategos’, Darius’s provinces had been very large. In an empire many times greater than that of the Selukans, he had thirty three provinces while the Selukan kings divided their kingdom into seventy-two. The provinces were again divided into districts and sub-divisions.

The Bactrians converted the districts  into provinces ruled by the Satraps. In addition there were the towns, which followed the pattern of the Greek Polis. Alexander had set up about seventy townships. The Seleucid townships were military cantonments. The Greek city was administered by a council and an assembly.

Seleucia, situated on the banks of the Tigris, had a council of 300 which met every month and a larger assembly which held annual sessions. Not only was the assembly required to administer the town, but also to attend to the physical and cultural needs of the citizens. To this end, playgrounds, gymnasiums and theatres had been established. The official language was Greek. The magistrate of the city  was elected by the council.

The town also had an elected treasurer. Elections were generally held once every three years. Bactria and Gandhara were counted among the main Greek cities.

There were often marriages between Greek and non-Greek families.

The Mauryas too made foreigners Governors of provinces, as was the case in Gujarat. Books written in the first and second centuries CE mention how the Greeks dwelt in the Indian cities of Dashpur. The position was similar in the case of Bactria and Sogdia. It is possible of course that in other parts of Central Asia, the Greeks were not so easily absorbed into the local population as they were in India.

We have seen how Apollodotus’ coins bore nothing but Indian inscriptions and some of the Indian Greek kings stamped their money with the images of Indian gods. Menander openly embraced Buddhism. It was difficult to maintain any racial distinctions in India, because after the time of Alexander the Greek cantonments ceased to exist and when Dimitri I came he too pursued a policy of eliminating differences.

Edited from historydiscussion.net