The Shunga-Greek War comprised several conflicts between the Shunga Empire and the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. It is predominantly based on the Sanskrit play "Mālavikāgnimitram" by Kalidasa, which portrays events surrounding Pushyamitra Shunga.
| Shunga–Greek War | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Greek campaigns in India | |||||||
 Possible extent of Shunga Empire c. 150 BCE.[1] | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Greco-Bactrian Kingdom | Shunga Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Demetrius I of Bactria Menander I |
Pushyamitra Shunga Agnimitra Shunga Vasumitra Shunga[4] | ||||||
The Greek king Demetrius is regarded to have tried to invade the subcontinent after his win over the Kabul Valley.[5] The Shungas were able to successfully resist the invasion and expel the Greeks out of Mathura.
"Those who came after Alexander went to the Ganges and Pataliputra" (Strabo, XV.698)
However, Demetrius is said to have invaded only the northern territories of India. Later conquests had been done by Menander. The Buddhist text Milinda Panha describes Menander as:
King of the city of Euthymedia in India, Milinda by name, learned, eloquent, wise, and able; and a faithful observer, and that at the right time, of all the various acts of devotion and ceremony enjoined by his own sacred hymns concerning things past, present, and to come. Many were the arts and sciences he knew--holy tradition and secular law; the Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, and Vaisheshika systems of philosophy; arithmetic; music; medicine; the four Vedas, the Puranas, and the Itihasas; astronomy, magic, causation, and magic spells; the art of war; poetry; conveyancing in a word, the whole nineteen. As a disputant he was hard to equal, harder still to overcome; the acknowledged superior of all the founders of the various schools of thought. And as in wisdom so in strength of body, swiftness, and valour there was found none equal to Milinda in all India. He was rich too, mighty in wealth and prosperity, and the number of his armed hosts knew no end.[citation needed]
The first phase of the invasion ended here, followed by a civil war in Bactria. The King Demetrius[6]
Aftermath
editThe Indo-Greeks and the Shungas seem to have reconciled and exchanged diplomatic missions around 110 BCE, as indicated by the Heliodorus pillar, which records the dispatch of a Greek ambassador named Heliodorus, from the court of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas, to the court of the Shunga emperor Bhagabhadra at the site of Vidisha in central India.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 145, map XIV.1 (c). ISBN 0226742210.
- ^ Sen, Sailendra Nath (1999). Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International, 1999. p. 170. ISBN 978-8-12241-198-0.
- ^ Lahiri, Bela (1974). Indigenous States of Northern India (Circa 200 B.C. to 320 A.D.) Calcutta: University of Calcutta, p.51
- ^ Lahari, Bela (1923). Indigenous States of Northern India (PDF). University Of Calcutta. p. 51.
- ^ Mauli, Mani (2005). A journey through India's Past. Northern Book Centre. p. 38. ISBN 9788172111946.
- ^ Raychaudhuri, Hemachandra (1923). Political History of Ancient India. University Of Calcutta. p. 205.
- ^ Ravindran, T.K. (1973). Journal of Indian History. Vol. 51. Department of Modern Indian History. p. 441.
Further reading
edit- Raychaudhuri, Hemachandra (1923). Political History of Ancient India. University Of Calcutta. p. 205.