Menandros (King)

Tetradrachm with Conference Menander I .; Av .: King Menander, throwing a spear; Rev .: Athena with lightning (inscription: BASILEOS SOTIROS MENANDROY, King Menander, the savior )

Menandros I (also Milinda or Latinized Menander ) was an Indo-Greek king of an empire in northwest India . His story is in the context of Hellenism , the time after the death of Alexander the Great . He ruled from around 165 BC. BC to 130 BC Chr., But exact dates are not known.

Sources

As for all Indo-Greek kings, the sources are extremely meager and complicated. Menandros is mentioned in passing by some classic authors. The Questions of King Milinda is a Buddhist work in which the ruler plays an important role and which provides a great deal of information. He is also one of the few Indo-Greek kings who appears in contemporary inscriptions. Another important source are his numerous coins, the locations of which provide at least an indication of the extent of his empire.

Strabon writes:

“The Greeks who rebelled in Bactria became so strong because of the fertility of the land that they became masters not only of Ariana but also of India, as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were conquered by them than by Alexander , but especially from Menandros (if he did indeed cross the Hypanis to the east and reach Imaüs); some were conquered by him personally, others by Demetrius, son of Euthydemus, king of the Bactrians. Not only did they conquer Patalena (region of the Indus Delta), but also the rest of the coast known as the empire of Saraostus and Sigerdis. In brief, Apollodorus says that Bactria is the ornament of Ariana on the whole; and more than that, they extended their empire to the Seres and the Phryni . (Strabon, 11, 11) "

in the Periplus Maris Erythraei

"... and to this day there are ancient drachmas in Barygaza ( Bharuch ), which come from this country (Bactria) and bear inscriptions in Greek letters and carry orders from those who reigned after Alexander: Apollodotos and Menander (Periplus Maris Erythraei, 47) "

in the summary of the 41st book by Pompeius Trogus (in the longer summaries by Marcus Iunianus Iustinus these kings were not included):

“Some Indian affairs are also mentioned, namely the deeds of Apollodotus and Menander. (Pompeius Trogus, Prologue, 41) "

Plutarch writes about the death of the ruler:

“When Menander, who had graciously ruled over the Bactrians, died in his camp, the cities celebrated his funeral in unison, but they began to quarrel over his remains. With difficulty they came to the conclusion that his ashes should be distributed, each of them should receive an equal share, and they should all erect a memorial to him. (Plutarch, Moralia, 10, 55, 28) "

evaluation

Indo-Greek Kingdom, with known military advances and battles towards the Shatavahana Kingdom and Shunga Kingdom in the northwest bordering the Seleucid Empire .

According to King Milinda's questions , Menandros is said to have been born in the village of Kalasi, not far from Alasanda and 200 yojanas from Sagala . Alasanda is probably Alexandria in the Caucasus . Originally he acted as governor for the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrios , who died around 184 BC. The Indian campaign that had begun in BC had to break off due to an uprising. But Demetrios finally fell in battle. In the following years Menander ruled the Indo-Greek Empire until his death in 130 BC. BC (?) He extended his sphere of influence far to the east, possibly to Pataliputra . The exact scope of the empire, as the seat of which Sakala (in Punjab ) served, is, however, as well as the exact chronology of the reign of Menandro.

The questions of King Milinda are named after Menandros / Milinda , the Milinda Pañha - an important, if not canonical work of early Buddhism , which reproduces a dialogue between the king and the monk Nagasena . Menandros is also considered to be one of the first followers of the teachings of the Buddha and a great promoter of Buddhism among the people of Greek descent ( Yavana, Yona ) of his time; as the only Greek ruler, he was granted a further afterlife in Indian literature.

See also

• List of Indo-Greek and Bactrian-Greek kings

literature

• Abodh K. Narain: The Indo-Greeks. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1957, p. 197 (index).
• Abodh K. Narain: The Greeks of Bactria and India. In: IES Edwards et al: The Cambridge Ancient History . Volume 8: Alan E. Astin, Frank W. Walbank , Marten W. Frederiksen (eds.): Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 BC 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1989, ISBN 0-521-23448-4 , pp. 406 ff., Doi : 10.1017 / CHOL9780521234481.012 .
• Nyanaponika Thera (Ed.): Milindapañha. A historic summit in religious world talk. From the Pāli of Nyanatiloka. New edition. Barth, Bern et al. 1998, ISBN 3-502-61011-8 .

Web links

• Milinda's questions

Remarks

1. ^ Cuthbert Collin Davies: An Historical Atlas of the Indian Peninsula. 2nd edition. Oxford Univ. Pr., London 1959; Abodh K. Narain: The Coin Types of the Indo-Greek Kings. Ares, Chicago IL 1976, ISBN 0-89005-109-7 ; Hans Erich Stier, Ekkehard Aner Ernst Kirsten: Westermann's large atlas on world history. Prehistoric times. Antiquity. Middle Ages. Modern times. 10th edition. Westermann, Braunschweig 1978, ISBN 3-14-100919-8 .
2. ↑ Narain: The Indo-Greeks. 1957, p. 74.