- Theodamas
Theodamas ("fl."
1st century ) seems to have been anIndo-Greek ruler in theBajaur area ofGandhara , in modernPakistan .No coins of him are known, but he has left a signet bearing his name in
kharoshthi script, which was found in the region of Bajaur.The inscription on the Seal is "Su Theodamasa", "Su" being explained as the ubiquitous
Kushan royal title "Shau" ("Shah ", "King"), a title which also appeared in its Greek version in the 1st century posthumous issues of the coins ofHermaeus minted byKujula Kadphises . On these coins the obverse in Greek is Βασιλεος Στιρος Συ Ερμαιοι—"Basileos Stiros Su Ermaioi", "Saviour King, Shah Hermaeus", which is translated on the reverse in Kharoshthi as "Maharajasa Rajarajasa Mahatasa Heramayasa", "The Great King, the King of Kings, the Great Hermaeus".Although after
50 BCE Indo-Greek rulers were replaced by theIndo-Scythians and then theIndo-Parthians , Greek culture was maintained to some extent (as indicated by the Greek-style coin types adopted by the conquerors, and the development ofGreco-Buddhist art ).It seems some Greek communities and cities also maintained some level of independence (although they didn't have the right to issue coinage), and Theodamas may have been one of their local rulers.
ee also
*
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
*Seleucid Empire
*Greco-Buddhism
*Indo-Scythians
*Indo-Parthian Kingdom
*Kushan Empire References
*"The Greeks in Bactria and India", W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press
External links
* [http://depts.washington.edu/ebmp/inscriptions.php#CKI0034 Bajaur seal inscription of Theodamas (Early Buddhist Manuscript Project)]
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