"Menander I".
Menander (Alexandria-Kapisa).jpg|thumb|350px|Tetradrachm of Menander I in Greco-Bactrian style (Alexandria-Kapisa mint).
Obv: Menander throwing a spear.
Rev: Athena with thunderbolt. Greek legend: BASILEOS SOTEROS MENANDROY, "King Menander, the Saviour".]]
Menander I ( also known as Milinda in Sanskrit, Pali), was one of the rulers of the Indo-Greek Kingdom in northern India from 155 or 150 to 130 BC.
His capital is supposed to have been Sagala, a very prosperous city in northern Punjab (modern Sialkot).
He is one of the few Bactrian kings mentioned by Greek authors, among them Apollodorus of Artemita, quoted by Strabo, who claims that the Greeks from Bactria were even greater conquerors than Alexander the Great, and that Menander was one of the two Bactrian kings, with Demetrius, who extended their power farthest into India:
Strabo also suggests that these Greek conquests went as far as the capital Pataliputra in northeastern India (today Patna):
The Indian records also describe Greek attacks on Mathura, Panchala, Saketa, and Pataliputra. This is particularly the case of some mentions of the invasion by Patanjali around 150 BC, and of the Yuga Purana, which describes Indian historical events in the form of a prophecy:
In the West, Menander seems to have repelled the invasion of the dynasty of Greco-Bactrian usurper Eucratides, and pushed them back as far as the Paropamisadae, thereby consolidating the rule of the Indo-Greek kings in the northern part of the Indian Subcontinent.
The Milinda Panha gives some glimpses of his military methods:
His reign was long and successful. Generous findings of coins testify to the prosperity and extension of his empire (with finds as far as Britain): the finds of his coins are the most numerous and the most widespread of all the Indo-Greek kings. Precise dates of his reign, as well as his origin, remain elusive however. Guesses among historians have been that Menander was either a nephew or a former general of the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius I, but the two kings are now thought to be separated by at least thirty years. Menander's predecessor in Punjab seems to have been the king Apollodotus I.
Menander's empire survived him in a fragmented manner until the last Greek king Strato II disappeared around 10.
Menander was the first Indo-Greek ruler to introduce the representation of Athena Alkidemos ("Athena, saviour of the people") on his coins, probably in reference to a similar statue of Athena Alkidemos in Pella, capital of Macedon. This type was subsequently used by most of the later Indo-Greek kings.
MenanderChakra.jpg|thumb|300px|A coin of Menander I with a Buddhist eight-spoked wheel.
Obv: Greek legend, BASILEOS SOTEROS MENANDROY lit. "Saviour King Menander" with eight-spoked wheel.
Rev: Kharosthi legend MAHARAJA TRATASA MENADRASA "Saviour King Menander", with palm of victory.]]
In the Milindanpanha, Menander is introduced as
"King of the city of Sâgala in India, Milinda by name, learned, eloquent, wise, and able; and a faithful observer, and that at the right time, of all the various acts of devotion and ceremony enjoined by his own sacred hymns concerning things past, present, and to come. Many were the arts and sciences he knew--holy tradition and secular law; the Sânkhya, Yoga, Nyâya, and Vaisheshika systems of philosophy; arithmetic; music; medicine; the four Vedas, the Purânas, and the Itihâsas; astronomy, magic, causation, and magic spells; the art of war; poetry; conveyancing in a word, the whole nineteen. As a disputant he was hard to equal, harder still to overcome; the acknowledged superior of all the founders of the various schools of thought. And as in wisdom so in strength of body, swiftness, and valour there was found none equal to Milinda in all India. He was rich too, mighty in wealth and prosperity, and the number of his armed hosts knew no end." (The Questions of King Milinda, Translation by T. W. Rhys Davids, 1890).
Buddhist tradition relates that, following his discussions with Nāgasena, Menander adopted the Buddhist faith:
He then handed over his kingdom to his son and retired from the world:
There is however little besides this testament to indicate that Menander in fact abdicated his throne in favor of his son. Based on numismatic evidence, Sir Tarn believes that he in fact died, leaving his wife Agathocleia to rule as a regent, until his son Strato could rule properly in his stead. Despite the success of his reign, it is clear that after his death, his "loosely hung" empire splintered into a variety of Indo-Greek successor kingdoms, of various size and stability.
These elements tend to indicate the importance of Buddhism within Greek communities in northwestern India, and the prominent role Greek Buddhist monks played in them, probably under the sponsorship of Menander.
Although his first coins bear the mention "King Menander the Saviour" (Greek: BASILEOS SOTEROS MENANDROY/ Kharosthi: MAHARAJA TRATASA MENADRASA), later coins adopt the new title "King Menander the Just" (Greek: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ), to which, for the first time in any coinage corresponds the Pali title "Great King, follower of the Dharma" on the reverse (Kharoshthi: MAHARAJASA DHARMIKASA MENADRASA), a possible reference to his conversion to Buddhism.
The profiles of the king between the former and later coins are quite consistent. Based on the age difference between the rendering of the profiles on the coins, this change would have happened around the age of 50. None of the profiles on the coins of Menander "the saviour" would indicate an age beyond 50, while all the known coins of Menander "the Just" would tend to suggest a man beyond that age.
MenanderIIO.jpg|thumb|300px|Coin of Menander the Just (Indian standard).
Obv: Athena standing, with spear and palm-branch, shield at her feet, making a benediction gesture with the right hand, similar to the Buddhist vitarka mudra. The Greek legend reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ (King Menander the Just).
Rev: Buddhist lion. Kharoshti legend reads MAHARAJASA DHARMIKASA MENADRASA (Great King, follower of the Dharma, Menander).]]
The coins of Menander the Just are filled with Buddhist symbolism, and present interesting evolutions of his previous coin types:
Curiously however, almost none of the coins of Agathokleia and Strato I, unanimously acknowledged to be "Menander the Saviour"'s successors, have any common mint marks with him either A single mint mark is known which is common to Menander I and Agathokleia/Strato I: the "P" with "A" on its side. It only appears in very few instances on the coins of Agathokleia and Strato I.. On the contrary the western king Zoilos I appropriated most of Menander I's mint marks. An explanation would be that following Menander's death, his widow Agathokleia managed to flee to the East with her child (the future Strato I) and establish a new realm, setting up several new mints in the process (Bopearachchi), a rather extraordinary accomplishment for someone in her situation.
MenanderIIQ.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Coin of Menander the Just.
Obv: King Menander in armour, standing, armed with spear and sword. Forming a benediction with the right hand, similar to Buddhist vitarka mudra. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ (King Menander the Just).
Rev: Buddhist lion. Kharoshti legend reads MAHARAJASA DHARMIKASA MENADRASA (Menander, King of the Dharma).]]
Alternatively Menander I himself may have relocated to the Punjab, where he became "Menander the Just", "follower of the Dharma", until he transmitted his new realm to Agathokleia and Strato. The coins of Agathokleia All the coins of Agathokleia as Queen-Mother, where, middle-aged, she is alone on her coins with the bow and arrow quiver on the reverse, have mint marks (two of them, Bopearachchi mint marks 227 (thought to represent Charsada) and 244 (thought to represent Taxila)) similar to those of Menander II: See Agathokleia coins and Strato I Altogether ten coins types (Bopearachchi 22A/B 26A 28A 28B (for two mint marks -Bopearachchi mint marks 227 and 244-, the same as those shared by Agathokleia) are shared by Strato I with Menander II, especially two coin types in which Strato I is very young, almost adolescent, and still uses Athena peacefully holding Nike on her forward arm (22A/B). do share several mint marks with "Menander (II) the Just", as well as many similarities in the types and titles, at least in the first part of their rule. According to this scenario, Menander I had to abandon most of his western territories (and therefore most, or all, of his mints) at the end of his reign, possibly as the Greco-Bactrians, led by Zoilos I, invaded northwestern India as they fled from the Yuezhi following the destruction of Ai-Khanoum around 140 BC. Menander relocated in a territory centered on eastern Punjab, probably with Sagala (modern Sialkot) as his capital as described in the Milinda Panha, possibly extending from Taxila in the West (as suggested by some of his mint marks Bopearachchi mintmark 244, present on coins of Menander II, is considered by most numismats as characteristic of Taxila.) to Mathura in the east (as suggested by coin hoards A hoard of 96 coins of Strato I was found in Mathura, together with coins of Menander (S.P. Noe, A bibliography of Greek coin-hoards, Numismatic Notes and Monographs, 1925, p126., quoted by W.W. Tarn, p. 228)). Menander would have had to establish new mints in these territories. He would also have persisted in his adoption of Buddhism (one of Menander I's coins already displays the Dharma wheel) and changed his title to "Menander the Just", "follower of the dharma". This relocation beyond the Indus proved long-lasting, as eastern Indo-Greeks were to continue ruling from Sagala until around 10.
The Milinda Panha would tend to support this view, since it describes Menander as being somewhat cornered by numerous enemies into a circumscribed territory:
After "Menander the Just"'s death, Agathokleia and Strato I would then naturally have inherited several of his mints, as apparently they adopted the "Menander making a vitarka mudra gesture" design and the titles "Saviour" and "Just" ("follower of the Dharma") during the first few years of their coinage, before Strato reverted to the embattled Athena Alkidemos design and a more neutral "Saviour Epiphanes" title.
The extent of the coinage of "Menander the Just" is also rather small (around 10 types are known), in effect very much smaller than the coinage of "Menander the Saviour" (more than 200 types, and thousands of coins recovered to this day), suggesting a shorter rule and a reduced economic base.
AgatokleiaG.jpg|thumb|300px|Drachm of Agathokleia at the beginning of her regency.
Obv: Diademed bust of Agathokleia, with drapery and necklace. Greek legend BASILISSES THEOTROPOU AGATHOKLEIAS "Godlike Queen Agathokleia".
Rev: King in military outfit, diademed, holding spear, bow, arrow and shield in his left hand, and extending his right hand in a benediction gesture. Kharoshthi legend "Maharajasa tratarasa dhramikasa Stratasa", "Great King, saviour and follower of the dharma, Strato".]]
The next coins, mentioning Strato for the first time, as he was still a child, also show Agathokliea on the obverse, and adopt on the reverse Menander II's depiction of a king in armour making the vitarka mudra. In these early coins also the title adopted for the future king Strato on the obverse is "Maharajasa tratarasa dhramikasa Stratasa" ("King Strato, saviour and follower of the dharma"), apparently the combination of both titles which had been held by Menander:
The first coins of Strato only, where he looks like an adolescent, show Athena in a peaceful attitude, holding Nike over her extended arm, in a parallel to the peaceful Athena of Menander II. Here again his Pali title is "Maharajasa tratarasa Dhramikasa Stratasa" ("Great saviour king Strato, follower of the Dharma"). On these coins, his mint-marks are the same as mint-marks of Menander II The mint-mark in common is Bopearachchi mint-mark 244..
After a few years, Strato I and Agathokleia again reverted to the warlike Athena design on their coins, probably as a symbol of their conflicts with the Western Indo-Greek kings. Soon, Strato also abandoned the title "Follower of the Dharma":
He held this last title until the end of his reign.
Agathokleia did not manage to keep the empire of her husband intact. The western parts became independent under king Zoilos I. Some of her subjects may have been reluctant to accept an infant king with a queen regent. The later king Heliokles II also over-struck some of Agathokleia's coins.
Altogether, the conversion of Menander to Buddhism suggested by the Milinda Panha seems to have triggered the use of Buddhist symbolism in one form or another on the coinage of close to half of the kings who succeeded him. Especially, all the kings after Menander who are recorded to have ruled in Gandhara (apart from the little known Demetrius III) display Buddhist symbolism in one form or another.
Both because of his conversion and because of his unequaled territorial expansion, Menander may have contributed to the expansion of Buddhism in Central Asia. Although the spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and Northern Asia is usually associated with the Kushans, a century or two later, there is a possibility that it may have been introduced in those areas from Gandhara "even earlier, during the time of Demetrius and Menander" (Puri, "Buddhism in Central Asia").
Another possibility is that the Indo-Greeks may not have considered the Buddha strictly as a God, but rather as an essentially human sage or philosopher, in line with the traditional Nikaya Buddhist doctrine. Just as philosophers were routinely represented in statues (but certainly not on coins) in Antiquity, the Indo-Greek may have initiated anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha in statuary only, possibly as soon as the 2nd-1st century BC, as advocated by Foucher and suggested by Chinese murals depicting Emperor Wu of Han worshipping Buddha statues brought from Central Asia in 120 BC (HanWudiBuddhas.jpg) ). An Indo-Chinese tradition also explains that Nagasena, also known as Menander's Buddhist teacher, created in 43 BC in the city of Pataliputra a statue of the Buddha, the Emerald Buddha, which was later brought to Thailand.
Stylistically, Indo-Greek coins generally display a very high level of Hellenistic artistic realism, which declined drastically around 50 BC with the invasions of the Indo-Scythians, Yuezhi and Indo-Parthians. The first known statues of the Buddha are also very realistic and Hellenistic in style and are more consistent with the pre-50 BC artistic level seen on coins.
This would tend to suggest that the first statues were created between 130 BC (death of Menander) and 50 BC, precisely at the time when Buddhist symbolism appeared on Indo-Greek coinage. From that time, Menander and his successors may have been the key propagators of Buddhist ideas and representations: "the spread of Gandhari Buddhism may have been stimulated by Menander's royal patronage, as may have the development and spread of Gandharan sculpture, which seems to have accompanied it" (Mc Evilly, "The shape of ancient thought", p378)
Menandros (König) | Ménandre Ier | Menander
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the "Menander I".
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