The Greeks in Bactria and India c10.s1.284

c10.s1.284

Having failed in the north, Euthydemus turned eastward to the Tarim basin, as already related. His expedition to that country was a quest for any metal available; what the Greeks first got was a certain supply of nickel originating in China, but later they managed to get from China some bullion, both gold and silver.¹ One of the reasons, but a very subordinate one, for the Euthydemid invasion of India was probably to secure precious metals, but India was as disappointing as the north had been; no Greek king in India was able to coin gold, and the relative scarcity of the larger silver coins, the tetradrachms,² may suggest that even silver was never too plentiful.