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Indo-Greek king

Antialcidas Nikephoros "Victorious"
Portrait of Antialcidas
Indo-Greek king
Reign	130–120 BCE (R. C. Senior) 115–95 BCE (Boppearachchi)

Antialcidas Nikephoros (Ancient Greek: Ἀντιαλκίδας ὁ Νικηφόρος; epithet means "the Victorious", Brahmi: 𑀅𑀁𑀢𑀮𑀺𑀓𑀺𑀢𑀲 Aṃtalikitasa, in the Heliodorus Pillar) was a king of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, who reigned from his capital at Taxila. Bopearachchi has suggested that he ruled from ca. 115 to 95 BCE in the western parts of the Indo-Greek realms, whereas R. C. Senior places him around 130 to 120 BCE and also in eastern Punjab (which seems better supported by coin findings). Senior does however believe that he ruled in tandem with King Lysias.

Genealogy

Antialcidas may have been a relative of the Greco-Bactrian king Heliocles I, but ruled after the fall of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. Several later kings may have been related to Antialcidas: Heliokles II, Amyntas, Diomedes and Hermaeus all struck coins with similar features.

The Heliodorus inscription

Main article: Heliodorus pillar

Inscription on the Heliodorus pillar made by Antialcidas' Ambassador Heliodorus in 110 BCE.

Though there are few sources for the late Indo-Greek history, Antialcidas is known from an inscription left on a pillar (the Heliodorus pillar), which was erected by his ambassador Heliodorus at the court of the Shunga king Bhagabhadra at Vidisha, near Sanchi. It states that he was a devotee of Vishnu, the Hindu god.

A part of the inscription says:

"This Garuda-standard was made by order of the Bhagavata ... Heliodoros, the son of Dion, a man of Taxila, a Greek ambassador from King Antialkidas, to King Bhagabhadra, the son of the Princess from Benares, the saviour, while prospering in the fourteenth year of his reign."

Coins

Otherwise, Antialcidas is also known through his plentiful coins. He issued a number of bilingual Indian silver types: diademed, wearing a helmet with bull's horns or a flat kausia. He also appears throwing a spear. According to some interpretations (Grousset), the baby elephant may symbolize the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, who took the shape of a small elephant to enter the womb of his mother Queen Maya, a scene often depicted in Greco-Buddhist art. In that case the coin scene would represent a victory of Buddhism. According to other interpretations the elephant was the symbol of the city of Taxila.

"Mule coins" (overstrikes)

There is a bronze which features the obverse of Lysias and the reverse of Antialcidas. This was interpreted by Tarn and other earlier scholars as though the two kings might have forged some kind of alliance, but later, a bronze with the opposite arrangement was found.

Modern scholarship has however largely accepted that what was originally supposed to be a "joint issue" was in fact a mule; in other words, a mistake occurred in the process of overstriking the original coin, and it was accidentally issued with both king's standards.

Gallery

Antialcidas with Zeus directly giving wreath of victory to the elephant. With Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ ΑΝΤΙΑΛΚΙΔΟΥ, Basileōs Nikēphorou Antialkidou, "Of Victorious King Antialcidas". Obverse with Kharoshti legend: Maharajasa Jayadharasa Antialikitasa.
Gandhara seal of king on elephant receiving wreath of victory, a motif with some similarity to the coins of Antialcidas.
Another coin of Antialcidas. Obverse shows Antialcidas wearing a kausia, with reverse showing Zeus Nikephoros and a young elephant on the left.

References

^ Greek Culture in Afghanistan and India: Old Evidence and New Discoveries Shane Wallace, 2016, p.222-223

Sources

The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies by Thomas McEvilley (Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts, 2002) ISBN 1-58115-203-5
Buddhism in Central Asia by B. N. Puri (Motilal Banarsidass, January 1, 2000) ISBN 81-208-0372-8
The Greeks in Bactria and India, W. W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.
The Indo-Greeks, A. K. Narain, B.R Publications
The Decline of the Indo-Greeks, R. C. Senior & D. MacDonald, the Hellenistic Numismatic Society

External links

Preceded byLysias

Indo-Greek king
(in Paropamisadae, Arachosia, Gandhara)
115 – 95 BC

Succeeded byPolyxenios or Philoxenus

Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kings, territories and chronology

Based on Bopearachchi (1991)

Territories/ dates	West Bactria	East Bactria	Paropamisade	Arachosia	Gandhara	Western Punjab	Eastern Punjab	Mathura
	Greco-Bactrian kings		Indo-Greek kings
326-325 BCE	Campaigns of Alexander the Great in India						Nanda Empire
312 BCE	Creation of the Seleucid Empire						Creation of the Maurya Empire
305 BCE	Seleucid Empire after Mauryan war		Maurya Empire
280 BCE	Foundation of Ai-Khanoum
255–239 BCE	Independence of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom Diodotus I		Emperor Ashoka (268-232 BCE)
239–223 BCE	Diodotus II
230–200 BCE	Euthydemus I
200–190 BCE	Demetrius I				Sunga Empire
190-185 BCE	Euthydemus II
190–180 BCE	Agathocles			Pantaleon
185–170 BCE	Antimachus I
180–160 BCE			Apollodotus I
175–170 BCE	Demetrius II
160–155 BCE			Antimachus II
170–145 BCE	Eucratides I
155–130 BCE	Yuezhi occupation, loss of Ai-Khanoum	Eucratides II Plato Heliocles I	Menander I
130–120 BCE	Yuezhi occupation		Zoilus I		Agathoclea			Yavanarajya inscription
120–110 BCE			Lysias		Strato I
110–100 BCE			Antialcidas		Heliocles II
100 BCE			Polyxenus		Demetrius III
100–95 BCE			Philoxenus
95–90 BCE			Diomedes	Amyntas		Epander
90 BCE			Theophilus	Peucolaus		Thraso
90–85 BCE			Nicias	Menander II		Artemidorus
90–70 BCE			Hermaeus	Archebius
			Yuezhi occupation		Maues (Indo-Scythian)
75–70 BCE				Vonones	Telephus	Apollodotus II
65–55 BCE				Spalirises		Hippostratus	Dionysius
55–35 BCE					Azes I (Indo-Scythians)		Zoilus II
55–35 BCE					Vijayamitra/ Azilises		Apollophanes
25 BCE – 10 CE				Gondophares	Zeionises	Kharahostes	Strato II Strato III
				Gondophares (Indo-Parthian)			Rajuvula (Indo-Scythian)
			Kujula Kadphises (Kushan Empire)				Bhadayasa (Indo-Scythian)	Sodasa (Indo-Scythian)
O. Bopearachchi, "Monnaies gréco-bactriennes et indo-grecques, Catalogue raisonné", Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1991, p.453 Quintanilla, Sonya Rhie (2 April 2019). "History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE". BRILL – via Google Books.

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