Sophytes

Sophytes, or Subhūti, was the name of a king in Punjab in the northwestern Indian subcontinent at the time of invasion of Alexander the Great. Sophytes accepted his suzerainty and was allowed to retain his kingdom by Alexander.

According to some scholars, this Sophytes minted the Hellenistic coinage series mentioning his name ('ΣΩΦΥΤΟΥ' sōphutou) and dated to the 4th or 3rd century BCE, although the identification remains disputed.

Biography The literary references to Sophytes in the classical literature are those by Diodorus, Strabo, Arrian and Curtius, who mention him in the context of the invasion of Alexander the Great, and describe his kingdom to be around Salt Range between the rivers Ascines and Hydraotes in Punjab, on the right bank of Hydaspes. According to Diodorus, his kingdom was well managed. Sophytes himself welcomed Alexander and entertained him, who retained him on his position. He made a demonstration of four Indian dogs fighting a lion to Alexander.Bibliotheca of Diodorus Siculus, Book 17 According to Strabo, a mining survey by the engineer Gorgus reported that the newly conquered land from Sophytes had plenty of gold and silver. Nothing more is known regarding Sophytes after the departure of Alexander.

The name Sophytes or Sophytos is of non-Greek origin. Since Sylvain Lévi first proposed it, it is usually suggested to be a Greek form of an Indo-Aryan Prākrit name, with Paul Bernard, Georges-Jean Pinault and Georges Rougemont giving its derivation from the well attested name Subhūti (of a disciple of Buddha).

Coinage

A Hellenistic style coinage series mentioning Sophytes ('ΣΩΦΥΤΟΥ' sōphutou, genitive form of either Sophytes or Sophytos) was first acquired by the British numismatists from the coin dealers in Rawalpindi, Punjab in the 19th-century. Alexander Cunningham published his study of the specimen in 1866, and following him, identification of the issuer of coins with Sophytes of the classical literature gained acceptance. In 1943, R. B. Whitehead argued against identification of the issuer with the Punjab ruler, and instead proposed place of origins of coins in Bactria. Following Whitehead the theory that Sophytes, the issuer of coinage, was different and based in Bactria has remained influential. Recently, Sushma Jansari, in a study of the then known specimens of the Sophytes coinage, has again considered the coins to have been minted by Sophytes mentioned in the Greco-Roman sources. Jansari also notes that the findspots of the coins are not securely known.

It has also been suggested that Sophytes who issued coins was a Mauryan satrap at Arachosia, which was ceded by Seleucus I Nicator to the Mauryan Empire in 303 BCE. Other theories of origin of coinage have also been proposed and their time period remains uncertain.

Further reading

Journals

Books Age of the Nandas and Mauryas, Nilakantha Shastri, Motilal Banarsidass (1967) Hellenism in Ancient India, Gauranga Nath Banerjee, Munshiram Manoharlal. Archaeological Survey of India - Report of Tours in the Central Doab and Gorakhpur in 1874-75 and 1875-76, A. C. L. Carrleyle and Maj. General Arthur Cunningham, Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing. Symbols: Their Migration and Universality, Count Eugene Goblet d'Alviella, Dover Publications. The Greeks in Bactria and India, Sir W. W. Tarn, Ares Publishers. A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetter, John D. Grainger, Brill. Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria, Frank L. Holt, University of California Press.

External links Coins of King Sophytes

Sophytes

Bron en licentie