Antialcidas

Antialcidas Nikephoros
Portrait of Antialcidas
Indo-Greek king
Reign130–120 BC (R. C. Senior)
115–95 BC (Boppearachchi)

Antialcidas Nikephoros (Ancient Greek: Ἀντιαλκίδας ὁ Νικηφόρος; epithet means "the Bearer of Victory" or "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 BC in the western parts of the Indo-Greek realms, whereas R. C. Senior places him around 130 to 120 BC 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: Heliocles II, Amyntas, Diomedes and Hermaeus all struck coins with similar features.

The Heliodorus inscription

Main article: Heliodorus pillar

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.[2]

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."[3]

The Indo-Greeks and the Shungas seem to have reconciled and exchanged diplomatic missions around 113 BCE, as indicated by the Heliodorus pillar, which records the dispatch of a Greek ambassador named Heliodorus, from the court of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas, to the court of the Shunga emperor Bhagabhadra at the site of Vidisha in central India.[4] A pillar known as the Heliodorus column stands at Besnagar, near Sanchi in Central India. Dating back to the first century BC, it features a Sanskrit inscription that offers valuable insight into the Indianization of the Greeks who had settled on the Indian frontier. The pillar illustrates how these Greeks absorbed Indian culture. The inscription has been translated as follows:

This Garuda column of Vasudeva (Vishnu), the God of gods, was erected by Heliodorus, a worshipper of Vishnu, the son of Dion, and an inhabitant of Taxila, who came as Greek ambassador from the great King Antialcidas to King Kashiputra Bhagabhadra, the saviour, then reigning in the fourteenth year of his kingship.
Three immortal precepts, when practised well, lead to heaven—self-restraint, self-sacrifice (charity), conscientiousness.[5]

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.

  • 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. The art is a mix of both Greek and Indian styles, which was characteristic of the region of Gandhara during the Hellenistic period.

References

  1. ^ Avari, Burjor (2016). India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Subcontinent from C. 7000 BCE to CE 1200. Routledge. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-317-23673-3.
  2. ^ Greek Culture in Afghanistan and India: Old Evidence and New Discoveries Shane Wallace, 2016, p.222-223
  3. ^ Archaeological Survey of India, Annual report 1908-1909 p.129
  4. ^ Ravindran, T.K. (1973). Journal of Indian History. Vol. 51. Department of Modern Indian History. p. 441.
  5. ^ Khilnani, Sunil. The Discovery of India. p. 138.

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
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