The Greeks in Bactria and India c10.s2.101

c10.s2.101

Before passing on, one or two points in connection with the Greek advance to Pāṭaliputra must be noticed. One need not waste time over the belief of some writers that the Greek kings were condottiere and their conquests raids, beyond hoping that such writers have clear ideas of what a ‘raid’ from Rawul Pindi upon Patna would mean; but the view held in defiance of Apollodorus, that it was Demetrius and not Menander who led the advance south-eastward, must be considered. It was first put forward as a guess in 1911 by Professor D. R. Bhandarkar,⁴ because he very properly saw that the advance must have taken place much earlier than the late date which he believed to be that of Menander; his reasoning was sound, but now that Menander’s true date is known it has no further application.⁵ Subsequently in 1923 Dr Sten Konow⁶ based a similar theory upon a passage in the Hāthigumphā inscription of Khāravela, which is supposed to state that Demetrius withdrew (from Pāṭaliputra) to Mathurā, and this has found some acceptance. It is fully discussed in Appendix 5; apart from some uncertainty as to what the inscription does say on the matter, it is abundantly clear that it has no bearing at all upon the Greek invasion or who led it, though it may be important for later events (p. 166). Let me assume that the passage means what Dr Konow and the late Dr Jayaswal say it means (though they do not altogether agree) and then put the matter in general terms. Some king, carrying on widespread operations over an enormous territory, is said to have abandoned a certain conquered province. This does not imply that he conquered the province in person or abandoned it in person or ever set eyes upon it; it may, and probably will, refer only to his orders to his generals or governors. *Qui facit per alium facit per se.*