The Greeks in Bactria and India c10.s4.20

c10.s4.20

There never was much doubt that Gandhāra was part of Menander’s realm, for 200 tetradrachms of his in mint condition have been found in Swat¹ and 721 drachmae, showing little signs of circulation, in the great Bajaur hoard;² coins in this condition have nothing to do with trade. At the same time he seems not to have used the Pushkalāvatī mint, for Siva’s bull never appears on his money, so probably he ruled Gandhāra through a sub-king; presumably he had some sub-kings, but only in the case of Gandhāra is it possible to identify one.³ The discovery of the Bajaur hoard put one obscure Graeco-Indian king, Antimachus II Nikephoros, in a new light, for the mass of almost new coins of his found there in conjunction with almost new coins of Apollodotus and Menander⁴ proves that he was an early king contemporary with Menander⁵ and that his kingdom must have been in Gandhāra. There can therefore be little doubt now that he was a son of Antimachus (not a grandson) who escaped to India from Eucratides’ attack and fought for Apollodotus or Menander or both against Eucratides, and that, after Eucratides retired, Menander made him his sub-king in Gandhāra; if he hated Eucratides as heartily as did his cousin Demetrius II, he was the right man to guard the frontier province. His title Nikephoros, the Victorious, must refer to some success gained against Eucratides in Menander’s war with him, the only occasion on which there could have been a Euthydemid success; this, and the fact that the treaty must have given Menander Gandhāra, are reasons for supposing that Menander may have recovered that province from