Indo-Parthian Kingdom

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Indo-Parthian Kingdom

Territories (full line) of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom at its greatest extent.
Languages Aramaic
Greek (Greek alphabet)
Pali (Kharoshthi script)
Sanskrit, Prakrit (Brahmi script)
Religions Zoroastrianism
Buddhism
Hinduism
Ancient Greek religion
Capital Taxila
Area Northwestern Indian subcontinent
Existed 20 - 80 CE

The Indo-Parthian Kingdom was established during the 1st century by Gondophares, and at its greatest extent extended into areas that are in present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and Northern India.

For most of its history, the capital of the kingdom was at Taxila (in present-day Pakistan), but during the last few years of its existence the capital was at Kabul (present-day Afghanistan).

Contents

[edit] Secession from Parthia

Portrait of Gondophares, founder of the Indo-Parthian kingdom. He wears a headband, earrings, a necklace, and a cross-over jacket with round decorations.
Portrait of Gondophares, founder of the Indo-Parthian kingdom. He wears a headband, earrings, a necklace, and a cross-over jacket with round decorations.
King Abdagases I being crowned by the Greek goddess Tyche, on the reverse of some of his coins.
King Abdagases I being crowned by the Greek goddess Tyche, on the reverse of some of his coins.[1]

Around 20 CE, Gondophares, a vassal of the Parthian Arsacids, declared his independence from the Parthian empire and established the Indo-Parthian kingdom in the conquered territories.

The kingdom barely lasted one century. It started to fragment under Gondophares' successor Abdagases. The northern Indian part of the kingdom was retaken by the Kushans around 75.

After that point the kingdom was essentially restricted to Afghanistan. The last king Pacores (100 - 135) only ruled Sakastan and Turan.

[edit] Indo-Parthian territories

The Hellenistic temple with Ionic columns at Jandial, Taxila, is usually interpreted as a Zoroastrian fire temple from the period of the Indo-Parthians.
The Hellenistic temple with Ionic columns at Jandial, Taxila, is usually interpreted as a Zoroastrian fire temple from the period of the Indo-Parthians.

The Parthians ended up controlling extensive territories in Northern India, after fighting many local rulers such as the Kushan Empire ruler Kujula Kadphises, in the Gandhara region. Gondophares was the ruler of areas comprising Arachosia, Seistan, Sindh, Gandhara, and the Kabul valley, but it does not seem he held territory east beyond the Punjab.[2]

The city of Taxila is thought to have been the capital of the Indo-Parthians. Large strata were excavated by Sir John Marshall with a quantity of Parthian-style artifacts. The nearby Hellenistic temple of Jandial is usually interpreted as a Zoroastrian fire temple from the period of the Indo-Parthians.

Some ancient writing describe the presence of the Parthians in the area, such as the story of Saint Thomas the Apostle, who was recruited as a carpenter to serve at the court of king "Gudnaphar" (thought to be Gondophares) in India. The Acts of Thomas describes in chapter 17 Thomas' visit to king Gondophares in northern India; chapters 2 and 3 depict him as embarking on a sea voyage to India, thus connecting Thomas to the west coast of India.

Gondophares on horse, from his coinage (click image for reference). He wears a short jacket and baggy trousers, rather typical of Parthian clothing.
Gondophares on horse, from his coinage (click image for reference). He wears a short jacket and baggy trousers, rather typical of Parthian clothing.

The Greek philosopher Apollonius of Tyana is related by Philostratus in Life of Apollonius Tyana to have visited India, and specifically the city of Taxila around 46 CE. He describes constructions of the Greek type, [3] probably referring to Sirkap, and explains that the Indo-Parthian king of Taxila, named Phraotes, received a Greek education at the court of his farther and spoke Greek fluently:

"Tell me, O King, how you acquired such a command of the Greek tongue, and whence you derived all your philosophical attainments in this place?"[4]
[...]-"My father, after a Greek education, brought me to the sages at an age somewhat too early perhaps, for I was only twelve at the time, but they brought me up like their own son; for any that they admit knowing the Greek tongue they are especially fond of, because they consider that in virtue of the similarity of his disposition he already belongs to themselves."[5]

The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is a surviving 1st century guide to the routes commonly being used for navigating the Arabian Sea. It describes the presence of Parthian kings fighting with each other in the area of Sindh, a region traditionally known at that time as "Scythia" due to the previous rule of the Indo-Scythians there:

"This river (Indus) has seven mouths, very shallow and marshy, so that they are not navigable, except the one in the middle; at which by the shore, is the market-town, Barbaricum. Before it there lies a small island, and inland behind it is the metropolis of Scythia, Minnagara; it is subject to Parthian princes who are constantly driving each other out." Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Chap 38[6]

An inscription from Takht-i-Bahi near Hada bears two dates, one in the regnal year 26 of the Maharaja Guduvhara (again thought to be Gondophares), and the year 103 of an unknown era.[7]

[edit] Indo-Parthians in Gandhara

The Indo-Parthians seemingly occupied the area of Gandhara between around 20 CE, when Gondophares took over from the Indo-Scythians, to around 60 CE, when Kujula Kadphises established Kushan rule there.

[edit] Indo-Parthians and Indian religions

To the contrary of the Indo-Greeks or Indo-Scythians, there are no explicit records of Indo-Parthian rulers supporting Buddhism or Hinduism, such as religious dedications, inscriptions, or even legendary accounts. Also, although Indo-Parthian coins generally closely follow Greek numismatics, they never display the Buddhist triratna symbol (apart from the later Sases), nor do they ever use depictions of the elephant or the bull, possible religious symbols which were profusely used by their predecessors.

[edit] Representation of Indo-Parthian devotees

On their coins and in the art of Gandhara, Indo-Parthians are depicted with short crossover jackets and large baggy trousers, possibly supplemented by chap-like over-trousers.[8] Their jackets are adorned with rows of decorative rings or medals. Their hair is usually bushy and contained with a headband, a practise largely adopted by the Parthians from the 1st century CE.[9]

Individual Indo-Parthians are sometimes shown as actors in Buddhist devotional scenes. It is usually considered that most of the excavations that were done at Sirkap near Taxila by John Marshall relate to Indo-Parthian layers, although more recent scholarship sometimes relates them to the Indo-Greeks instead.[10] These archaeological researches provided a quantity of Hellenistic artifacts combined with elements of Buddhist worship (stupas). Some other temples, such as nearby Jandial may have been used as a Zoroastrian fire temple.

[edit] Buddhist sculptures

The statues found at Sirkap in the late Scythian to Parthian level (level 2, 1-60 CE) suggest an already developed state of Gandharan art at the time or even before Parthian rule. A multiplicity of statues, ranging from Hellenistic gods, to various Gandharan lay devotees, are combined with what are thought as some of the early representations of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. Today, it is still unclear when the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara exactly emerged, but the findings in Sirkap do indicate that this art was already highly developed before the advent of the Kushans.

[edit] Stone palettes

Main article: Stone palette

Numerous stone palettes found in Gandhara are considered as good representatives of Indo-Parthian art. These palettes combine Greek and Persian influences, together with a frontality in representations which is considered as characteristic of Parthian art. Such palettes have only been found in archaeological layers corresponding to Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian rule, and are essentially unknown the preceding Mauryan layers or the succeeding Kushan layers.[11]

Very often these palettes represent people in Greek dress in mythological scenes, but a few of them represent people in Parthian dress (head-bands over bushy hair, crossed-over jacket on a bare chest, jewelry, belt, baggy trousers). A palette from the Naprstek Museum in Prague shows an Indo-Parthian king seated crossed-legged on a large sofa, surrounded by two attendants also in Parthian dress. They are shown drinking and serving wine.

Indo-Parthian man hunting.

Indo-Parthian revelers.

Indo-Parthian couple.

Devotees at a fire altar, possibly Zoroastrian.

[edit] Silk Road transmission of Buddhism

Main article: Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
Gandhara Buddhist reliquary with content, including Indo-Parthian coins. 1st century CE.
Gandhara Buddhist reliquary with content, including Indo-Parthian coins. 1st century CE.

Some pocket of Parthian rule remained in the East, even after the takeover by the Sassanids in 226. From the 2nd century several Central-Asian Buddhist missionaries became in the Chinese capital cities of Loyang and sometimes Nanjing, where they particularly distinguished themselves by their translation work. The first known translators of Buddhist texts into Chinese are actually Parthian missionaries, distinguished in Chinese by their Parthian surname "An", for "Anshi", "country of the Arsacids".

  • An Shih Kao, was a Parthian prince, who made the first known translations of Hinayana Buddhist texts into Chinese (148-170).
  • An Hsuan, was a Parthian merchant who became a monk in China 181
  • Tan-ti (c.254), a Parthian monk.
  • An Fachiin (281-306), a monk of Parthian origins.

[edit] South Indian legacy?

There are some claims based on historical, anthropological, and linguistic evidence indicating that the Southern Indian kingdom of the Pallavas was originally founded by the Parthians, either from Iran or from the territories of the Indo-Parthians in north-werstern India, also called Pahlavas in Indian litterature.[12] These Pahlavas of Indo-Iranian descent would have migrated Southward and first settled in Krishna river valley of present day coastal Andhra Pradesh. This region is called Palnadu or Pallavanadu even today. Pallavas later extended their sway up to Northern Tamil region and established a flourishing empire.

[edit] Main Indo-Parthian rulers

Coins of the Indo-Parthian king Abdagases, in which his clothing is clearly apparent. He wears baggy trousers, rather typical of Parthian clothing.
Coins of the Indo-Parthian king Abdagases, in which his clothing is clearly apparent. He wears baggy trousers, rather typical of Parthian clothing.
Coins of the Indo-Parthian king Abdagases, in which his clothing is clearly apparent. He wears baggy trousers and a crossover jacket.
Coins of the Indo-Parthian king Abdagases, in which his clothing is clearly apparent. He wears baggy trousers and a crossover jacket.

[edit] References

  • "Les Palettes du Gandhara", Henri-Paul Francfort, Diffusion de Boccard, Paris, 1979.
  • "Reports on the campaigns 1956-1958 in Swat (Pakistan)", Domenico Faccenna
  • "Sculptures from the sacred site of Butkara I", Domenico Faccena

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Photographic reference: "The dynastic art of the Kushans", Rosenfield, figures 278-279
  2. ^ Rosenfield, p129
  3. ^ Description of the Hellenistic urbanism of Taxila:
    • "Taxila, they tell us, is about as big as Nineveh, and was fortified fairly well after the manner of Greek cities" (Life of Apollonius Tyana, II 20)
    • "I have already described the way in which the city is walled, but they say that it was divided up into narrow streets in the same irregular manner as in Athens, and that the houses were built in such a way that if you look at them from outside they had only one story, while if you went into one of them, you at once found subterranean chambers extending as far below the level of the earth as did the chambers above." (Life of Apollonius Tyana, II 23)
  4. ^ (Life of Apollonius Tyana, II 29)
  5. ^ (Life of Apollonius Tyana, II 31)
  6. ^ Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Chap 38
  7. ^ Rosenfield, p130.
  8. ^ Described in "Rome's enemies, Parthians and Sassanid Persians", ISBN 0-85045-688-6
  9. ^ "Parthians, from about the 1st century AD, seem to have preferred to show off their carefully tonsured hair, usually only wearing a fillet of thick ribbon; before then, the Scythian cap or bashlyk was worn more frequently". In "Parthians and Sassanid Parthians" Peter Willcox ISBN 0850456886, p12
  10. ^ Pierfrancesco Gallieri, in "Crossroads of Asia": "The parallels are so striking that it is not excluded that the objects discovered in Taxila and dated to between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE were in reality produced earlier, maybe by artisans who had followed the Greeks kings during ther retreat from Bactria to India" p211 (in French in the original)
  11. ^ "Let us remind that in Sirkap, stone palettes were found at all excavated levels. On the contrary, neither Bhir-Mound, the Maurya city preceding Sirkap on the Taxila site, nor Sirsukh, the Kushan city succeeding her, did deliver any stone palettes during their excavations", in "Les palettes du Gandhara", p89. "The terminal point after which such palettes are not manufactured anymore is probably located during the Kushan period. In effect, neither Mathura nor Taxila (although the Sirsukh had only been little excavated), nor Begram, nor Surkh Kotal, neither the great Kushan archaeological sites of Soviet Central Asia or Afghanistan have yielded such objects. Only four palettes have been found in Kushan-period archaeological sites. They come from secondary sites, such as Garav Kala and Ajvadz in Soviet Tajikistan and Jhukar, in the Indus Valley, and Dalverzin Tepe. They are rather roughly made." In "Les Palettes du Gandhara", Henri-Paul Francfort, p91. (in French in the original)
  12. ^ "India: the ancient past", Burjor Avari, p.186

[edit] See also


Middle kingdoms of India
Timeline: Northern Empires Southern Dynasties Northwestern Kingdoms

 6th century BCE
 5th century BCE
 4th century BCE

 3rd century BCE
 2nd century BCE

 1st century BCE
 1st century CE


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(Persian rule)
(Greek conquests)






(Islamic invasions)

(Islamic empires)

[edit] External links