2nd-century BCE Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek king
Menander I
Maharaja Basileus
Portrait of Menander I Soter, from his coinage
Indo-Greek King
Reign
165/155–130 BC
Predecessor
Antimachus II
Successor
Strato I (Agathoclea as regent)
Born
c. 180 BC Kalisi (in present-day Bagram, Afghanistan)[1][2] or Sagala (present-day Sialkot, Pakistan)[3]
Died
130 BC (aged 50) Sagala (present-day Sialkot)
Burial
Stupas across the Indo-Greek Kingdom
Consort
Agathoclea
Issue
Strato I
Religion
Greco-Buddhism
Menander I Soter (Ancient Greek: Μένανδρος Σωτήρ, romanized: Ménandros Sōtḗr, lit.'Menander the Saviour'; Pali: Milinda; sometimes called Menander the Great[4][5]) was a Greco-Bactrian and later Indo-Greek King (reigned c. 165/155[6] –130 BC) who administered a large territory in the Northwestern regions of the Indian Subcontinent and Central Asia. Menander is noted for having become a patron and convert to Greco-Buddhism and he is widely regarded as the greatest of the Indo-Greek kings.[7]
Menander might have initially been a king of Bactria. After conquering the Punjab,[2] as far as Taxila, he established an empire which stretched from the Kabul River in the west to the Indus River in the east, and from the Swat River valley in the north to Arachosia (the Helmand Province).
According to Numismatist Joe Cribb and archaeologist Rachel Mairs, the accounts of Menander’s kingdom stretching as far as Sialkot, is hard to believe, as there is no numismatic evidence of him east of Taxila, even more hard is to believe is stretching even further east as thought earlier by historians based upon Indian references, which most likely are referring to Kushans. [8]
Large numbers of Menander’s coins have been unearthed, attesting to both the flourishing commerce and longevity of his realm. Menander was also a patron of Buddhism, and his conversations with the Buddhist sage Nagasena are recorded in the important Buddhist work, the Milinda Panha ("The Questions of King Milinda"; panha meaning "question" in Pali). After his death in 130 BC, he was succeeded by his wife Agathocleia, perhaps the daughter of Agathocles, who ruled as regent for his son Strato I.[9] Buddhist tradition relates that he handed over his kingdom to his son and retired from the world, but Plutarch says that he died in camp while on a military campaign, and that his remains were divided equally between the cities to be enshrined in monuments, probably stupas, across his realm.
^"Menander". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
^ abCite error: The named reference Hazel 2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Magill 2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Ḍār, Saifurraḥmān (2006). Historical Routes Through Gandhara (Pakistan): 200 B.C-200 A.D. National College of Arts. p. 88. ISBN 9799690020351.
^Dar, Saifur Rahman; Jan, Zakirullah (2015). "Three Seasons of Excavations at Pir Manakrai, Haripur: Preliminary Report". Ancient Pakistan. 26: 1–44. ISSN 2708-4590.
^Bopearachchi (1998) and (1991), respectively. The first date is estimated by Osmund Bopearachchi and R. C. Senior, the other Boperachchi
^Mairs, Rachel (2020). The Graeco bactrians and Indo Greeks world. Taylor & Francis. p. 654. ISBN 9781351610278.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
^The Cambridge Ancient History. Cambridge University Press. 1970. p. 406. ISBN 978-0-521-23448-1.
Indian Buddhist sage Nāgasena, and the 2nd century BC Indo-Greek king MenanderI (Pali: Milinda) of Bactria. The Milindapañhā is regarded as canonical...
discussion under MenanderI) as their portraits were rather similar and Menander II seems to have been a devout Buddhist, just as MenanderI was, according...
Menander (/məˈnændər/; Greek: Μένανδρος Menandros; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy...
previously held by MenanderI. He may have belonged to the dynasty of Euthydemus I. Zoilus used to be dated after the death of Menander, c. 130–120 BCE (Bopearachchi)...
campaigns to Pataliputra are generally attested to the later king MenanderI and Demetrius I probably only invaded areas in Pakistan. Other kings may have...
Ptolemy I Soter (/ˈtɒləmi/; Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general...
century BC, Sagala was made capital of the Indo-Greek kingdom by MenanderI. Menander embraced Buddhism after extensive debating with a Buddhist monk,...
this king is uncertain: he could be either Demetrius I, or Demetrius II, but more likely MenanderI. Eukratideion "Eucratides led many wars with great courage...
The House of Menander (Italian: Casa del Menandro) is one of the richest and most magnificent houses in ancient Pompeii in terms of architecture, decoration...
which caused the Indian parts of the empire to be lost to Indo-Greek king MenanderI and southern Bactria to be lost to the Yuezhi. From 130 BC a nomadic people...
Milinda Panha (lit. 'Menander's Question'), an early Indian Buddhist text in the form of a question and answer between king MenanderI and monk Nagasena...
Ἔπανδρος) was one of the Indo-Greek kings. He may have been a relative of MenanderI, and the findplaces of his coins seem to indicate that he ruled in the...
Great in 326 BCE. It was made the capital of the Indo-Greek kingdom by MenanderI in the 2nd century BCE — a time during which the city greatly prospered...
Menander Protector (Menander the Guardsman, Menander the Byzantian; Greek: Μένανδρος Προτήκτωρ or Προτέκτωρ) was a Byzantine historian, born in Constantinople...
lived around 150 BC. His answers to questions about Buddhism posed by MenanderI (Pali: Milinda), the Indo-Greek king of northwestern India, are recorded...
coin is in a style similar to those of MenanderI, has the same type of Athena, and shares one of Menander's mint marks. On the coin, the title of Thraso...
western territories closer to Bactria. Eventually Apollodotus I was succeeded by MenanderI, and the two kings are mentioned by Pompejus Trogus as important...
have been succeeded by the most successful of the Indo-Greek kings, MenanderI. Menander converted to Buddhism, and seems to have been a great patron of the...
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