Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarat c6.9

c6.9

Demetrius, whom Justin calls the king of the Indians, is believed to have reigned from B.C. 190 to B.C. 165.¹ On the authority of Apollodorus of Artamita Strabo (B.C. 50 - A.D. 20) names two Baktrian-Greek rulers who seem to have advanced far into inland India. He says: "The Greeks who occasioned the revolt of Baktria (from Syria B.C. 256) were so powerful by the fertility and advantages of the country that they became masters of Ariana and India....... Their chiefs, particularly Menander, conquered more nations than Alexander. Those conquests were achieved partly by Menander and partly by Demetrius son of Euthydemus king of the Baktrians. They got possession not only of Pattalene but of the kingdoms of Saraostus and Sigerdis, which constitute the remainder of the coast."² Pattalene is generally believed to be the old city of Pátál in Sindh (the modern Haidarábád), while the subsequent mention of Saraostus and Sigerdis as kingdoms which constitute the remainder of the coast, leaves almost no doubt that Saraostus is Suráshtra and Sigerdis is Ságaradvípa or Cutch. The joint mention of Menander (B.C. 126) and Demetrius (B.C. 190) may mean that Demetrius advanced into inland India to a certain point and that Menander passed further and took Sindh, Cutch, and Káthiáwáda. The discovery in Cutch and Káthiáwáda of coins of Baktrian kings supports the statements of Justin and Strabo. Dr. Bhagvanlál's collecting of coins in Káthiáwáda and Gujarát during nearly twenty-five years brought to light among Baktrian-Greek coins an obolus of Eucratides (B.C. 180-155), a few drachmæ of Menander (B.C. 126-110), many drachmæ and copper coins of Apollodotus (B.C. 110-100), but none of Demetrius. Eucratides was a contemporary of Demetrius. Still, as Eucratides became king of Baktria after Demetrius, his conquests, according to Strabo of a thousand cities to the east of the Indus, must be later than those of Demetrius.