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EukratidesCoin.JPG|thumb|right|350px|Silver tetradrachm of King Eucratides I (171-145 BC)
Obv: Bust of Eucratides. Helmet decorated with a bull's horn and ear.
Rev: Depiction of the Dioscuri, each holding palm in left hand, spear in righthand. Greek legend: BASILEOS MEGALOI EUKRATIDOI "Great King Eucratides". Mint monogram below.
Characteristics: Diameter 32 mm. Weight 15.9 g. Attic standard. One of the largest Hellenic coins ever minted.]]
Eucratides I (ca. 170 BC - 145 BC) was one of the Greco-Bactrian kings.
Eucratides came to the throne by toppling the dynasty of Euthydemus, whose son Demetrius had conquered western India. The king defeated by Eucratides dethroned in Bactria was probably Antimachus I.
It is unclear whether Eucratides was a Bactrian official who raised a rebellion, or, according to some scholars, a cousin of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes who was trying to regain the Bactrian territory. Some of the coins of Eucratides probably represent his parents, where his father is named Heliocles, and his mother, wearing a royal diadem, Laodice. Laodice may have been a member of the Seleucid imperial house.
Having become master of Bactria, he also conquered the western parts of the Indo-Greek kingdom. According to the single remaining source, Roman historian Justin, Eucratides defeated Demetrius of India, but the identity of this king is uncertain. Numismatic evidence suggests that Eucratides I was a contemporary of the Indo-Greek kings Apollodotus I, Antimachus II and Menander I. In any case, Eucratides' advances into India are proved by his abundant bilingual coinage.
In the west the Parthian king Mithradates I began to enlarge his kingdom and
attacked Eucratides; he succeeded in conquering two provinces between Bactria
and Parthia, called by Strabo the country of Aspiones and Turiua.
EucratidesKapisa.jpg|thumb|300px|Bilingual coin of the Greco-Bactrian king Eucratides (170-145 BCE), mentioning Alexandria of the Caucasus/ Kapisa.
Obv: Bust of king Eucratides. Greek legend: BASILEOS MEGALOY EUKRATIDOY "Great King Eucratides".
Rev: Divinity of Kapisa with palm in left hand, probably Zeus, extending a wreath over the head of a small elephant. Hills to the right. Kharoshthi legend: KAVISIYE NAGARA DEVATA "Divinity of the city of Kapisa".]]
Death of Eucratides
Justin ends his account of Eucratides' life by claiming that the warlike king was murdered on his way back from India by his own son, who hated his father so much that he dragged his dead body after his chariot.
The murder of Eucratides probably brought about a civil war amongst the members of the dynasty. His successors to Eucratides were Eucratides II and Heliocles I (145-130 BC), who was the last Greek king to reign in Bactria. Once the Yüeh-chih tribes overpowered Heliocles, the Greco-Bactrians lost control of the provinces north of the Hindu Kush.
Two other members of the dynasty was Plato 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).
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 Scythian (Saka) invasions in around 10 BC.
| Preceded by: Demetrius and his sub-kings: (in Bactria) Antimachus I Demetrius II (In the Paropamisadae, Arachosia, Gandhara) Apollodotus I Antimachus II | Greco-Bactrian Ruler (Bactria, Paropamisadae, Arachosia, Gandhara) (170-145 BC) | Succeeded by: (In Bactria) Eucratides II Plato Heliocles I (In Paropamisadae, Arachosia, Gandhara) Menander I |
External links
References
- "The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies" by Thomas McEvilley (Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts, 2002) ISBN 1581152035
- "Buddhism in Central Asia" by B.N. Puri (Motilal Banarsidass Pub, January 1, 2000) ISBN 8120803728
- "The Greeks in Bactria and India", W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.
"Eucratides I"