Menander I was a patron of Buddhism, and his conversations with the Buddhist sage Nagasena are recorded in the important Buddhist work, the Milinda Panha.
19 Facts About Menander I
2.
Menander I was born into a Greek family in a village called Kalasi adjacent to Alexandria of the Caucasus, although another source says he was born near Sagala.
3.
Menander I's capital is supposed to have been Sagala, a prosperous city in northern Punjab.
4.
The sage Patanjali around 150 BC, describes Menander I campaigning as far as Mathura.
5.
Guesses among historians have been that Menander I was either a nephew or a former general of the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius I, but the two kings are now thought to be separated by at least thirty years.
6.
Menander I's empire survived him in a fragmented manner until the last Greek king Strato II disappeared around 10 AD.
7.
Menander I is described as constantly accompanied by an elite guard of 500 Greek soldiers, and two of his counsellors are named Demetrius and Antiochus.
8.
Menander I was rich too, mighty in wealth and prosperity, and the number of his armed hosts knew no end.
9.
Buddhist tradition relates that, following his discussions with Nagasena, Menander I adopted the Buddhist faith:.
10.
Menander I then handed over his kingdom to his son and retired from the world:.
11.
Menander I has left behind an immense corpus of silver and bronze coins, more so than any other Indo-Greek king.
12.
Menander I was the first Indo-Greek ruler to introduce the representation of Athena Alkidemos on his coins, probably in reference to a similar statue of Athena Alkidemos in Pella, capital of Macedon.
13.
However, Menander I struck a rare bronze series with a Buddhist wheel.
14.
Plutarch reports that Menander I died in camp while on campaign, thereby differing with the version of the Milindapanha.
15.
The Milinda Panha might give some support to the idea that Menander I's position was precarious, since it describes him as being somewhat cornered by numerous enemies into a circumscribed territory:.
16.
Menander I was the last Indo-Greek king mentioned by ancient historians, and developments after his death are therefore difficult to trace.
17.
Tarn and Bopearachchi, is that Menander I was succeeded by his queen Agathoclea, who acted as regent to their infant son Strato I until he became an adult and took over the crown.
18.
Strato I used the same reverse as Menander I, Athena hurling a thunderbolt, and the title Soter.
19.
Especially, all the kings after Menander I who are recorded to have ruled in Gandhara display Buddhist symbolism in one form or another.