ABSTRACT

This volume provides a thorough conspectus of the field of Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek studies, mixing theoretical and historical surveys with critical and thought-provoking case studies in archaeology, history, literature and art.

The chapters from this international group of experts showcase innovative methodologies, such as archaeological GIS, as well as providing accessible explanations of specialist techniques such as die studies of coins, and important theoretical perspectives, including postcolonial approaches to the Greeks in India. Chapters cover the region’s archaeology, written and numismatic sources, and a history of scholarship of the subject, as well as culture, identity and interactions with neighbouring empires, including India and China.

The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek World is the go-to reference work on the field, and fulfils a serious need for an accessible, but also thorough and critically-informed, volume on the Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms. It provides an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the Hellenistic East.

The Introduction and Chapter 17 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at https://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license

chapter Chapter 1|8 pages

Introduction

part I|116 pages

Interactions

chapter Chapter 2|27 pages

The Seleukid Empire

chapter Chapter 3|18 pages

South Asia

chapter Chapter 4|22 pages

Parthia

chapter Chapter 5|28 pages

Central Asia and the Steppe

part II|90 pages

History of Scholarship

chapter Chapter 7|15 pages

The quest for Bactra

Scholarship on the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom from its origins to the end of colonialism

chapter Chapter 9|44 pages

Hellenism With or Without Alexander the Great

Russian, Soviet and Central Asian approaches 1

part III|202 pages

Regional Archaeological Survey

chapter Chapter 10|32 pages

Afghan Bactria

chapter Chapter 11|37 pages

Southern Uzbekistan 1

chapter Chapter 12|27 pages

Southern Tajikistan

chapter Chapter 13|22 pages

Sogdiana

chapter Chapter 14|22 pages

Merv and Margiana

chapter Chapter 15|29 pages

Arachosia, Drangiana and Areia 1

chapter Chapter 16|31 pages

Gandhāra and North-Western India

part IV|48 pages

Written Sources

chapter Chapter 18|16 pages

Reading the Milindapañha

Indian historical sources and the Greeks in Bactria

part V|72 pages

Numismatic Sources

chapter Chapter 20|20 pages

History from coins

The role of numismatics in the study of the Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek worlds

chapter Chapter 21|12 pages

Two sides of the coin

From Sophytes to Skanda-Kārttikeya

chapter Chapter 22|11 pages

Dating Bactria's independence to 246/5 BC?

chapter Chapter 24|17 pages

The last phase of the Indo-Greeks

Methods, interpretations and new insights in reconstructing the past

part VI|56 pages

Culture and Identity

part VII|90 pages

Beyond the Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek Worlds

chapter Chapter 29|24 pages

Central Asia in the Achaemenid period

chapter Chapter 30|34 pages

Achaemenid north-west South Asia