Editing Menander I (section)

==Reign==
[[File:Menander Alexandria-Kapisa.jpg|thumb|300px|Attic Tetradrachm of Menander I in [[Greco-Bactrian]] style ([[Alexandria of the Caucasus|Alexandria-Kapisa]] mint).<br />
''Obv:'' Menander throwing a spear.<br />
''Rev:'' [[Athena]] with thunderbolt. Greek legend: {{lang|grc|ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ}} (BASILEOS [[Soter|SOTEROS]] MENANDROU), "Of King Menander, the Saviour".]]
Menander was born into a [[Greeks|Greek]] family<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Noble|first1=Thomas F. X.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2TALAAAAQBAJ|title=Western Civilization: Beyond Boundaries|last2=Strauss|first2=Barry|last3=Osheim|first3=Duane|last4=Neuschel|first4=Kristen|last5=Accampo|first5=Elinor|date=2013|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-285-50020-1|pages=97|language=en}}</ref> in a village called Kalasi adjacent to [[Alexandria of the Caucasus]] (present day [[Bagram]], Afghanistan).<ref name="Hazel 2013">{{cite book |title= Who's Who in the Greek World |last= Hazel|first= John |year= 2013 |publisher= Routledge |isbn= 9781134802241|quote= Menander king in India, known locally as Milinda, born at a village named Kalasi near Alasanda (Alexandria-in-the-Caucasus), and who was himself the son of a king. After conquering the Punjab, where he made Sagala his capital, he made an expedition across northern India and visited Patna, the capital of the Mauraya empire, though he did not succeed in conquering this land as he appears to have been overtaken by wars on the north-west frontier with Eucratides.|page=155 }}</ref><ref name="Magill 2003">{{cite book |title= Dictionary of World Biography, Volume 1|last= Magill |first= Frank Northen |year=2003 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781579580407 |quote= MENANDER Born: c. 210 B.C.; probably Kalasi, Afghanistan Died: c. 135 B.C.; probably in northwest India Areas of Achievement: Government and religion Contribution: Menander extended the Greco-Bactrian domains in India more than any other ruler. He became a legendary figure as a great patron of Buddhism in the Pali book the Milindapanha. Early Life – Menander (not to be confused with the more famous Greek dramatist of the same name) was born somewhere in the fertile area to the south of the Paropamisadae or the present Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan. The only reference to this location is in the semi-legendary Milindapanha (first or second century A.D.), which says that he was born in a village called Kalasi near Alasanda, some two hundred yojanas (about eighteen miles) from the town of Sagala (probably Sialkot in Punjab). The Alasanda refers to the Alexandria in Afghanistan and not the one in Egypt.  |page=717 }}</ref> Although another source says he was born near Sagala (modern [[Sialkot]] in the Punjab, [[Pakistan]]).<ref name="Magill 20032">{{cite book |last=Magill |first=Frank Northen |title=Dictionary of World Biography, Volume 1 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2003 |isbn=9781579580407 |page=717 |quote=MENANDER Born: c. 210 B.C.; probably Kalasi, Afghanistan Died: c. 135 B.C.; probably in northwest India Areas of Achievement: Government and religion Contribution: Menander extended the Greco-Bactrian domains in India more than any other ruler. He became a legendary figure as a great patron of Buddhism in the Pali book the Milindapanha. Early Life – Menander (not to be confused with the more famous Greek dramatist of the same name) was born somewhere in the fertile area to the south of the Paropamisadae or the present Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan. The only reference to this location is in the semi-legendary Milindapanha (first or second century A.D.), which says that he was born in a village called Kalasi near Alasanda, some two hundred yojanas (about eighteen miles) from the town of Sagala (probably Sialkot in Punjab). The Alasanda refers to the Alexandria in Afghanistan and not the one in Egypt.}}</ref> His territories covered [[Bactria]] (modern-day [[Balkh Province]]) and extended to modern-day [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] and [[Punjab]]. [[Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus]] and [[Justin (historian)|Justin]] call him a [[List of Indian monarchs|king of India]].<ref name=":1" /> According to [[Plutarch]] he was a [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom|king of Bactria]], and [[Strabo]] includes him among Bactrian Greek conquerers. He may have actually ruled over Bactria and may have helped [[Demetrius II Nicator]], the Seleucid king, during the [[Seleucid–Parthian Wars]].<ref name=":0" /> From the [[Hindu Kush]], he expanded his kingdom to [[Gandhara]] and perhaps [[Kashmir]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Menandros (Milinda) |url=https://www.ne.se/uppslagsverk/encyklopedi/lång/menandros-(milinda) |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=[[ne.se]]}}</ref> His capital is supposed to have been [[Sagala]], a prosperous city in northern [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] (believed to be modern [[Sialkot]], [[Pakistan]]).<ref name="Hazel 2013" /> According to [[Apollodorus of Artemita]], as quoted by Strabo, the conquest of India by the Bactrian Greeks was effected mainly by Menander:<ref name=":1" />

{{quote|The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so powerful on account of the fertility of the country that they became masters, not only of [[Ariana]], but also of India, as [[Apollodorus of Artemita]] says: and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander—by Menander in particular (at least if he actually crossed the [[Beas River|Hypanis]] towards the east and advanced as far as the [[Sone River|Imaus]]), for some were subdued by him personally and others by [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius]], the son of [[Euthydemus I|Euthydemus]] the king of the Bactrians; and they took possession, not only of [[Patalene (region)|Patalena]], but also, on the rest of the coast, of what is called the kingdom of [[Saraostus]] and [[Sigerdis]]. In short, Apollodorus says that Bactriana is the ornament of Ariana as a whole; and, more than that, they extended their empire even as far as the [[Serica|Seres]] and the [[Phryni]].|Strabo|[[Geographica]]<ref>{{in lang|el}} {{cite book|title=Geographica|author=Strabo|chapter=11.11.1|chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+11.11.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0197|language=el|year=1877|place=Leipzig|publisher=Teubner|editor-first=A.|editor-last=Meineke}}<br />{{cite book|chapter=11.11.1|chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+11.11.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198|year=1924|editor-first= H. L.|editor-last=Jones|title = Strabo, Geography, Book 11, chapter 11, section 1}} {{cite book|chapter=11.11.1|chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D11%3Achapter%3D11%3Asection%3D1|year=1903|editor-first= H. L.|editor-last=Jones|title = Strabo, Geography, BOOK XI., CHAPTER XI., section 1}} At the Perseus Project.</ref>}}

[[File:MenanderCoin.jpg|thumb|300px|2. Silver [[drachm]] of Menander I (155-130 BC).<br />''Obv:'' [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] legend, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ (BASILEOS SOTEROS MENANDROU) lit. "Of Saviour King Menander".<br /> ''Rev:'' [[Kharosthi]] legend: MAHARAJASA TRATARASA MENAMDRASA "Saviour King Menander". [[Athena]] advancing right, with thunderbolt and shield. [[Taxila]] mint mark.]]
[[File:Menander I Drachm, Sear7604.jpg|alt=silver drachm of Menander|thumb|299x299px|Another silver drachm of Menander I, dated circa 160-145 BC. Obverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ ('of King Menander the Saviour'), heroic bust of Menander, viewed from behind, head turned to the left; Reverse: Athena standing right, brandishing thunderbolt and holding aegis, Karosthi legend around, monogram in field to left. Reference: Sear 7604.]]
[[File:MenandrosCoin.jpg|thumb|upright=1|<small>Silver coin of Menander<br />[[Greek language|Greek]] legend: {{lang|grc|ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ}}<br />(BASILEOS SOTEROS MENANDROU)<br />lit. "Of Saviour King Menander". [[British Museum]].</small>]]

Accounts describe Indo-Greek campaigns to [[Sagala|Sakala]], [[Mathura]], [[Panchala]], [[Saketa]] ([[Ayodhya]]), and potentially [[Pataliputra]]. The sage [[Patanjali]], in his ''[[Mahabhashya]]'' around 150 BC, describes a failed campaign of Menander as far as Mathura, this is also later reported in [[Kalidasa]]'s drama, ''[[Mālavikāgnimitram]]''. The [[Hathigumpha inscription]] inscribed by [[Kharavela]] the King of [[Kalinga (historical region)|Kalinga]] also places the Yavanas, or Indo-Greeks, in Mathura. Kharavela states to have forced the demoralized Yavana army to retreat back to Mathura:
{{quote|"Then in the eighth year, (Kharavela) with a large army having sacked Goradhagiri causes pressure on Rajagaha ([[Rajagriha]]). On account of the loud report of this act of valour, the Yavana (Greek) King [ta] retreated to Mathura having extricated his demoralized army."|Hathigumpha inscription, lines 7-8, probably in the 1st century BCE-1st century CE. The original text is in Brahmi script.}}
Menander may have campaigned as far as the [[Shunga Empire|Shunga]] capital [[Pataliputra]] resulting in a conflict. The religious scripture [[Yuga Purana]], which describes events in the form of a prophecy, states:
{{quote|After having conquered Saketa, the country of the Panchala and the [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathuras]], the [[Yavana]]s (Greeks), wicked and valiant, will reach Kusumadhvaja. The thick mud-fortifications at [[Pataliputra]] being reached, all the provinces will be in disorder, without a doubt. Ultimately, a great battle will follow, with tree-like engines (siege engines).|Gargi-Samhita, ''Yuga Purana'', ch. 5}}

Strabo also suggests that Indo-Greek conquests went up to the [[Shunga Empire|Shunga]] capital [[Pataliputra]] in northeastern India (today [[Patna, India|Patna]]):
{{quote|Those who came after Alexander went to the [[Ganges]] and [[Pataliputra]]|[[Strabo]], 15.698}}
The events and results of these campaigns are unknown. Surviving epigraphical inscriptions during this time such as the Hathigumpha inscription states that Kharavela sacked Pataliputra. Furthermore, numismatics from the [[Mitra dynasty (Mathura)|Mitra dynasty]] are concurrently placed in [[Mathura]] during the time of Menander. Their relationship is unclear, but the Mithra may potentially be vassals.

In the West, Menander seems to have repelled the invasion of the dynasty of [[Greco-Bactrian]] usurper [[Eucratides]], and pushed them back as far as the [[Paropamisadae]], thereby consolidating the rule of the Indo-Greek kings in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent.

The ''[[Milinda Panha]]'' gives some glimpses of his military methods:{{cn|date=March 2023}}

{{quote|<poem>
– Has it ever happened to you, O king, that rival kings rose up against you as enemies and opponents?
– Yes, certainly.
– Then you set to work, I suppose, to have moats dug, and ramparts thrown up, and watch towers erected, and strongholds built, and stores of food collected?
– Not at all. All that had been prepared beforehand.
– Or you had yourself trained in the management of war elephants, and in horsemanship, and in the use of the war chariot, and in archery and fencing?
– Not at all. I had learnt all that before.
– But why?
– With the object of warding off future danger.
</poem>|''Milinda Panha'', Book III, ch. 7}}

Generous findings of coins testify to the prosperity and extent of his empire: (with finds as far as Britain){{citation needed|date=January 2021}} the finds of his coins are the most numerous and the most widespread of all the Indo-Greek kings.{{cn|date=March 2023}} Precise dates of his reign, as well as his origin, remain elusive, however. Guesses among historians have been that Menander was either a nephew or a former general of the [[Greco-Bactrian]] king [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius I]], but the two kings are now thought to be separated by at least thirty years. Menander's predecessor in Punjab seems to have been the king [[Apollodotus I]].

Menander's empire survived him in a fragmented manner until the last Greek king [[Strato II]] disappeared around 10 AD.

The 1st-2nd century AD ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'' further testifies to the reign of Menander and the influence of the Indo-Greeks in India:
{{quote|To the present day ancient drachmae are current in [[Barygaza]], coming from this country, bearing inscriptions in Greek letters, and the devices of those who reigned after Alexander, [[Apollodotus I|Apollodorus]] {{sic}} and Menander.|Periplus, ch. 47.<ref name="sourcebook">[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/periplus.html Full text, Schoff's 1912 translation]</ref>}}

According to [[Numismatist]] [[Joe Cribb]], 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,<ref name=":4" /> 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 [[Kushan Empire|Kushans]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Cribb |first=Joe| chapter=Greekness after the end of the Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms| editor-last=Mairs |editor-first=Rachel |title=The Graeco bactrians and Indo Greeks world |date=2020 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781351610278 |pages=654}}</ref> However, numerous silver and copper coins (and [[Hellenistic pottery]] shards) of Menander have been found, including the [[Siranwali]] [[hoard]] found near Sialkot,<ref name="Holt">{{cite book |last=Holt |first=Frank L. |title=Lost World of the Golden King: In Search of Ancient Afghanistan |year=2012 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley and Los Angeles |page=144 |isbn=978-0-520-95374-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=80XBOxZY2kkC&pg=PA144}}</ref> and in the [[Sonipat]] hoard from present-day [[Haryana]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cunningham |first=Alexander |title=Coins of Alexander's Successors |journal=The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society, Volumes 11-12 |year=1871 |page=161 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I9wEAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA161}}</ref> Additional corroboration for mentions of Indo-Greek expeditions into the Gangetic plains may be furnished by the [[Yavanarajya inscription]] discovered in [[Mathura]], and discoveries of Menander's coins in western [[Uttar Pradesh]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Sircar |first=D.C.| chapter=The Yavanas |title=The Age of Imperial Unity |editor-last=Majumdar |editor-first=R.C. |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |location=Bombay |year=1951 |page=114}}</ref> including the Pachkhura hoard of coins unearthed near the [[Yamuna River]] in [[Hamirpur district, Uttar Pradesh]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Vincent Arthur |title=The Most Southern Hoard of Bactrian Coins in India |journal=The Indian Antiquary, A Journal of Oriental Research |volume=33 |date=September 1904 |pages=217–218 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mxhCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA225-IA19}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Bivar |first=A.D.H. |title=Beyond the Tigris |journal=Ancient West & East |volume=1 |number=1 |publisher=Koninklijke Brill |date=2002 |pages=63–64 |isbn=978-90-04-49644-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fpJOEAAAQBAJ&dq=hamirpur+menander&pg=PA63}}</ref> and the unearthing of a clay pot filled with coins of preceding kings ([[Diodotus I]], [[Diodotus II]], and [[Euthydemus I]]) in [[Vaishali district]], [[Bihar]].<ref name="Holt" />

[[Bajaur District|Bajaur]] is the only place where inscriptions of Menander have been found.<ref name=":0" /> However, large numbers of Menander’s coins have been unearthed, mostly of silver and bronze, attesting to both the duration of his reign and the flourishing commerce of his realm. According to Buddhist tradition he handed over his kingdom to his son and retired from the world, but Plutarch relates that he died in camp while on a military campaign.