Indo-Greek art is the art of the Indo-Greeks, who reigned from circa 200 BCE in areas of Bactria and the Indian subcontinent. Initially, between 200 and 145 BCE, they remained in control of Bactria while occupying areas of Indian subcontinent, until Bactria was lost to invading nomads. After 145 BCE, Indo-Greek kings ruled exclusively in parts of ancient India, especially in Gandhara, in what is now present-day the northwestern Pakistan. The Indo-Greeks had a rich Hellenistic heritage and artistic proficiency as seen with the remains of the city of Ai-Khanoum, which was founded as a Greco-Bactrian city. In modern-day Pakistan, several Indo-Greeks cities are known such as Sirkap near Taxila, Barikot, and Sagala where some Indo-Greek artistic remains have been found, such as stone palettes.
Some Buddhist cultural objects related to the Indo-Greeks are known, such as the Shinkot casket. By far the most important Indo-Greek remains found are numerous coins of the Indo-Greek kings, considered as some of the most artistically brilliant of Antiquity."The extraordinary realism of their portraiture. The portraits of Demetrius, Antimachus and of Eucratides are among the most remarkable that have come down to us from antiquity" Hellenism in ancient India, Banerjee, p134 Most of the works of art of the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara are usually attributed to the direct successors of the Indo-Greeks in Ancient India in the 1st century CE, such as the nomadic Indo-Scythians, the Indo-Parthians and, in an already decadent state, the Kushans."Just as the Frank Clovis had no part in the development of Gallo-Roman art, the Indo-Scythian Kanishka had no direct influence on that of Indo-Greek Art; and besides, we have now the certain proofs that during his reign this art was already stereotyped, if not decadent" Hellenism in Ancient India, Banerjee, p147 Many Gandharan works of art cannot be dated exactly, leaving the exact chronology open to interpretation. With the realization that the Indo-Greeks ruled in India until at least 10-20 CE with the reign of Strato II in the Punjab, the possibility of a direct connection between the Indo-Greeks and Greco-Buddhist art has been reaffirmed recently."The survival into the first century AD of a Greek administration and presumably some elements of Greek culture in the Punjab has now to be taken into account in any discussion of the role of Greek influence in the development of Gandharan sculpture", in "Following discoveries at Ai-Khanum, in modern-day Afghanistan excavations at Tapa Shotor, Hadda, produced evidence to indicate that Gandharan art descended directly from Hellenised Bactrian art." in "We have to look for the beginnings of Gandharan Buddhist art both in the residual Indo-Greek tradition, and in the early Buddhist stone sculpture to the South (Bharhut etc...)" in
Early Indo-Bactrian period (200-145 BCE)
The first Indo-Greek kings, also sometimes called "Indo-Bactrian", from Demetrius I (200–190 BCE) to Eucratides (170–145 BCE) ruled simultaneously, the areas of Bactria and northwestern India, until they were completely expelled from Bactria and the eastern Bactrian capital city of Ai-Khanoum by invading nomads, probably the Yuezhi, or possibly the Sakas, circa 145 BCE."Bopearachchi attributes the destruction of Ai Khanoum to the Yuezhi, rather than to the alternative 'conquerors' and destroyers of the last vestiges of Greek power in Bactria, the Sakas..." While Demetrius, the first Indo-Greek king, was extending his territory into India, still held Ai-Khanoum as one of his strongholds and continued to mint some of his coinage in the city. The last Greek coinage in Ai-Khanoum was by Eucratides. Because of their dual territorial possessions in Bactria and India, these kings, starting with Demetrius I, are variously described as Indo-Greek, Indo-Bactrian, or Greco-Bactrian. After losing Bactria around circa 145 BCE during the rule of Eucratides and Menander I, the Greeks were generally called as "Indo-Greeks" only.
The main known remains from this period are the ruins and artifacts of their city of Ai-Khanoum, a Greco-Bactrian city founded circa 280 BCE which continued to flourish during the first 55 years of the Indo-Greek period until its destruction by nomadic invaders in 145 BCE, and their coinage, which is often bilingual, combining Greek with the Indian Brahmi script or Kharoshthi. Apart from Ai-Khanoum, Indo-Greek ruins have been positively identified in few cities such as Barikot or Taxila, with generally much fewer known artistic remains.
Architecture in Bactria
Numerous artefacts and structures were found, particularly in Ai-Khanoum, pointing to a high Hellenistic culture, combined with Eastern influences, starting from the 280-250 BCE period."It has all the hallmarks of a Hellenistic city, with a Greek theatre, gymnasium and some Greek houses with colonnaded courtyards" (Boardman). Overall, Aï-Khanoum was an extremely important Greek city (1.5 sq kilometer), characteristic of the Seleucid Empire and then the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, remaining one of the major cities at the time when the Greek kings started to occupy parts of India, from 200 to 145 BCE. It seems the city was destroyed, never to be rebuilt, about the time of the death of king Eucratides around 145 BC.
Archaeological missions unearthed various structures, some of them perfectly Hellenistic, some other integrating elements of Persian architecture, including a citadel, a Classical theater, a huge palace in Greco-Bactrian architecture, somehow reminiscent of formal Persian palatial architecture, a gymnasium (100 × 100m), one of the largest of Antiquity, various temples, a mosaic representing the Macedonian sun, acanthus leaves and various animals (crabs, dolphins etc...), numerous remains of Classical Corinthian columns. Many artifacts are dated to the 2nd century BCE, which corresponds to the early Indo-Greek period.
Sculpture
Various sculptural fragments were also found at Ai-Khanoum, in a rather conventional, classical style, rather impervious to the Hellenizing innovations occurring at the same time in the Mediterranean world. Of special notice, a huge foot fragment in excellent Hellenistic style was recovered, which is estimated to have belonged to a 5-6 meter tall statue (which had to be seated to fit within the height of the columns supporting the Temple). Since the sandal of the foot fragment bears the symbolic depiction of Zeus' thunderbolt, the statue is thought to have been a smaller version of the Statue of Zeus at Olympia.
Due to the lack of proper stones for sculptural work in the area of Ai-Khanoum, unbaked clay and stucco modeled on a wooden frame were often used, a technique which would become widespread in Central Asia and the East, especially in Buddhist art. In some cases, only the hands and feet would be made in marble.
In India, only a few Hellenistic sculptural remains have been found, mainly small items in the excavations of Sirkap.
Artefacts
A variety of artefacts of Hellenistic style, often with Persian influence, were also excavated at Ai-Khanoum, such as a round medallion plate describing the goddess Cybele on a chariot, in front of a fire altar, and under a depiction of Helios, a fully preserved bronze statue of Herakles, various golden serpentine arm jewellery and earrings, a toilet tray representing a seated Aphrodite, a mold representing a bearded and diademed middle-aged man. Various artefacts of daily life are also clearly Hellenistic: sundials, ink wells, tableware. An almost life-sized dark green glass phallus with a small owl on the back side and other treasures are said to have been discovered at Ai-Khanoum, possibly along with a stone with an inscription, which was not recovered. The artefacts have now been returned to the Kabul Museum after several years in Switzerland by Paul Bucherer-Dietschi, Director of the Swiss Afghanistan Institute.Source, BBC News, Another article. German story with photographs here (translation here).
First Indo-Greek coinage
Demetrius I, the son of Euthydemus is generally considered as the Greco-Bactrian king who first launched the Greek expansion into Ancient India circa 190-180 BCE, and is therefore the founder of the Indo-Greek realm and the first recognized Indo-Greek king.A Journey Through India's Past Chandra Mauli Mani, Northern Book Centre, 2005, p. 39 The first Indo-Greek kings, having dominions in Bactria as well as India, continued to strike coins in standard Greco-Bactrian style, but conjointly started to strike coins on the Indian standard having bilingual Indian-Greek legends.
After the death of Demetrius, the Bactrian kings Pantaleon and Agathocles struck the first bilingual coins with Indian inscriptions found as far east as Taxila,MacDowall, 2004 so in their time (c. 185–170 BC) the Bactrian kingdom seems to have included Gandhara."The only thing that seems reasonably sure is that Taxila was part of the domain of Agathocles", Bopearachchi, Monnaies, p. 59 These first bilingual coins used the Brahmi script, whereas later kings would generally use Kharoshthi. They also went as far as incorporating Indian deities, variously interpreted as Hindu deities or the Buddha. They also included various Indian devices (lion, elephant, zebu bull) and symbols, some of them Buddhist such as the tree-in-railing. These symbols can also be seen in the Post-Mauryan coinage of Gandhara.
The Hinduist coinage of Agathocles is few but spectacular. Six Indian-standard silver drachmas were discovered at Ai-Khanoum in 1970, which depict Hindu deities.Iconography of Balarāma, Nilakanth Purushottam Joshi, Abhinav Publications, 1979, p. 22 These are early Avatars of Vishnu: Balarama-Sankarshana with attributes consisting of the Gada mace and the plow, and Vasudeva-Krishna with the Vishnu attributes of the Shankha (a pear-shaped case or conch) and the Sudarshana Chakra wheel. These first attempts at incorporating Indian culture were only partly preserved by later kings: they all continued to struck bilingual coins, sometimes in addition to Attic coinage, but Greek deities remained prevalent. Indian animals however, such as the elephant, the bull or the lion, possibly with religious overtones, were used extensively in their Indian-standard square coinage. Buddhist wheels (Dharmachakras) still appear in the coinage of Menander I and Menander II.
In Ai-Khanoum, numerous coins were found, down to Eucratides, but none of them later. Ai-Khanoum also yielded unique coins of Agathocles, consisting of six Indian-standard silver drachms depicting Hindu deities. These are the first known representations of Vedic deities on coins, and they display early Avatars of Vishnu: Balarama-Samkarshana and Vasudeva-Krishna, and are thought to correspond to the first attempts at creating an Indian-standard coinage as they invaded northern India.
+ Bactrian and Indian coinage of some early Indo-Greek kings (200-145 BCE) Territory/RulerAgathocles(190-180 BCE)Pantaleon(190-180 BCE)Apollodotus I(circa 180 BCE)Eucratides (171-145 BCE)BactriaIndia
Artifacts in Bactria
Ancient Indian artifacts were also found in the treasure room of the city, probably brought back by Eucratides from his Indian campaigns, which show a level of artistic interaction between Indian and the Greeks at that time. A narrative plate made of shell inlaid with various materials and colors, thought to represent the Indian myth of Shakuntala was recovered."Afghanistan, tresors retrouves", p150 Also, numerous Indian punch-marked coins were found, about 677 of them in the Palace area of Ai-Khanoum alone, suggesting intense exchanges between Bactria and India.Joe Cribb, Investigating the introduction of coinage in India, Journal of the Numismatic Society of India xlv Varanasi 1983 pp.89
Greek cities in the subcontinent