Tribes in Ancient India c6.62

c6.62

As regards the authentic political history of Gandhāra itself, as distinct from that of its capitals, we find that in the Buddha’s time Pukkusāti, King of Gandhāra, is said to have sent an embassy and a letter to King Bimbisāra (Skt. Bindusāra) of Magadha.⁷ Prof. Rapson states⁸ that Gandhāra was in all probability conquered by Cyrus (558-530 B.C.), and remained a Persian province for about two centuries. After the downfall of the Persian empire in 331 B.C., it came under the sway of Alexander the Great, together with the Persian province of ‘India’ or ‘the country of the Indus’. Through Gandhāra and the ‘Indian’ province was exercised the Persian influence which so greatly modified the civilisation of N.W. India. Later, as we have seen, Gandhāra was feudatory to Aśoka, but it declared its independence shortly after his death,—only to fall very soon under the sway of the Greek kings.⁹ According to Whitehead,¹⁰ it was Euthydemos (circa. 230-195 B.C.) who conquered Gandhāra. R. D. Banerjee, however, presumes¹¹ that the conqueror was Diyadāta (Diodotos) II, as some gold coins of his reign have been discovered by Sir John Marshall in the ruins of Taxila. Whitehead’s supposition is the more probable, if we are to assume that Gandhāra was subject to the Maurya Empire until Aśoka’s death in 227 B.C., for the house of Diodotos was supplanted by Euthydemos in 230 B.C.