Euthydemid dynasty


The Euthydemid dynasty was a Hellenistic dynasty founded by Euthydemus I in 230 BC which ruled the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms throughout the Hellenistic period from 230 BC to 10 AD, upon the death of its last ruler, Strato III in Gandhara. For the genealogy of this dynasty, see Family tree of the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kings.

History

It is possible that Euthydemus was a son of a certain Antimachus and a grandson of Sophytes, a satrap or ruler of Bactria in around 300 BC.
Euthydemus was a satrap of Sogdiana that was married to a sister of Diodotus II, son of the original rebel, Diodotus I. He usurped the throne from Diodotus II or perhaps Antiochus Nikator and became ruler of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Later on in his reign, he faced an invasion by the younger and ambitious Antiochus III the Great. He was defeated on the Arius but successively waited out Antiochus in his capital Bactra. His peace treaty with Antiochus granted his son Demetrius I a marriage to an unspecified daughter of Antiochus.
His son Demetrius I would go on to invade northern India and establish the Indo-Greek kingdom. After Demetrius's sons Agathocles, Euthydemus II and perhaps even Demetrius II rule over the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms, it becomes harder to pinpoint which of the following rulers were related to each other, or even if they were members of the Euthydemid dynasty. It is possible however, that the powerful king Menander I was a member of this dynasty.

Rulers

Precise members of this royal family cannot be fully reconstructed due to the lack of evidence and only a remaining vast coinage of following rulers. Demetrius's successor, Agathocles, left behind extensive coinage that helped reconstruct part of the dynasty. Some of the more certain rulers are: Sophytes satrap of the Paropamisadae, welcomed Alexander the Great and the grandfather of Euthydemus I Euthydemus I eponymous founder of the dynasty
Following these rulers, it becomes increasingly hard to date or connect them to any family, as they may have been usurpers, but the Euthydemids remained the most constant and long reigning dynasty of Greek Bactria and India.