The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c26.272

v1.c26.272

The second Greek invasion of India amounted to little more than a reconnaissance in force. Açoka, the grandson of Chandragupta, had died about 236 B.C., and after his death the power of the Maurya dynasty speedily declined. When Antiochus crossed the Hindu Kush and marched down the Kābul valley, he found himself in the territory of a prince whom Polybius (XI, 34) calls ‘Sophagasēnos, King of the Indians.’ Indian history knows no ruler of corresponding name, and it has therefore been conjectured that Sophagasenus was some local rāja who had taken advantage of the decay of the Maurya empire to establish a kingdom of his own in the country west of the Indus¹. Whoever he was, he plainly realised that he was quite unfit to offer an effective resistance to the seasoned troops of his adversary. At the same time Antiochus was in no mood to emulate the Indian adventure of his invincible forerunner. He had already been three years in the east. The West was calling loudly, and he had enhanced his reputation so substantially by his prowess that he could afford to be satisfied with a bloodless victory. Accordingly he accepted the submission of Sophagasenus who, like Euthydemus, revictualled his army for him and handed over a number of war-elephants. A heavy indemnity was also imposed. This last, however, Antiochus did not wait to receive. He left Androsthenes of Cyzicus behind to take delivery of the promised treasure, and himself hurried back with all speed towards Mesopotamia, choosing the route that ran through Arachosia and Drangiāna (Seistān) to Carmania. Who was the lord of Arachosia when it was traversed by the Seleucid troops, it is impossible to say. It had once been Açoka. Now it may have been Sophagasenus. The numismatic evidence suggests that ere long it was Euthydemus. General Cunningham² remarks that the silver of the last-named king ‘is very common in Balkh and Bokhara, to the north of the Caucasus, and less common in Kabul, Kandahar and Sistan,’ while his bronze coins, ‘which are perhaps less numerous than the silver, are found in about equal numbers in Sistan and Kandahar, and throughout the Kabul valley.’ Other observers describe his bronze as ‘very common in Sistan and Kandahar.' As bronze was much less likely to travel outside the area of its actual currency than gold or silver, the significance of these facts is unmistakable. Where the number of specimens is so large, the possible effect of confusion with the rare coinage of Euthydemus II may safely be disregarded.