The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c26.s1.23

c26.s1.23

² 'The Greeks who occasioned its [Bactria's] revolt, became so powerful by means of its fertility and [the] advantages of the country, that they became masters of Ariana and India, according to Apollodoros of Artemita. Their chiefs, particularly Menander (if he really crossed the Hypanis to the east and reached Isamus), conquered more nations than Alexander. These conquests were achieved partly by Menander, partly by Demetrios, son of Euthydēmos, king of the Bactrians. They got possession not only of Patalene but of the kingdoms of Saraostos and Sigerdis, which constitute the remainder of the coast. Apollodoros, in short, says that Bactriana is the ornament of all Ariana. They extended their empire even as far as the Seres and Phrynoi' (Strabo, Bk. xi, sec. xi, 1, in Falconer's version). The last clause may point to a temporary Greek occupation of the mountains as far to the east as the λίθινος πύργος of Ptolemy, the exact position of which cannot be determined at present (Stein, *Ancient Khotan*, p. 54, cancelling statement in *Sand-buried Ruins of Khotan*, p. 72). As regards Seres, see *J. A. O. S.*, vol. xxxvii, p. 240, for the identification of Sera metropolis with the old Chinese capital Singan-fu.