1838.] in two of the edicts of Asoka, king of India. 161 



wards the reading adopted, even were it possible to propose any other ; 

 but although I have placed the sentence, exactly transcribed in the 

 Devanagari character, in the pandit's hand ; he could not, without the al- 

 teration of very many letters, convert it to any other meaning, however 

 strained. And were there still any doubt at all in my mind, it would be 

 removed by the testimony of the Cuttack version which introduces be- 

 tween Antiyake and Yona the word nama> — making the precise sense 

 * the Yona raja by name Antiochus.' 



Having then, I trust, established the existence of a genuine Greek 

 name in an authentic Indian edict, let us turn to the histories of the 

 period and ascertain who he may be, and how far the circumstance tallies 

 with the Grecian and Persian records of these ancient times. 



The age of Asoka, as fixed by the Buddhist annals falls close after 

 the invasion of Alexander the Great, but when adjusted by the esta- 

 blished epoch of Chandragupta, it coalesces with the flourishing 

 period of Bactrian independence. 



The name of Antiochus occurs solely in the Seleucidan dynasty 

 which enjoyed supremacy over the whole extent of the Macedonian 

 conquests, until the satraps of Persia and higher Asia threw off the 

 Syrian yoke, and assumed to themselves the regal title. It was to re- 

 establish his sway over the revolted provinces that Antiochus the 

 Great in the third century before Christ, conducted an extended cam- 

 paign in Bactria, which ended in an accommodation with Euthydemus 

 whereby he was permitted to hold the regal title. The Bactrian king 

 consented probably to be tributary to Antiochus, for the treaty was 

 ratified by the surrender of all Euthydemus' elephants to Antiochus ; 

 who, on his side, cemented the alliance by granting his daughter in mar- 

 riage to the handsome Demetrius, Euthydemus's son. This memo- 

 rable event is fixed by Bayer in the year 205 B. C. 



" In the reign of Antiochus the Great," says Maurice, " the affairs 

 of India again become conspicuously prominent in the page of Asiatic 

 history." Polybius informs us that subsequently to the settlement 

 of Bactria> this monarch led his army over the Indian Caucasus, and 

 entered India, where he paid a visit to, and renewed his alliance* 

 with Sophagasenes, king of that country, and received likewise his 

 elephants, which with those he had from Euthydemus amounted now 



* The treaty thus renewed, may have been that entered into between Seleu- 

 cus and Sandracottus. Alluding to the obscure origin of this prince Justi- 

 nus says, " By such a tenure of rule was it that Sandracottus acquired In- 

 dia at the time Seleucus was laying the foundations of his future greatness, 

 and the latter having concluded a league with him, and settled his affairs in the 

 east came down and joined the war against Antioonus." L. XV. C. 4. 



