index_bce_199


	==Demetrios and the "Indo-Greek kingdom" (c.180 BCE - 10 CE): Demetrios (r. c.190-170 BCE), one of the kings of the Greco-Bactrian dynasty, establishes an extensive empire known as the "Indo-Greek kingdom" in the Punjab and the Indus Valley. Many of these kings' coins have inscriptions in Greek on one side, and the early Indian Kharoshthi (ancient scripts) script on the other. [Routes]
	==Menander/Milinda: King Menander, or Milinda (c.150-130 BCE), is one of these Indo-Greek rulers; he begins his career as one of Demetrios's generals. He rules from Shakala (Sialkot?). According to Buddhist tradition, he asks Nagasena the famous "Questions of King Milinda" (sacred texts; U. Miami) and then converts to Buddhism. [Routes]
	==the Kushan dynasty in Gandhara (c.135 BCE - 200's CE) takes power, moving in from the northwest; it eventually comes to have twin capitals at Peshawar and Mathura (Met Museum). During this period Indo-Greek and Kushan dynastic struggles in the Punjab are so complex that numismatic evidence reveals the presence of more than thirty rulers in the course of less than two centuries: the age of the Kushans.
	==the Shunga dynasty (c.100's BCE - 000's CE) becomes the regional successor to the Mauryas in the northeast: Met Museum. [Routes]
	==the Pillar of Heliodorus (113 CE): The Greek Heliodorus comes to India as an envoy from the Indo-Greek king Antialkides, who rules in Gandhara. Living in Besnagar (near Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh), Heliodorus becomes a follower of the local proto-Vaishnavite cult of Vasudeva. In the year 113 he dedicates a sixteen-sided stone column to Vasudeva. By now the "Pillar of Heliodorus" has lost its original crown-- which was a statue of Garuda, the bird on whom Vishnu rides. The inscription around its base is in a Prakrit, in the Brahmi script. Images: art and archaeology; Bullen.
	==Sanchi (200's-100's and onward): The superb Buddhist stupas and gates at Sanchi, in Madhya Pradesh, begin to be built, though much of the greatest sculpture dates from the 200 CE period. Sanchi's pillars, chakras ("wheels"), and animal capitals are very Ashokan; it also has a tremendous flow of illustrated narratives ("jatakas," IGNCA) about the Buddha's life. We are lucky to have a huge image archive: Berger; AIIS Penn; DSAL; Project South Asia. Discussion: art and archaeology; IndiaNest. [Routes]
	==An unknown goddess (c.200's-100's BCE): Even if we don't know who she is, she's a remarkably commanding figure. The gallery has provided a discussion of her probable origins; it's a good illustration of how such wonderful pieces are studied and dated. [Routes]


	==Demetrios and the "Indo-Greek kingdom" (c.180 BCE - 10 CE): Demetrios (r. c.190-170 BCE), one of the kings of the Greco-Bactrian dynasty, establishes an extensive empire known as the "Indo-Greek kingdom" in the Punjab and the Indus Valley. Many of these kings' coins have inscriptions in Greek on one side, and the early Indian Kharoshthi (ancient scripts) script on the other. [Routes]
	==Menander/Milinda: King Menander, or Milinda (c.150-130 BCE), is one of these Indo-Greek rulers; he begins his career as one of Demetrios's generals. He rules from Shakala (Sialkot?). According to Buddhist tradition, he asks Nagasena the famous "Questions of King Milinda" (sacred texts; U. Miami) and then converts to Buddhism. [Routes]
	==the Kushan dynasty in Gandhara (c.135 BCE - 200's CE) takes power, moving in from the northwest; it eventually comes to have twin capitals at Peshawar and Mathura (Met Museum). During this period Indo-Greek and Kushan dynastic struggles in the Punjab are so complex that numismatic evidence reveals the presence of more than thirty rulers in the course of less than two centuries: the age of the Kushans.
	==the Shunga dynasty (c.100's BCE - 000's CE) becomes the regional successor to the Mauryas in the northeast: Met Museum. [Routes]
	==the Pillar of Heliodorus (113 CE): The Greek Heliodorus comes to India as an envoy from the Indo-Greek king Antialkides, who rules in Gandhara. Living in Besnagar (near Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh), Heliodorus becomes a follower of the local proto-Vaishnavite cult of Vasudeva. In the year 113 he dedicates a sixteen-sided stone column to Vasudeva. By now the "Pillar of Heliodorus" has lost its original crown-- which was a statue of Garuda, the bird on whom Vishnu rides. The inscription around its base is in a Prakrit, in the Brahmi script. Images: art and archaeology; Bullen.
	==Sanchi (200's-100's and onward): The superb Buddhist stupas and gates at Sanchi, in Madhya Pradesh, begin to be built, though much of the greatest sculpture dates from the 200 CE period. Sanchi's pillars, chakras ("wheels"), and animal capitals are very Ashokan; it also has a tremendous flow of illustrated narratives ("jatakas," IGNCA) about the Buddha's life. We are lucky to have a huge image archive: Berger; AIIS Penn; DSAL; Project South Asia. Discussion: art and archaeology; IndiaNest. [Routes]
	==An unknown goddess (c.200's-100's BCE): Even if we don't know who she is, she's a remarkably commanding figure. The gallery has provided a discussion of her probable origins; it's a good illustration of how such wonderful pieces are studied and dated. [Routes]