Drachm of Agathokleia and Strato I. [Source]

Obv: Diademed bust of Agathokleia, with drapery and necklace. Greek legend BASILISSHS QEOTROPOU AGAQOKLEIAS "Godlike Queen Agathokleia".
Rev: King Strato I in military outfit, diademed, holding spear, bow, arrow and shield in his left hand, and extenting his right hand in a benediction gesture. Kharoshthi legend "Maharajasa tratarasa dhramikasa Stratasa", "King Strato, saviour and follower of the dharma".

Strato I was an Indo-Greek king who ruled between c. 125-110 BC in Northern India. He was the son of the great king Menander I and his queen Agathokleia, who acted as regent during his early years. The western parts of the Indo-Greek empire, including Paropamisadae and Arachosia, gained independence after the death of Menander I.

Territorial losses

Strato's territory extended from the mid-Punjab at the Jhelum River in the West to Mathura in the East, retaining the capital of his father in Sagala (modern Sialkot) in the northern Punjab, or possibly to the city of Bucephala (Plutarch, p. 48 n. 5). The area of Gandhara, west of river Jhelum, also belonged to the kingdom but seems to have been lost during the latter part of Strato's reign, perhaps to the Western king Antialcidas. According to archaelogical evidence, Strato I was apparently the last Greek king to hold Mathura, which seems to have been lost to Indian kingdoms around 100 BC.

Strato I minted a variety of coins, some of them bearing the mention "Dharmika" ("Of the "Dharma"). He was also the only Indo-Greek king to appear bearded, probably to indicate that he was no longer an infant.

Preceded by: Agathokleia

Indo-Greek Ruler (Gandhara, Punjab) (125-110 BC)

Succeeded by: Heliokles II

See also

• Indo-Greek Kingdom
  
• Greco-Buddhism
  
• Indo-Scythians
  

References

"The Greeks in Bactria and India" W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press

See also

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