- Theodorus (meridarch)
Theodorus was a "
meridarch " (Civil Governor of a province) in the Swat province of theIndo-Greek kingdom in the northern Indian sub-continent, probably sometime between100 BCE and the end of Greek rule in Gandhara in55 BCE .He is only known from a dedication written in
kharoshthi on a relic vase inserted in astupa in the Swat area ofGandhara , dated to the1st century BCE (line-for-line translation)::"Theudorena meridarkhena:"pratithavida:"ime sarira:"Sakamunisa bhagavato:"bahu-jana-stitiye"
:"The meridarch Theodorus :has enshrined :these relics:of Lord
Shakyamuni ,:for the welfare of the mass of the people":(Swāt relic vase inscription of the Meridarkh Theodoros [http://depts.washington.edu/ebmp/etext.php?cki=CKI0032] )
This inscription represents one of the first known mention of the Buddha as a deity, using the Indian
bhakti wordBhagavat ("Lord", "All-embracing personal deity"), suggesting the emergence ofMahayana doctrines inBuddhism .It is also one of the examples of direct involvement of the Greeks with the Buddhist religion in India.
Theodorus is considered as contemporary or slightly posterior to another Indo-Greek named Heliodorus, whose c.100 BCE inscriptions have been preserved in the
Heliodorus pillar .References
*"Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques, Catalogue Raisonné", Osmund Bopearachchi, 1991, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, ISBN 2-7177-1825-7.
* "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 1-58115-203-5
* "Buddhism in Central Asia" by B.N. Puri (Motilal Banarsidass Pub, January 1, 2000) ISBN 81-208-0372-8
* "The Greeks in Bactria and India", W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.
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