169 BC and a new empire is rising. After fourteen years of fighting, one Greek king is on the verge of becoming a legend. His name is Demetrius, ruler of an empire in deepest Asia.

Fighting an enemy that was neither Greek nor Roman, Demetrius has invaded a land that to many looked unconquerable – India. Succeed and Demetrius will be able to boast of achieving a conquest as formidable as that of his idol, Alexander the Great. Fail however, and his name will be forever lost to obscurity. It is in this year that his fate would be decided.

Background: Hellenistic Asia in 185 BC

By this time, Asia had transformed substantially since Alexander the Great had breathed his last back in 323 BC. For the past 100 years, the Hellenistic Greeks had ruled supreme over this cradle of civilisation, bathing in the afterglow of Alexander’s Persian conquest. Now, however, their control was starting to dwindle.

The Ptolemies, Antigonids and Seleucids – by 185 BC, these Greek dynasties had become shadows of their former selves; their glory days were behind them. Now, new empires had begun to make their own mark on this rich part of the Ancient World.

To the West, the ever-growing power of Rome had started to gain great influence over the Greek kingdoms in the Eastern Mediterranean – in particular over the Attalids and the Ptolemies; yet they were not the only concern.

Further east, in the lands that remained in Hellenistic control, old internal troubles – mostly in the form of violent revolts and deadly power struggles – once again reared their ugly heads. As these Hellenistic Kingdoms began to experience difficulties, one thing became notably clear: Greek power in Asia was waning.

There was however, one exception to this claim. One Greek kingdom remained strong.

Bactria

That exception was the Kingdom of Bactria, the ‘Jewel of Iran’ and ‘Land of a Thousand Cities.’ Situated far to the East, this kingdom would become renowned in antiquity for both its wealth and strategic value – its lands ideally located on the main trade route between the Mediterranean and the Orient. Yet all was not peace and prosperity.

Being situated on the edge of the ‘civilised’ Greek world also brought its downsides. To the North and Northwest, Bactria would frequently face incursions from many hostile nomadic tribes. As the first to face these dangers, many Greeks in the West would view this land as nothing more than a rich buffer state – its main reason for existing being to use its resources to prevent hordes of bloodthirsty barbarians from descending on the Greek world. One Bactrian king, however, thought very differently.

230 BC: Euthydemus I

Seeing his kingdom prospering and the nomadic threat contained, Euthydemus saw Bactria as much more than just a boundary marker for civilisation; to him this kingdom was an empire in waiting.

Forming the Greco-Bactrian Empire

Attempting to make his visions reality, Euthydemus would spend much of his ruling lifetime attempting to expand his realm. Backed by a formidable army – consisting of deadly Bactrian cavalry, disciplined Hellenistic infantry and powerful elephants – he would prove very successful, finally confirming Bactria as an independent sovereign state and conquering lands in every direction.

By the time of his death in around 200 BC, Euthydemus had proven those in the West wrong: His realm was now much greater than just a small buffer state.

His son, seeing his father’s achievements, would be sure to take note. Living up to Euthydemus’ conquests would be no easy task, yet Euthydemus’ heir would prove more than capable. It would be he that almost turned this far-flung semi-Greek kingdom into the most powerful empire ever seen. The time of Euthydemus was over; the reign of Demetrius had begun.

Demetrius: continuing the dream

Euthydemus had envisaged Bactria one day becoming the centre of a large Asian Kingdom – the Roman Empire’s equivalent in the East. Demetrius would be sure to keep this vision very much alive.

By 185 BC Demetrius ruled a vast kingdom stretching from the Caspian Sea in the West to the Hindu Kush in the East; his campaigning had proved just as successful as that of his father. For Demetrius, however, this was just the beginning.

Simply matching his father’s achievements did not satisfy Demetrius; his ambitions went even further. Above all else, this Greco-Bactrian King desired to complete a conquest bolder than any seen before.

Having grown up learning about the legendary achievements of the great Alexander, Demetrius desired to emulate his idol’s success. He too would aim to achieve a conquest as daunting as that of Alexander’s Persian campaign over a hundred years before. Many Hellenistic Kings had attempted this before him – leaders such as Antigonus and Pyrrhus. Ultimately however, they had all failed, many losing their life in the process. Demetrius believed he was different. Only time would tell.

Finding such a daunting conquest did not prove difficult. To the South East of his new Empire, one place offered him such an opportunity. A land that had been ruled by powerful dynasties for centuries. India.

India

By the time Demetrius had risen to power in Bactria, India was no stranger to invaders from the West. First Darius I and then Alexander the Great would fix their eyes on this sub-continent. Both had attempted to leave a permanent foothold on this far edge of the known world; both had failed. Yet by the start of the 2nd century BC, much had changed.

India was no longer the enigma that it had been for both past invaders. By then – following amicable relations and peace with the Hellenistic World for the past 100 years – Greek knowledge of the country’s northern lands had significantly increased. Quickly those in the West began to realise how daunting a task it would be for anyone planning to invade that land – the Indian kingdoms could boast of having some of the largest armies in the world. Demetrius, however, remained undeterred. He saw an opportunity; a vast empire was crumbling.

The Mauryan Empire

For the last 130 years, one prestigious kingdom had dominated Northern India: The great Mauryan Empire. Its past rulers had been some of the most powerful and significant in India’s history – its founder Chandragupta Maurya and the Buddhist hero, Ashoka to name two of the greatest. In its height, their lands and armies became so formidable that they had even threatened the Hellenistic World in Asia. By 184 BC, however, that Mauryan ‘golden age’ had long passed.

This Empire had changed greatly since its height of power 50 years before; no longer was it the unbreakable force that many famed Hellenistic Greeks had seen it as – men such as Seleucus I and Megasthenes. Now, that era was coming to an end.

184 BC: end of a dynasty

Having orchestrated the assassination of Chandragupta’s last direct descendant, a new man had now usurped the throne. His name was Pushyamitra Shunga, a former general that had become angered at Mauryan rule. As Chandragupta’s final successor died, so too did the Mauryan dynasty. This great family was at an end.

Such a great change from over 100 years of Mauryan rule would not be straightforward for Pushyamitra however; a smooth transition would not happen overnight. Many Indians would voice their dissatisfaction to his accession – the man’s only claim to the throne, after all, being that he had betrayed his predecessor. Internal turmoil inevitably followed.

This civil unrest was not bad news for everyone however. Hearing of this trouble in India, Demetrius saw a great opportunity. It would be he, he believed, that would save Northern India from this turmoil, reviving the once-great Mauryan Empire with himself as King. This was the chance he had been waiting for. Gathering a large army, Demetrius prepared to follow in the footsteps of Alexander. The second ever Greek invasion into India was about to commence.

The Invasion of India begins, 183 BC

Crossing over the Hindu Kush with a large army of Greeks and native Bactrians, Demetrius arrived to a hero’s welcome. To many Indians and especially for one group, this Greek king was the man they had been waiting for.

Religious tensions

At that time, there were two main religions in Northern India. On the one hand there was Brahmanism, an early form of Hinduism. On the other, there was a newer religion that had only recently gained popularity: Buddhism.

Emerging in around 1000 BCE, Brahmanism had been the central religion in that country for centuries. Yet no longer was its primacy assured. Under the Mauryan dynasty – especially during the reign of the great Ashoka – the new religion, Buddhism, had become widespread. Its rise would continue past Ashoka’s death and by the time Pushyamitra had ascended the throne, that religion was now dominant. Brahmanism was crumbling.

Pushyamitra, however, had other ideas. A fervid Brahman himself, the new Emperor eagerly wanted to restore this religion to its past heights. Internal turmoil and Buddhist persecution duly followed. For Demetrius, however, this civil unrest presented him with a great opportunity.

Championing the Buddhists

Naturally, the Buddhists would not take kindly to Pushyamitra’s violent stance. Seeing their king devoted to destroying their religion they quickly sought another to overthrow him. Demetrius knew he could be that alternative. Gladly he would champion their cause, stating every man’s religion was his free choice and presenting himself as the man to save them from persecution. Its success would be unprecedented.

Hearing of the Greco-Bactrian King’s religious tolerance, many Indians would look kindly to Demetrius. Rather than viewing him as some foreign invader coming to ransack their lands, they saw him as their saviour – the ‘King of Justice’ who would deliver them from persecution. Demetrius had the popular support. Now, he had to conquer.

With little difficulty, Demetrius soon made great progress into North-West India. As city after city realigned with him and his cause, the Greek King quickly began to establish his own kingdom on that part of the Indian subcontinent – the largely Buddhist population happy under his rule. There Demetrius would find wealth and willing new Indian recruits aplenty. Yet this was just the beginning.

Divide and Conquer

From then on, Demetrius’ campaign would meet with unrelenting success. Dividing his army into two separate forces, Demetrius likely aimed to crush Pushyamitra in one devastating two-pronged attack. The plan was set. Now Demetrius and his Greco-Bactrians had to carry it out.

The march to Barygaza

Commanding one half of his army himself, Demetrius headed south down the Indus River, following in the footsteps of his idol Alexander. Soon enough, after conquering everything in his path, he reached the Indian Ocean. Having arrived there however, disaster struck. Hearing of new troubles back in Bactria Demetrius himself was forced to return home. Yet this hindrance did not stop Demetrius’ plan.

Putting his army under the command of Apollodotus (who was most likely either Demetrius’ youngest brother or one of his best generals), Demetrius ordered the conquest to go on without him. It would prove a wise move. Under Apollodotus that force continued its good fortune, advancing as far south as the prospering port of Barygaza (modern day Bharuch); a truly outstanding achievement for a Greek army. In the East, too, a similar story was unravelling.

The march to Pataliputra

Under the command of Menander – one of Demetrius’ greatest and most loyal generals – the other half of Demetrius’ army had headed east. It too would meet with great success. Setting off from Taxila – the most prestigious city in North West India – Menander and his army would have likely faced constant opposition, fighting through hundreds of miles of territory loyal to Pushyamitra. Yet Menander and his army of Greeks, Bactrians and Indians, proved unstoppable.

Beating off any attempts to halt their advance, the Greek army traversed almost the entirety of Northern India. Finally, it would reach Pataliputra: The former Mauryan capital situated on the banks of the Ganges River. The Indian Yuga Purana document records the army’s imminent arrival at that city,

Then, after having approached Saketa…the Yavanas (Greeks), valiant in battle, will reach “The Town of the Flower-Standard”(Pataliputra). Then once Pataliputra has been reached and its mud-walls cast down, all the realm will be in disorder.

(Yuga Purana: Slokas 47-48)

Soon enough, as predicted, Menander and his army tore down Pataliputra’s mud walls and the city fell to the invaders. The capital of the most formidable Indian Empire for the past 200 years was now in the hands of forces loyal to Demetrius; a Greek now ruled the most prestigious city in India.

Dizzy heights

No longer were Demetrius’ desires to become the next Alexander just fantastical dreams. Now, having captured Pataliputra, these dreams were quickly becoming reality.

For Pushyamitra, things were getting desperate. Wherever he had attempted to halt this invasion, he had failed – his fervent desire to persecute his own citizens was now coming back to haunt him. Now he found himself on the brink of complete defeat.

Victory in sight

For Demetrius, however, victory was within sight. Hearing of the success of his two armies, Demetrius now found himself the ruler of an empire larger than that of any Greek. Apollodorus recalls,

The Greeks (in Bactria)… grew so powerful… that they became masters not only of Ariana, but also of India…and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander – by Menander in particular… and others by Demetrius, son of Euthydemus, king of the Bactrians.

(Strab. 11.11.1)

Demetrius – thanks primarily to the great leadership of his two most trusted generals, Apollodotus and Menander – had achieved what many before had failed to do: He had matched the achievements of the greatest military general the world had ever seen…… almost. The conquest was not yet finished. Pushyamitra was still alive and remained a constant threat; he may have been down, but he was certainly not out.

The final blow

One final push was needed before Demetrius could call his invasion complete.

Pushyamitra now found his remaining lands encircled by the Greeks on two sides. The final step to his complete demise was easy to see. Pinning the Shungan King between two forces, the Greco-Indian army would slowly turn the screw on their foe, attacking from two sides at once. Defeat appeared only a matter of time for Pushyamitra. Yet Demetrius would take no chances.

Having returned to India with reinforcements from Bactria, the Greek King prepared for the final crushing blow against his opponent – the last step to restoring the Mauryan Empire. Demetrius now looked almost certain to become the next great ruler of India; he was within touching distance of completing a conquest as great as that of Alexander himself. Victory appeared only a matter of time.

This, however did not happen.

The critical moment: attack from behind

As Demetrius prepared to deal the final blow against his Indian rival, news reached him that would alter his plans completely: Bactria itself was under threat.

Demetrius was not the only Greek King with ambitions at that time. To the West, another had chosen his time wisely to launch his own formidable conquest. A man who’s plans would ultimately decide the fate of both Demetrius and his Indian invasion: Antiochus IV.

Antiochus IV

As king of the Seleucid Empire, Antiochus was ruling a Kingdom that had become a shadow of its former glory. Its lands no longer stretched from the Hindu Kush to Asia Minor as they had in its height. Instead, having recently suffered a humiliating defeat to Rome, Antiochus now found himself inheriting lands restricted to around the Fertile Crescent. This setback however, did not deter Antiochus’ big dreams.

Antiochus would be sure to learn from his predecessor’s mistakes against Rome. Rather than viewing that nation as the main cause for his kingdom’s current decline, Antiochus viewed the Romans very differently. Seeing that nation’s unstoppable success in the West, Antiochus used Rome’s achievements to inspire him to build his own great empire. That empire would not be in the West however – going up against Rome would have been suicide – but the East.

Reclaiming the east

For Antiochus, looking at his kingdom’s former territories in the East must have been gut-wrenching. Rather than remaining in his hands, those lands now belonged to other nations, hostile to Seleucid rule – nations such as Parthia and Demetrius’ vast Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Antiochus wanted to change this; no longer would he tolerate their independence. Now, Antiochus planned to re-unite those Eastern lands under one man’s rule: His own.

Eucratides and the Invasion of Bactria 169 BC

These ambitions, however, were merely dreams at that time. Action had to be taken, conquests had to be made. Retaking Bactria was the obvious first choice.

Seeing Demetrius and his formidable army preparing for the final blow against Pushyamitra far away in deepest India, Antiochus saw his opportunity. In 169 BC, whilst he himself headed west to fight in Egypt, Antiochus ordered Eucratides, his governor in the East, to reclaim Demetrius’ home kingdom for the Seleucids.

It would be Eucratides’ invasion that stopped Demetrius from completing the greatest conquest the Classical World had yet seen.

The result: retreat

Hearing of Eucratides and his invasion into Bactria, Demetrius altered his plans entirely. Rather than finally finishing off Pushyamitra and becoming the first Greek King of the greatest Indian Empire ever seen, he ordered a large-scale retreat. Pataliputra, the most prestigious Indian city of the time, was abandoned. So too were all Demetrius’ gains east of Mathura. He simply did not have the forces to hold both those lands and Bactria at the same time. Bactria took priority. The Indian conquest – when its success appeared almost guaranteed – was abandoned.

Leaving behind some of his forces – including his (possible) brother Apollodotus and esteemed general Menander – to consolidate their remaining lands in India, Demetrius headed back to Bactria to deal with the new threat. Perhaps the Bactrian King had hoped he would return to that subcontinent after defeating Eucratides? Perhaps he thought then he would continue the conquest? That, however, never materialised.

Eucratides

Demetrius returned to Bactria never to leave again. Finding his foe much stronger than he had first thought, Eucratides would emerge victorious. Demetrius himself, losing the great battle sometime in 167 BC, was slain. That King’s great desire to emulate his hero, Alexander, was at an end.

Eucratides would not stop with Demetrius’ death however. Vanquishing any other Bactrian forces he faced (including those of both Demetrius’ sons and Apollodotus), this Seleucid would go on to conquer all of Demetrius’ lands west of the Hindu Kush. There, following the death of Antiochus IV, Eucratides would establish his own rule for a brief period of time.

As with Demetrius, however, he too would meet his end in battle, falling to Demetrius’ sole-surviving son who, desiring revenge, had enlisted the aid of a new growing Eastern power. A power that in time would destroy the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom for good: The Parthians.

India

As for India, its fate also rapidly changed. The dream of reuniting the powerful Mauryan Empire died with Demetrius. Its lands becoming divided, two new kingdoms emerged in its place. They could not have been more different.

The Shungan Empire

Eucratides’ invasion was not bad news for everyone. For Pushyamitra, Demetrius’ retreat to deal with this new threat was the lifeline he had desperately needed. He would be sure to take full advantage.

Thanks to Eucratides’ timely intervention, Pushyamitra recaptured Pataliputra and the other Eastern lands Demetrius and his Greeks had abandoned. Re-establishing his control, that Shungan – who only recently had looked all-but beaten – became the founder of one of these new kingdoms. One that would last for the next 100 years and rule much of North Eastern India: The Shungan Empire.

The Indo-Greek Kingdom

In the West, however, another empire emerged. Demetrius may have abandoned many of his Indian holdings, but not all of them. It would be these remaining lands that now formed a new Indo-Greek Kingdom.

Successfully fighting off Eucratides and his invasion into India, that Kingdom would be the final legacy of Demetrius’ conquests on the subcontinent, ensuring a Greek influence on much of North West India remained for centuries. All this began with Demetrius – no insignificant achievement.

For over 150 years kings would reign over the new Indo-Greek Kingdom, each with varied degrees of success. One ruler, however, would stand out above the rest.

Menander

His name was Menander, the hero of Demetrius’ daunting expedition to Pataliputra. Following Demetrius’ demise on his return to Bactria, it would be this general that inherited the infant Indo-Greek Kingdom on the subcontinent. During his reign, the Kingdom would prosper as Menander cemented a Greek presence in Northern India.

After his death, not only would his Buddhist subjects forever portray him as a very wise ruler, but tales of Menander’s just reign would reach as far as Greece itself. Having achieved such high renown in his lifetime, Menander – originally a commoner at birth – had risen to become the greatest Greek monarch to ever rule a stable empire in India.

Under Menander and his descendants, this Indo-Greek Kingdom ensured Demetrius’ invasion would not completely fail; Demetrius, after all, had succeeded in leaving the first permanent Greek presence on Indian soil. Yet it could have been so much more.

What if

With Demetrius meeting his end in Bactria, so too did his dreams of a magnificent Indian conquest. He had got so close only for his almost certain success to be pulled from under him; Antiochus and Eucratides mercilessly saw to that. Imagine therefore how different antiquity would look if Eucratides had not invaded in 169 BC. What if Antiochus had not decided on launching an ambitious eastern campaign of his own?

Success

In such a world, the fate of Demetrius’ conquest would likely have been very different. Rather than having to abandon its completion at the last moment, Demetrius would have launched the final phase of his Indian invasion – the crushing blow to destroy Pushyamitra entirely. With Apollodotus attacking from the West and Demetrius and Menander the East, victory for the Greco-Bactrians would have been all-but assured. Demetrius’ Invasion of India would be complete.

Following this success, Demetrius would have achieved his dream – completing a conquest as formidable as that of Alexander. More importantly, however, victory would have ensured the rebirth of one of the greatest empires in Indian history.

With Pushyamitra’s rule overthrown, Demetrius, a Greek originally born far to the West, could have restored the Mauryan Empire to its prime. To many in the West, such a story would have appeared laughable. Demetrius however – as the undisputed new king of that revived Empire – would have had the last laugh.

Ruling lands that stretched from the Caspian Sea to the Bay of Bengal (roughly 3, 000 miles in distance) , Demetrius would have become the King of the largest Empire yet seen in antiquity. Neither the Persian, Macedonian nor even the Roman Empire could rival its size. Such an achievement would have dramatically altered how we remember Demetrius in antiquity.

Demetrius the Great

In such a world, Demetrius would have succeeded where all other Greeks had failed: He had achieved a conquest as great as that of the divine Alexander over 100 years before. Classical writers and biographers would have widely retold his incredible story – men like Plutarch and Nepos especially come to mind – determined to keep the formidable conquest of this Greek in such an exotic, far-away land alive.

No longer would we have to try to deduce as best we can about how Demetrius conducted his invasion from a few various snippets of information. Instead, our knowledge of this conquest would be significantly boosted by an overwhelming amount of sources: Ones focusing entire chapters and whole books on the Greco-Bactrian Empire and the fascinating conquest of Demetrius, its greatest king. All this appears highly possible if not for Eucratides’ actions in 169 BC.

Conclusion

Demetrius’ Indian campaign is undoubtedly – despite our limited surviving evidence – one of the most fascinating campaigns in antiquity. Committing himself to an invasion more ambitious that those famed expeditions of both Alexander and Caesar, this Greco-Bactrian king had been so close to success. Ultimately, however, he would fail at the last hurdle.

Yet if it had not been for those equally ambitious dreams of conquest by Antiochus IV, then Demetrius’ conquest would almost certainly have succeeded. The results of such success are amazing to think of.

For how long would Greek kings remain the most powerful rulers in India? How differently would we remember Demetrius and his conquest in antiquity? Would his Empire have become an effective counterpoise to Rome in the East? And of course, what would have happened to the legacy of the great Alexander in such a world?

Would Demetrius have stolen his crown as the most formidable Greek conqueror ever? All fascinating questions to ask in a world where Demetrius had not been forced to halt his great invasion at the last moment.

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N.B Sadly, we have very little surviving evidence about this fascinating part of history. The above re-telling of events is what I, having viewed the evidence (mainly of William Tarn and Indian records/ archaeology), believe was the most likely timeline of events.

Of course there will be some disagreement as the sources we have surviving are VERY ambiguous, so we expect and welcome challenging views. The late Indian historian Awadh Narain for example believes that this conquest was done mainly by Menander and Apollodotus and not Demetrius.

Furthermore, Justin says Eucratides perished in India at the hands of his own son. This claim, however, scholars such as Tarn refute with the alternate belief he fell to Demetrius’ son and the Parthians now becoming more credible.

This article is meant as a short fascinating story of a series of events that appears very possible from the surviving sources we have. All the information is based on plausible scholarly opinion from this evidence but unfortunately it can never be hard-key fact due to the surviving source’s limitations and ambiguity on both the Indian and the Greek side. We therefore do welcome comments that disagree with the proposed series of events and look forwards to discussing them.

Further Reading

Apollodorus’ account of Demetrius’ Indian Invasion in Strabo here.

Justin on Eucratides here. N.B: Approach this account with an open mind. His story about the death of Eucratides is almost certainly fiction).

Narain, A. K. 2008. ‘The Greeks of Bactria and India,’ The Cambridge Ancient History 8, 388-421.

Tarn, W. W. 1966. The Greeks in Bactria and India, Cambridge University Press.

Author: Tristan Hughes Twitter Facebook

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