Meridarch Theodorus inscription in Swat relic vase

Theodorus () was a " meridarch" (Civil Governor of a province) in the

Swat A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

province of the

Indo-Greek Kingdom The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Ancient Greece, Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India. The term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" ...

, in Modern northern

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, probably sometime between 100 BCE and the end of Greek rule in Gandhara in 55 BCE. He is only known from a dedication written in

kharoshthi Kharosthi script (), also known as the Gandhari script (), was an ancient script originally developed in the Gandhara Region of modern-day Pakistan, between the 5th and 3rd century BCE. used primarily by the people of Gandhara alongside vari ...

on a relic vase inserted in a

stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

in the Swat area of

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

, dated to the 1st century BCE, the relic vase is now kept at the

Lahore Museum The Lahore Museum (; ) is a museum located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1865 at a smaller location and opened in 1894 at its current location on The Mall in Lahore during the British colonial period, Lahore Museum is Pakistan's larg ...

. (line-for-line translation):

Description

:''"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 Theodoro

This inscription represents one of the first known mention of the Buddha as a deity, using the Indian

bhakti ''Bhakti'' (; Pali: ''bhatti'') is a term common in Indian religions which means attachment, fondness for, devotion to, trust, homage, worship, piety, faith, or love.See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. In Indian religions, it ...

word Bhagavat ("Lord", "All-embracing personal deity"), suggesting the emergence of

Mahayana Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...

doctrines in

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. It is also one of the examples

Greco-Buddhism Greco-Buddhism or Graeco-Buddhism was a cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism developed between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD in Gandhara, which was in present-day Pakistan and parts of north-east Afghanis ...

. 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 The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BCE in central India in Besnagar (Vidisha), Madhya Pradesh. The pillar is commonly named after Heliodorus (identified by him as a Garuda-standard), who was an ambassador of the In ...

References

Sources

* ''Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques, Catalogue Raisonné'', Osmund Bopearachchi, 1991, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, . * ''The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies'' by Thomas McEvilley (Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts, 2002) * ''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. * Stefan Baums. 2012. “Catalog and Revised Texts and Translations of Gandharan Reliquary Inscriptions.” In: David Jongeward, Elizabeth Errington, Richard Salomon and Stefan Baums, ''Gandharan Buddhist Reliquaries'', p. 204, Seattle: Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project (Gandharan Studies, Volume 1). * Stefan Baums and Andrew Glass. 2002–
''Catalog of Gāndhārī Texts''
no
CKI 32
History of Pakistan Greco-Buddhism Greek Buddhists Indo-Greeks