The Greeks in Bactria and India c17.19

c17.19

One further point must be briefly noticed. Konow has put forward the view that, if the Khāravela inscription really mentions Demetrius (note the ‘if’), then Demetrius was the king of the sieges of Sāketa and Madhyamikā mentioned by Patañjali,¹ which would mean (among other things) that it was he and not Menander who led the Greek advance south-eastward and he and not Apollodotus who led the Greek advance southward of Sind. Had the relations between Demetrius and his lieutenants ever been worked out, such a theory could never have been put forward; the evidence given in Chapter iv is too strong to give it a chance. But quite apart from that, the inscription can have no bearing at all on the Greek *invasion*, as I have been at pains to explain (pp. 146 *sq.*). What it might show is that Demetrius was in the Middle Country when the news came of Eucratides’ attack, and ordered the withdrawal from Pātaliputra; but at present it is not possible to rely on this as attested by evidence, though the course of events (see Chaps. iv and v) renders it probable enough in itself.