Eucratides I (ca. 171 BC - 145 BC) was one of the Greco-Bactrian kings.

Eucratides came to the throne by toppling the dynasty of Euthydemus, whose son Demetrius had conquered western India.

It is unclear whether he was a Bactrian official who raised a rebellion, or, according to some scholars, a cousin of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes who was trying to regain the Bactrian territory. Whatever the case, Eucratides finally took control of the territory for himself.

He became a powerful king in Bactria and invaded parts of India. He was challenged by other contemporaries Greek kings such as Antimachus I and Apollodotus, Menander I.

In the west the Parthian king Mithradates I began to enlarge his kingdom and attacked Eucratides; he succeeded in conquering two provinces between Bactria and Parthia, called by Strabo the country of Aspiones and Turiua.

But the principal opponent of Eucratides was Demetrius of India. Demetrius and Eucratides waged a Civil War which divided the Kingdom between Bactriana and Punjab. Eucratides became the new ruler of Bactriana while Demetrius's rule was confined to the Punjab, which thus became the Indo-Greek Kingdom.

The successor Eucratides was Heliocles I (145-130 BC), who was the last Greek king to reign in Bactria. Once the Yüeh-chih tribes overpowered him, the Greco-Bactrians lost control of the provinces north of the Hindu Kush.

However, the rule of the Indo-Greeks over territories south of the Hindu Kush lasted for a further 150 years, ultimately collapsing under the pressure of the Yüeh-chih and Scythian (Saka) invasions in around 10 BC.

External links

• Coins of Eucratides
• More coins of Eucratides

References

• "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 1581152035
• "Buddhism in Central Asia" by B.N. Puri (Motilal Banarsidass Pub, January 1, 2000) ISBN 8120803728
• "The Greeks in Bactria and India", W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.