Eucratides I (, Eukratídēs; Pali: Evukratida;[The Greek inscription on some coins (see illustrations) can be translated "of King Eucratides the Great". Cf. A. S. Hollis, " Laodice Mother of Eucratides of Bactria" in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik vol. 110 (1996) p. 161] was one of the most important Greco-Bactrian kings.[Marcellinus, xxvii. 6.] and minted a vast and prestigious coinage, suggesting a rule of considerable importance and prosperity. His immediate successors were the last Greek kings to rule in Bactria.[Boyce 1986, pp. 460-580]
Biography
Eucratides was born around 210–205 BC, the son of Heliocles and Laodice as depicted on various finds of his coinage.
It is unclear whether he was a Bactrian nobleman who raised a rebellion, or, according to some scholars, a cousin of the
Seleucid Empire king Antiochus IV Epiphanes who was trying to regain the Bactrian territory. There has been much speculation on Eucratides' background and parentage.
His mother, Laodice, is depicted wearing a royal diadem and therefore of royal descent, while his father is bare-headed. Tarn asserted that Laodice was a
Seleucid dynasty princess, the daughter of Seleucus II Callinicus. Narain and other modern authors have challenged this established view.
Coup d'état
Whatever his origins, Eucratides came to power by overthrowing the Euthydemid dynasty in Bactria, possibly when its king, Demetrius was conquering northwestern
India. The king whom Eucratides dethroned in Bactria was probably
Antimachus I.
Justin explains that Eucratides acceded to the throne at about the same time as Mithridates, whose rule is accurately known to have started in 171 BC, thereby giving an approximate date for the accession of Eucratides:
Having become master of Bactria after de-throning the Euthydemid dynasty, Eucratides was faced with a Parthian invasion which began when Demetrius I was conquering India. Having taken Tabaristan and Margiana from Demetrius in about 170 BC, the powerful Mithridates I attempted to conquer Bactria itself but was checked by Eucratides.
- "Eucratides led many wars with great courage, and, while weakened by them, was put under siege by Demetrius, king of the Indians. He made numerous sorties, and managed to vanquish 60,000 enemies with 300 soldiers, and thus liberated after four months, he put India under his rule" Justin XLI,6
[Justin on Demetrius: "Multa tamen Eucratides bella magna uirtute gessit, quibus adtritus cum obsidionem Demetrii, regis Indorum, pateretur, cum CCC militibus LX milia hostium adsiduis eruptionibus uicit. Quinto itaque mense liberatus Indiam in potestatem redegit." ]
Numismatic evidence suggests that Eucratides I was a contemporary of the Indo-Greek kings Apollodotus I, Apollodotus II and Plato of Bactria. In any case, Eucratides' advances into India are proved by his abundant bilingual coinage that are spread all over northern India and Pakistan.
The city of Eucratideia (Εὐκρατίδεια), which is mentioned by ancient Greek geographers as city of great wealth straddling the Amu Darya River, was probably named after Eucratides. It might have been a totally new foundation or an existing city which he had renamed after himself.[Ptolemy, vi, 1, 7; Strabo xi. 11][William W. Tarn: The Greeks in Bactria and India. 2. Aufl., Cambridge 1951, p. 207-208] The location of the city is uncertain, but it was probably Ai-Khanoum or perhaps Dilbarjin.
Death
Justin ends his account of Eucratides' life by claiming that the warlike king was murdered on his way back from India by his son, who hated Eucratides so much that he mutilated and dragged his dead body after his chariot. This may have been a misinterpretation by Justin, and the regicide could instead have been perpetrated by an Euthydemid prince, Demetrius II, the son and successor of Demetrius I. Justin appears to believe Eucratides was killed by his own son,
Heliocles I, but this is unlikely as patricide was uncommon in the Hellenistic age.
- "As Eucratides returned from India, he was killed on the way back by his son, who ran his chariot over the blood of the king, and ordered the corpse to be left without a sepulture" Justin XLI,6
The murder of Eucratides probably brought about a civil war amongst the members of the dynasty. The successors to Eucratides were Eucratides II and Heliocles (145–130 BC), who was the last Greek king to reign in Bactria. Once the Yuezhi tribes overpowered Heliocles, the Greco-Bactrians lost control of the provinces north of the Hindu Kush. Other members of the dynasty were Plato of Bactria and probably Demetrius II, who in that case was not identical with the king Justin claimed was the enemy of Eucratides I.["Demetrios II of Bactria and Hoards from Ai Khanoum" by L.M. Wilson (Oriental Numismatic Society newsletter nr 180)]
Eucratides was the last known ruler of Ai-Khanoum, which was also his capital city. Ai-Khanoum was a prosperous Greek city in Bactria and excavations in the 20th century showed that it had all the hallmarks of a true Hellenistic city. It was likely destroyed at the end of Eucratides' reign in about 145 BC.
The rule of the Greco-Bactrians soon crumbled following these numerous wars:
- "The Bactrians, involved in various wars, lost not only their rule but also their freedom, as, exhausted by their wars against the Sogdians, the Arachotes, the Dranges, the Arians and the Indians, they were finally crushed, as if drawn of all their blood, by an enemy weaker than them, the Parthians." Justin, XLI,6
However, the rule of the Indo-Greeks over territories south of the Hindu Kush lasted for a further 150 years, ultimately collapsing under the pressure of the Yüeh-chih and Scythians (Saka) invasions in around 10 BC, with the last Indo-Greek ruler Strato II.
Legacy
Da Afghanistan Bank which is the
central bank of
Afghanistan, in its seal has a Eucratides I-era coin having the Greek text, "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΕΥΚΡΑΤΙΔΟΥ" which means “Of the great king Eucratides.”
Sources
Full account of Justin on Eucratides:
Gallery
Eucratides issued many different coin designs, such as dynastic coins with what looks like his parents, normal Attic coins and also square Indian coins with legends in Greek and Pali language.
File:Coin of Eukratides I.jpg|Coin of Eucratides with parents Heliocles and Laodice. Greek legends: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΜΕΓΑΣ ΕΥΚΡΑΤΙΔΗΣ, "Great King Eucratides", and ΗΛΙΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ ΚΑΙ ΛΑΟΔΙΚΗΣ, "Son of Heliocles and Laodice".
File:Eucratides-tetradrachm.jpg|Silver Tetradrachm of king Eucratides I wearing a helmet decorated with bull's horn and ear. Reverse shows the Dioscuri on horseback. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΕΥΚΡΑΤΙΔΟΥ, Basileōs Megalou Eukratidou, "Of Great King Eucratides".
File:BilingualCoinOfEucratides.jpg|Bilingual coin of Eucratides in the Indian standard. Greek language on the obverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΕΥΚΡΑΤΙΔΟΥ, "Of Great King Eucratides". Pali in the Kharoshthi script on the reverse.
See also
Notes
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The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies by Thomas McEvilley (Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts, 2002)
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Buddhism in Central Asia by B. N. Puri (Motilal Banarsidass Pub, 1 January 2000)
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Wünsch, Julian (2021). " Die Feldzüge des Eukratides I. von Baktrien und der Kampf um seine Nachfolge" The. Jahrbuch für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte 71, pp. 117–146.
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