Misplaced Pages

This family tree (and the trees below it) is based on a combination of Tarn's and Narain's genealogies of the Greco-Bactrian kings, which are not necessarily fully correct, as with all ancient family trees. Additionally, according to Tarn and Narain, the Eucratid dynasty is descended from Laodice, sister of Antiochus the Great and daughter of Seleukos II, whose sister married Diodotus I, the first Greco-Bactrian king. Additionally, one of Diodotus's descendants, the Greco-Bactrian ruler Demetrius the Unconquered, the first Indo-Greek king, married a daughter of Antiochus III the Great and had issue, which is shown here below. Thus, most of the Greco-Bactrian kings are related to each other through the Seleukid Dynasty, and thus, are related to the Diadochi and Alexander the Great. Perhaps Menander, an Indo-Greek king, married a probable daughter of Eucratides the Great (see the family trees of the Diodotids, mainline Euthydemids, and the Indo-Greek Menanderids below for a different ancestry for Agathoclea), meaning the Indo-Greek kings are related as well. This tree covers all the Greek rulers of Bactria and India, from 255 B.C. to A.D. 10. This article also covers the family trees of the rulers of the post-Greco-Bactrian state of Dayuan and Oxyartes's family tree and his relationship to the Greco-Bactrian kings. To find more information on the various dynasties and rulers, see these articles: Greco-Bactria, Indo-Greeks, Diodotids, Euthydemids, Eucratids, Menanderids, Indo-Scythians, the Dayuan, and the Yavana people. See the various chronologies and lists of rulers below the trees for easier navigation and understanding of the placement of the various kings in each tree.

Family tree of the early Greco-Bactrian kings (mostly Diodotids and some Euthydemids)

To the right a picture is shown of Narain's version of the genealogy of these kings. Below are family trees of the Euthydemid, Eucratid, and Menanderid dynasties. The Greek connection to the Qin emperors of China is shown below, and with this connection (and with Chandragupta Maurya's marriage to Seleukos's daughter, see Eucratids below), the ancient kings of Persia, India, Greece, and China, oddly enough, are all related.

Other family trees (Euthydemids, Eucratids, Menanderids, the later Indo-Greek Euthydemid dynasty, Indo-Scythians, Dynasty of Oxyartes, and the Ferghana kings)

Chronologies of the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek Kings

These chronologies can be used to more easily navigate the family trees.

The chronology used here is adapted from Osmund Bopearachchi, supplemented by the views of R C Senior and occasionally other authorities.

Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kings, their coins, territories and chronology Based on Bopearachchi (1991)
	Greco-Bactrian kings		Indo-Greek kings
Territories/ dates	West Bactria	East Bactria	Paropamisade	Arachosia	Gandhara	Western Punjab	Eastern Punjab	Mathura
326–325 BC	Campaigns of Alexander the Great in India
312 BC	Creation of the Seleucid Empire
305 BC	Seleucid Empire after Mauryan war
280 BC	Foundation of Ai-Khanoum
255–239 BC	Independence of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom Diodotus I
239–223 BC	Diodotus II
230–200 BC	Euthydemus I
200–190 BC	Demetrius I
190–185 BC	Euthydemus II
190–180 BC	Agathocles			Pantaleon
185–170 BC	Antimachus I
180–160 BC			Apollodotus I
175–170 BC	Demetrius II
160–155 BC			Antimachus II
170–145 BC	Eucratides
155–130 BC	Yuezhi occupation, loss of Ai-Khanoum	Eucratides II Plato Heliocles I	Menander I
130–120 BC	Yuezhi occupation		Zoilos I		Agathokleia			Yavanarajya inscription
120–110 BC			Lysias		Strato I
110–100 BC			Antialcidas		Heliokles II
100 BC			Polyxenos		Demetrius III
100–95 BC			Philoxenus
95–90 BC			Diomedes	Amyntas		Epander
90 BC			Theophilos	Peukolaos		Thraso
90–85 BC			Nicias	Menander II		Artemidoros
90–70 BC			Hermaeus	Archebius
			Yuezhi occupation		Maues (Indo-Scythian)
75–70 BC					Telephos	Apollodotus II
65–55 BC						Hippostratos	Dionysios
55–35 BC						Azes I (Indo-Scythian)	Zoilos II
55–35 BC							Apollophanes
25 BC – AD 10							Strato II and Strato III
							Zoilos III/ Bhadayasa
							Rajuvula (Indo-Scythian)

List of the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek Kings

Greco-Bactrian kings

The below table lists the known Greek rulers of Bactria, along with their dates and titles or epithets.

Dates that overlap show that multiple kings ruled at the same time, but in different regions whose exact details are not known very well. For example, Apollodotus I likely ruled areas south of Bactria and the Indian subcontinent while Antimachus I ruled in Bactria. Eucratides II and Plato would have each ruled smaller parts of southern Bactria.

Indo-Greek kings

The following list of kings, dates and territories after the reign of Demetrius the Unconquered (see Euthydemids above) is derived from the latest and most extensive analysis on the subject, by Osmund Bopearachchi ("Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques, Catalogue Raisonné", 1991).

Eastern territories

The descendants of the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus invaded northern India around 180 BC as far as the Punjab.

• Demetrius I (reigned c. 200–170 BC) Son of Euthydemus I. Greco-Bactrian king, and conqueror of India. Coins

The territory ruled by Demetrius, from Bactria to Pataliputra, was then separated between western and eastern parts, and ruled by several sub-kings and successor kings. The Western part made of Bactria was ruled by a succession of Greco-Bactrian kings until the end of the reign of Heliocles around 130 BCE. The Eastern part, made of the Paropamisadae, Arachosia, Gandhara and Punjab, perhaps as far as Mathura, was ruled by a succession of kings, called "Indo-Greek":

Territories of Paropamisadae to Mathura (house of Euthydemus)

• Agathocles (190-180 BC) Coins
• Pantaleon (190-185 BC)
• Apollodotus I (reigned c. 180–160 BC)
• Antimachus II Nikephoros (160-155 BC)

Coins

• Demetrius II (155-150 BC)

The usurper Eucratides managed to eradicate the Euthydemid dynasty and occupy territory as far as the Indus River, between 170 and 145 BCE. Eucratides was then murdered by his son, thereafter Menander I seems to have regained all of the territory as far west as the Hindu-Kush

Territory from Hindu-Kush to Mathura (150 - 125 BCE)

• Menander I (reigned c. 150–125 BC). Successor to Apollodotus. Married to Agathocleia. Legendary for the size of his Kingdom, and his support of the Buddhist faith. Coins
• Agathokleia (r.c. 130-125 BCE), Probably widow of Menander, Queen-Mother and regent for her son Strato I. Coins

After the death of Menander I, his successors seem to have been pushed back east to Gandhara, losing the Paropamisadae and Arachosia to a Western Indo-Greek kingdom. Some years later the Eastern kings probably had to retreat even further, to Western Punjab.

Territory from Gandhara/Western Punjab to Mathura (125 - 100 BC)

• Strato I (125 - 110 BC) Coin, son of Menander and Agathokleia
• Heliokles II (110 - 100 BC) Coins

The following minor kings who ruled parts of the kingdom:

• Polyxenios (c. 100 BC - possibly in Gandhara)
• Demetrius III Aniketos (c. 100 BC).

After around 100 BCE, Indian kings recovered the area of Mathura and Eastern Punjab east of the Ravi River, and started to mint their own coins.

The Western king Philoxenus briefly occupied the whole remaining Greek territory from the Paropamisadae to Western Punjab between 100 and 95 BC, after what the territories fragmented again. The eastern kings regained their territory as far west as Arachosia.

During the 1st century BC, the Indo-Greeks progressively lost ground against the invasion of the Indo-Scythians, until the last king Strato II ended his ruled in Eastern Punjab around 10 CE.

Territory of Arachosia and Gandhara (95-70 BCE)

• Amyntas Nikator (95 - 90 BC) Coins
• Peukolaos (c. 90 BC)
• Menander II Dikaios "The Just" (90 - 85 BCE) Coins
• Archebios (90 - 80 BC) (with western Punjab) Coins
• (Maues), Indo-Scythian king.
• Artemidoros (c.80 BC) Coins.
• Telephos (75 - 70 BC) Coins

Territory of Western Punjab (95-55 BC)

• Epander (95 - 90 BC) Coins
• Archebios (90 - 80 BC) Coins
• (Maues), Indo-Scythian king
• Thraso (around 80 BC or earlier)
• Apollodotus II (80 - 65 BC) (with Eastern Punjab) Coins
• Hippostratos (65 - 55 BC) Coins, defeated by the Indo-Scythian King Azes I.
• (Azes I). Indo-Scythian king.

Around 80 BCE, parts of Eastern Punjab were regained again:

Territories of Eastern Punjab (80 BC - 10 AD)

• Apollodotus II (80 - 65 BCE)Coins
• Dionysios (65 - 55 BC)
• Zoilos II (55 - 35 BC)
• Apollophanes (35-25 BC)
• Strato II (25 BC - 10 AD) Coin
• (Rajuvula), Indo-Scythian king.

Western territories

The following kings ruled the western parts of the Indo-Greek/Graeco-Bactrian realms, which are here referred to as the "Western kingdom". Probably after the death of Menander I, the Paropamisadae and Arachosia broke loose, and the Western kings eventually seem to have extended into Gandhara by the following kings. Several of its rulers are believed to have belonged to the house of Eucratides.

Territories of the Paropamisadae, Arachosia and Gandhara (130 - 95 BC)

• Zoilos I (130 - 120 BC´), revolted against the dynasty of Menander.Coins
• Lysias (120 - 110 BC), probably conquered Gandhara for the Western kingdom. Coins
• Antialcidas (r.c. 115-95 BC) Coins
• Philoxenus (reigned c. 100- 95 BCE) Coins. Philoxenus ruled in western Punjab as well.

After the death of Philoxenus, the Western kingdom fragmented and never became dominating again. The following kings ruled mostly in the Paropamisadae.

Territory of the Paropamisadae (95-70 BC)

• Diomedes (95 - 90 BC)Coin
• Theophilos (c. 90 BC) Coin
• Nicias (reigned c. 90–85 BC
• Hermaeus (reigned c. 90–70 BC).
• (Yuezhi rulers)

The Yuezhi probably then took control of the Paropamisadae after Hermaeus. The first documented Yuezhi prince, Sapadbizes, ruled around 20 BCE, and minted in Greek and in the same style as the western Indo-Greek kings, probably depending on Greek mints and celators. The Yuezhi expanded to the east during the 1st century CE, to found the Kushan Empire. The first Kushan emperor Kujula Kadphises ostensibly associated himself with Hermaeus on his coins, suggesting that he may have been one of his descendants by alliance, or at least wanted to claim his legacy.

Indo-Greek princelets (Gandhara)

After the Indo-Scythian Kings became the rulers of northern India, remaining Greek communities were probably governed by lesser Greek rulers, without the right of coinage, into the 1st century CE, in the areas of the Paropamisadae and Gandhara:

• Theodamas (c. 1st century CE) Indo-Greek ruler of the Bajaur area, northern Gandhara.

The Indo-Greeks may have kept a significant military role towards the 2nd century CE as suggested by the inscriptions of the Satavahana kings.

See also

• Indian campaign of Alexander the Great
• Timeline of Indo-Greek kingdoms
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
• Indo-Greek Kingdom
• Diodotids
• Euthydemids
• Greco-Buddhism
• Indo-Greek religions
• Indo-Greek art
• Sources of Indo-Greek history
• William Woodthorpe Tarn
• A. K. Narain
• Osmund Bopearachchi

References

1. ^ Tarn, William Woodthorpe (1966). The Greeks in Bactria and India (2 ed.). New York, U.S.: Cambridge University Press. p. 568. ISBN 9781108009416. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
2. ^ Narain, A.K. (1957). The Indo-Greeks: Revisited and Supplemented (4 ed.). Delhi, India: B.R. Publishing Corporation. p. 305. ISBN 9788176463492. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
3. ^ Narain, A. K. (1970). Astin, Alan E. (ed.). The Cambridge ancient history. 8: Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 B.C. (2. ed.,  ed.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge Univ. Press. p. 406. ISBN 978-0-521-23448-1.
4. Christopoulos, Lucas (September 2022). "SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS: Dionysian Rituals and the Golden Zeus of China" (PDF). Sino-Platonic Papers. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.: University of Pennsylvania. pp. 84–86. Retrieved 4 January 2025. The most surprising discovery I made in my research is that the "Hu" (胡) son of Qinshi Huangdi, Hu Hai (胡亥 229–207 BC), most likely was the son of a princess offered by the Greco-Bactrians during that alliance (epigamia). The name of Hu Hai's mother was "the Hu Princess" (Hu Ji 胡姬), and information about her is surprisingly sparse in the Chinese historical records. Normally, when Hu Hai came to the throne, his mother would have received the posthumous title (fenghao 封号) of "empress dowager" (Huang Taihou 皇太后), and women in that position were usually very active in politics. But she did not, and shows no such activity. This is strange to the point of being abnormal in the ruling class of the Qin. The reason is probably that she was a princess of the Euthydemid family, and, in the eyes of the Qin aristocracy, a "Hu," or a "foreigner." That is why she was not completely included in the royal dynastic system. The "Hu Princess" bore Hu Hai in 229 BC. Euthydemos must had made an alliance with the "king of Qin," who
5. Christopoulos, Lucas (September 2022). "SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS: Dionysian Rituals and the Golden Zeus of China" (PDF). Sino-Platonic Papers. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.: University of Pennsylvania. pp. 84–86. Retrieved 4 January 2025. The most surprising discovery I made in my research is that the "Hu" (胡) son of Qinshi Huangdi, Hu Hai (胡亥 229–207 BC), most likely was the son of a princess offered by the Greco-Bactrians during that alliance (epigamia). The name of Hu Hai's mother was "the Hu Princess" (Hu Ji 胡姬), and information about her is surprisingly sparse in the Chinese historical records. Normally, when Hu Hai came to the throne, his mother would have received the posthumous title (fenghao 封号) of "empress dowager" (Huang Taihou 皇太后), and women in that position were usually very active in politics. But she did not, and shows no such activity. This is strange to the point of being abnormal in the ruling class of the Qin. The reason is probably that she was a princess of the Euthydemid family, and, in the eyes of the Qin aristocracy, a "Hu," or a "foreigner." That is why she was not completely included in the royal dynastic system. The "Hu Princess" bore Hu Hai in 229 BC. Euthydemos must had made an alliance with the "king of Qin," who was about thirty at that period, in 230 BC.
6. Christopoulos, Lucas (September 2022). "SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS: Dionysian Rituals and the Golden Zeus of China" (PDF). Sino-Platonic Papers. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.: University of Pennsylvania. p. 88. Retrieved 6 January 2025. King Xiutu, the "Savior," was the last king of the Euthydemid dynasty to rule in Gansu and was allied with the Xiongnu.
7. Paranavithana, Senarath (1971). The Greeks and the Mauryas. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Lake House Investments. p. 84. ISBN 9780842607933. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
8. Senior, R.C. (2001). Indo-Scythian Coins and History: Volume IV - Supplement, Additional Coins and Hoards; the Sequences of Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian Kings. Lancaster, PA: Classical Numismatic Group Inc. p. xxxvi. ISBN 0970926863. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
9. Tarn, William Woodthorpe (1966). The Greeks in Bactria and India (2 ed.). New York, U.S.: Cambridge University Press. pp. 96, 101, 211, 449, 484. ISBN 9781108009416. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
10. Tarn, William Woodthorpe (1966). The Greeks in Bactria and India (2 ed.). New York, U.S.: Cambridge University Press. p. 449. ISBN 9781108009416. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
11. Tarn, William Woodthorpe (1966). The Greeks in Bactria and India (2 ed.). New York, U.S.: Cambridge University Press. pp. 100–101. ISBN 9781108009416. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
12. Qian, Sima; Watson, Burton (1961). Records of the Grand Historian of China, Translated from the Shih Chi of Sima Qian, Volume II. New York, U.S.: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-08167-7. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
13. Under each king, information from Bopearachchi is taken from Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques, Catalogue Raisonné (1991) or occasionally SNG9 (1998). Senior's chronology is from The Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian king sequences in the second and first centuries BC, ONS179 Supplement (2004), whereas the comments (down to the time of Hippostratos) are from The decline of the Indo-Greeks (1998).
14. O. Bopearachchi, "Monnaies gréco-bactriennes et indo-grecques, Catalogue raisonné", Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1991, p. 453
15. History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE – 100 CE, Sonya Rhie Quintanilla, BRILL, 2007, p. 9
16. "The COININDIA Coin Galleries: Greek: Apollodotus I (Apollodotos I)". coinindia.com. Retrieved 2024-06-29.

Sources

• Narain, A.K. (1957). The Indo-Greeks: Revisited and Supplemented (4 ed.). Delhi: B.R. Publishing Corporation. p. 305. ISBN 9788176463492. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
• Tarn, William Woodthorpe (1966). The Greeks in Bactria and India (2 ed.). New York, U.S.: Cambridge University Press. p. 568. ISBN 9781108009416. Retrieved 30 December 2024.

• Greco-Bactrian kings
• Indo-Greek kings
• Indo-Greeks