The Greeks in Bactria and India c10.s2.17

c10.s2.17

Before considering the course of the invasion, one must fix the chronology, as near as may be. It has been seen that Demetrius’ conquest of the Seleucid provinces in eastern Iran, which naturally antedates the invasion of India, could not have been begun till after the battle of Magnesia, 187 being the most probable year; how long it took cannot be said, but Demetrius cannot have crossed the Hindu Kush till very distinctly later than 187. The other terminal point is given by the account in the Yuga-purāṇa³ of the Gārgī Samhitā, which says that, after the occupation of Pātaliputra, the Greeks would not stay in the Middle Country (say roughly the district between Mathurā and Pātaliputra) because of a terrible civil war which would break out among themselves; the reference is of course to the invasion of Eucratides (Chap. v), because there is no other civil war to which the words ‘an awful and supremely lamentable strife’ can refer. It was therefore Eucratides’ invasion which caused the abandonment of Pātaliputra. I must anticipate here what will be proved in the next chapter, that Eucratides’ dates are certain within very narrow limits; he set out most probably in 169, though early in 168 may be possible, and had conquered everything west of the Hindu Kush by the end of 167; the most probable date for the evacuation of the Middle Country is therefore some time in 168, with a possible year’s margin either way. The statement that the Greeks will not stay in the Middle Country means of course that they will not stay long; and reasons will be given later (p. 156) for supposing that a date of c. 175 for the occupation of Pāṭaliputra cannot be far wrong.