Menander I

Menander I ( Milinda or even Latinized Menander ) was an Indo - Greek king of an empire in northwestern India. His story is in the context of Hellenism, the period after the death of Alexander the Great. He reigned in the period from about 165-130 BC, accurate data are not known.

Source location

As for all Indo- Greek kings, the source location is very lean and complicated. Menander is mentioned in passing in some classical authors. The questions of King Milinda is a Buddhist work, in which the ruler plays an important role and provides the wealth of information. He is also one of the few Indo- Greek kings who appears in contemporary inscriptions. A major source is also its numerous coins, deliver their localities at least a clue to the extension of his empire.

Strabo writes:

" The Greeks, who had rebelled in Bactria, were due to the fertility of the land so much that they became masters, not only of Ariana, but also of India, as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were conquered by them than by Alexander but especially of Menander (if the Hypanis eastward crossed in fact, and as far as Imaüs reached ); some were conquered by him personally, others by Demetrius, son of Euthydemus, king of the Bactrians. They conquered not only Patalena ( region of the Indus Delta ), but also the rest of the coast, which is called as the kingdom of Saraostos and Sigerdis. In short, Apollodorus says that Bactria is the ornament of Ariana throughout; and more than that, they expanded their empire to the Seres and the Phryni. ( Strabo, 11, 11 ) "

Periplus Maris in Erythraei

" ... And to this day there are ancient drachmas in Barygaza ( Bharuch ), which come from this country ( Bactria ) and inscriptions in Greek letters wear and carry the orders from those who ruled after Alexander: Apollodotos and Menander ( Periplus Maris Erythraei, 47) "

In the summary of the 41st book of Pompeius Trogus ( in the longer summaries of Marcus Iunianus Justin found these kings no input):

" Some Indian Affairs also be mentioned, namely the deeds of Apollodotos and Menander ( Pompeius Trogus, Prologue, 41) "

Plutarch writes to the death of the ruler:

"When Menander, who had reigned graciously over the Bactrians, died in his camp, the cities celebrated in accordance his funeral, but they began to quarrel over his remains. They came to the conclusion that his ashes be distributed, any of you should receive an equal part and they should all build a monument to him with difficulty. ( Plutarch, Moralia, 10, 55, 28) "

Evaluation

According to the King Milinda questions to Menander in the village Kalasi, not far from Alasanda and be 200 yojanas away Sagala born. In Alasanda it is probably Alexandria on the Caucasus. Originally, he served as governor for the Greek -Bactrian king Demetrius, who had to cancel his 184 BC campaign begun in India due to an insurgency. But Demetrius finally fell in battle. In the aftermath dominated Menander the Indo- Greek kingdom until his death in 130 BC (?) He extended his influence far to the east of, possibly to Pataliputra. Served, the exact extent of the Empire, as the residence of Sakala ( in Punjab ), but, like the exact chronology of the reign of Menander ' controversial.

After Menander / Milinda the questions of King Milinda are named, the Milinda panha - an important, though not canonical works of early Buddhism, which represents a dialogue between the king and the monk Nagasena. Menander is also regarded as one of the first followers of the teachings of the Buddha and a great patron of Buddhism among the Greek -Russians ( Yavana, Yona ) of his time; it was granted in Indian literature as the only Greek rulers another afterlife.