Heliodorus (envoy)

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The Heliodorus Pillar

Heliodoros was an envoy of the Indo-Greek king Antialkidas (about 115 to 95 BC) to the court of the Shunga ruler Bhagabhadra (= Bhagavata?). Heliodorus is known from an inscription on a column named after him , which stands at Vidisha , Madhya Pradesh . On their inscription (in Brahmi ) Heliodorus is the son of a Dion and explicitly as a Greek and resident of Taxila (in today's Pakistani province of Punjab), designated. The inscription documents diplomatic relations between the Indo-Greeks and Indian dynasties and is one of the few contemporary proofs of an Indo-Greek ruler that is otherwise only known from their coins. The inscription also shows that a Greek turned to Hinduism . The column is dedicated to Vasudeva . Heliodoros also describes himself as Bhagavata (devotee of Vishnu ).

literature

  • AK Narain: The Indo-Greeks . Oxford 1957, pp. 118–119, plate VI (with translation of the inscription).
  • William W. Tarn: The Greeks in Bactria and India . 2nd edition, Cambridge 1951, p. 313.
personal data
SURNAME Heliodorus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Envoy of the Indo-Greek King Antialkidas
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 2nd century BC BC or 1st century BC Chr.