Treaty of Indus (303 BCE)
| Type | Peace Treaty |
|---|---|
| Context | Seleucid-Mauryan war |
| Signed | 303 BCE |
| Location | Arachosia |
| Expiration | 185 BCE (Fall of Mauryas) |
| Signatories | |
| Parties | |
| Language |
Treaty of Indus was the treaty that marked the end of Seleucid-Mauryan war.The result of the treaty led Seleucus I Nicator ceding several territories of Seleucid Empire to Chandragupta Maurya of Mauryan Empire.He in exchange also received some 500 war elephants from Mauryas.[1]
Background
[edit]The Seleucid–Mauryan War was fought between 305 and 303 BCE. It started when Seleucus I Nicator of the Seleucid Empire sought to retake the Indian satrapies of the Macedonian Empire, which had been occupied by Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, of the Maurya Empire.
The war ended in a Mauryan victory[2]
Treaty provisions
[edit]Per the treaty terms , Seleucus Nicator ceded the Hindu Kush, Punjab and parts of Afghanistan to Chandragupta Maurya.[3] In consequence of their arrangement, Seleucus received 500 war elephants from Chandragupta Maurya, which subsequently influenced the Wars of the Diadochi in the west. Seleucus and Chandragupta also agreed to a marriage alliance, probably the marriage of Seleucus' daughter (named Berenice in Indian Pali sources) to Chandragupta. According to Strabo, the ceded territories bordered the Indus:
The geographical position of the tribes is as follows: along the Indus are the Paropamisadae, above whom lies the Paropamisus Mountains: then, towards the south, the Arachoti : then next, towards the south, the Gedroseni, with the other tribes that occupy the seaboard; and the Indus lies, latitudinally, alongside all these places; and of these places, in part, some that lie along the Indus are held by Indians, although they formerly belonged to the Persians. Alexander [III 'the Great' of Macedon] took these away from the Arians and established settlements of his own, but Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus [Chandragupta], upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange five hundred elephants.
— Strabo 15.2.9[4]
From this, it seems that Seleucus surrendered the easternmost provinces of Arachosia, Gedrosia, Paropamisadae and perhaps also Aria. On the other hand, he was accepted by other satraps of the eastern provinces. His Iranian wife, Apama, may have helped him implement his rule in Bactria and Sogdiana.[6][7] This would tend to be corroborated archaeologically, as concrete indications of Mauryan influence, such as the inscriptions of the Edicts of Ashoka which are known to be located in, for example, Kandahar and Laghman provinces, in today's southern Afghanistan.[citation needed]
Most geographers, in fact, do not look upon India as bounded by the river Indus, but add to it the four satrapies of the Gedrosia, the Arachotë, the Aria, and the Paropamisadë, the River Cophes, thus forming the extreme boundary of India. According to other writers, however, all these territories, are reckoned as belonging to the country of the Aria.
— Pliny, Natural History VI.(23).78[8]
Some authors claim that the argument relating to Seleucus handing over more of what is now southern Afghanistan is an exaggeration originating in a statement by Pliny the Elder referring not specifically to the lands received by Chandragupta, but rather to the various opinions of geographers regarding the definition of the word "India":[9]
"Certain areas in the north-west were acquired through the treaty with Seleucus... It has been suggested that the territory ceded consisted of Gedrosia, Arachosia, Aria, and the Paropamisadae."
—Romila Thapar (1963). Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas.[10]
The arrangement proved to be mutually beneficial.[11] The border between the Seleucid and Mauryan Empires remained stable in subsequent generations, and friendly diplomatic relations are reflected by the ambassador Megasthenes, and by the envoys sent westward by Chandragupta's grandson Ashoka. Chandragupta's gift of war elephants "may have alleviated the burden of fodder and the return march"[11] and allowed him to appropriately reduce the size and cost of his large army, since the major threats to his power had now all been removed.[12]
With the war elephants acquired from the Mauryas, Seleucus was able to defeat his rival, Antigonus, along with his allies at the Battle of Ipsus. Adding Antigonus's territories to his own, Seleucus would found the Seleucid Empire, which would endure as a great power in the Mediterranean and the Middle East until 64 BC.
Mauryan control of territory in what is now Afghanistan helped guard against invasion of India from the northwest.[12] Chandragupta Maurya went on to expand his rule in India southward into the Deccan.[3]
See also
[edit]- Kalinga War
- Nanda-Mauryan War
- Mauryan conquest of Greek satrapies
- Shunga–Greek War
- First Battle of Jhelum
- Greek campaigns in India
- List of wars involving India
- Military history of India
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Kosmin 2014, p. 33: "The ancient historians Justin, Appian, and Strabo preserve the three main terms of what I will call the Treaty of the Indus:
(i) Seleucus transferred to Chandragupta's kingdom the easternmost satrapies of his empire, certainly Gandhara, Parapamisadae, and the eastern parts of Gedrosia, and possibly also Arachosia and Aria as far as Herat.
(ii) Chandragupta gave Seleucus 500 Indian war elephants.
(iii) The two kings were joined by some kind of marriage alliance (ἐπιγαμία οι κῆδος); most likely Chandragupta wed a female relative of Seleucus." - ^ "How Seleucus Nicator gave away most of Pakistan and Afghanistan for 500 elephants". The Indian Express. 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
- ^ a b Publishing, D. K. (2010-08-16). Commanders. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-7566-7341-3.
- ^ Strabo, Geography, xv.2.9
- ^ Bernard, Paul; Pinault, Georges-Jean; Rougemont, Georges (2004). "Deux nouvelles inscriptions grecques de l'Asie centrale". Journal des Savants. 2 (1): 301 ff. doi:10.3406/jds.2004.1686.
- ^ Vincent A. Smith (1998). Ashoka. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-1303-1.
- ^ Walter Eugene Clark (1919). "The Importance of Hellenism from the Point of View of Indic-Philology", Classical Philology 14 (4), p. 297-313.
- ^ Pliny, Natural History VI.(23).78
- ^ Debated by Tarn, "The Greeks in Bactria and India", p. 100
- ^ Thapar 1963, p. 16.
- ^ a b Kosmin 2014, p. 33–34.
- ^ a b Grainger 2014, pp. 108–110.
Sources
[edit]- Grainger, John D. (2014), Seleukos Nikator: Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-317-80099-6
- Kosmin, Paul J. (2014), The Land of the Elephant Kings: Space, Territory, and Ideology in Seleucid Empire, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-72882-0
- Thapar, Romila (1963). Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas. Oxford University Press. p. 16.
Certain areas in the north-west were acquired through the treaty with Seleucus... It has been suggested that the territory ceded consisted of Gedrosia, Arachosia, Aria, and the Paropamisadae.