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RISE OF THE Power OF THE INDO- Greeks, Sakas, Parthians AND Kushanas
Ancient India (HSB654)
Aligarh Muslim University
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RISE OF THE POWER OF THE INDO-GREEKS, SAKAS, PARTHIANS AND KUSHANAS
As early as the 2nd century B., nomadic tribal movements began to take shape in a unified form. Nomadic tribes from central Asia began a journey west towards Bactria.. The Scythians and the yueh-chis, two of the most important central Asian tribes, occupied it. Indo-Greeks During this time, waves of migration from the northwestern borders were also a significant political development. Failed in their attempt at conquering Indian lands, the Seleucids had been thwarted. Where the Seleucids had failed, the Greek kings of Bactria triumphed. Although Diodotus founded the Greek kingdom of Bactria in the third century B., it was Euthydemus, who gained recognition from Antiochos III, the Seleucid king, at the end of the third century B. It was the Indo-Greek kings of Bactria who took over large parts of northwestern India and Afghanistan after the Greeks ruled there. Three dozen of these kings are well-known thanks to their coinage. They are referred to as Yavanas in Indian literature. He was Euthydemus's son, Demetrius, who emigrated to the Indian plains. The Ganga- Yamuna Doab was effectively annexed by him and his successor Menander, who may have even reached as far as Pataliputra. Strabo's Geography and Periplus of the Erythraean Sea proves that large parts of northwestern India were conquered. As the best-known Indo- Greek king, Menander reigned from 150 to 130 BC. The Milindapanho, a Buddhist philosophical treatise, records discussions between him and Nagasena, a Buddhist monk from Kabul and Mathura. The Indo-Greek political influence diminished after the death of Menander. They also left behind the Heliodorus pillar, a piece of art that combines elements of Greek, Roman, and Indian art, as well as Indo-Greek coins, which can be linked to specific kings and are dated. The large number of Indo-Greek coins imply that they were used for trade and commerce, but the depiction of the king on the coins had political meaning. It was a declaration of the king's authority. Sakas and Parthians In the first century B., the Sakas (people of Central Asian origin who had kin ties with the Scythians) emerged as the new rulers of northwestern India, continuing the process of conquest. After political developments pushed them toward Bactria and Iran, they moved into the northwest of India through southern Afghanistan. There were two Saka kings in India: Maues and Moga. Indo-Greeks were displaced by him and his successor, Azes I. All the way from Ujjain to Saurashtra, their sphere of influence extended from the northwest to Mathura. According to the Indo-Greek and Iranian cultures that they were familiar with, they issued coins in imitation of the Indo-Greek style and referred to themselves as "shahanu shahi" (kings of kings). Under the above-mentioned influences, the introduction of the impressive title "Kings of Kings" into India was not without political content. It suggests that there were a number of smaller kings or chieftains. Kshatrapas and Mahakshatrapas, the king's appointed provincial governors, also existed. "Tribal" or "clan" chieftains appear to rule the political system, with the Saka kings as their head of state. Chieftains and governors appear to have had a significant amount of autonomy or independence in such a system.
The kshatrapas' declaration of independence led to the decline of Saka power. Saka king Azes II was the last significant ruler of the northwest. The Indo-Parthians or Pahlavas, who ruled in the early first century AD, did not last long. Parthia, Iran's largest province, is where Pahlavas originated. They occupied Bactria in the second century BC. In the first half of the first century A., Gondopharnes is the most well-known. The Pahlavas' decline coincided
with the rise of the Kushanas in India. Saka rule continued in Kathiawar and Malwa in western India, even as northern India was under the control of the Kushanas. Among this group, Rudradaman is the most well-known. Junagarh's second-century AD inscription chronicles his conquests and accomplishments. Sanskrit as a court language and the preferred medium for making statements of power are among the reasons why this record is so important. It has political significance because it is a public document. Similar documents with political overtones can be found in Kalinga's Hathigumpha inscription, which dates back to the first century B. Early mediaeval land grant charters may have included similar phrases in order to reassure the people, impress them, and gain their trust. Kushanas It was in the first century A. that Kushanas arrived in the northwest, where a number of rivals were fighting for power. When they arrived in Bactria in the second century BC, the Yueh-chi tribe, to which they belonged, had already divided into five units. Every one of them had their own yabgu, or head of state. Kabul and Kashmir were seized by Kadphises Kujala Kadphises, chieftain of the Kuei-shang (Kushana), after he unified the five tribes of the Yueh-chi. His son Wima Kadphises, who conquered northern India after his father died at the age of eighty, succeeded him. The Chinese chronicles of the Han dynasty are said to have documented the early history of the Kushanas around the fifth century A. He succeeded Wima Kadphises as king, but the relationship between the two kings and Kanishka is not clear. According to some of the oldest Kanishka inscriptions, he began his reign in Sarnath, Kausambi, and Mathura and then expanded his rule throughout the Kushana empire. A second capital, Mathura, was established in his empire, which stretched from the Oxus River to Varanasi to Sanchi, with Mathura as the capital. It was the imperial capital of Purushapura (Peshawar), a city in Pakistan. Huvishka succeeded Kanishka, and Vasudeva was the last Kushana king to hold a significant position in the empire. For many centuries, this dynasty remained in existence, even into the third century. However, by that time, the empire had dwindled, and the only information we have about these later rulers comes from their coins.
RISE OF THE Power OF THE INDO- Greeks, Sakas, Parthians AND Kushanas
Course: Ancient India (HSB654)
University: Aligarh Muslim University
