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UPSC CORE · NCERT HISTORY · SHARMA CH 17: CENTRAL ASIAN CONTACTS (INDO-GREEKS, SHAKAS, PARTHIANS, KUSHANS)

Post-Maurya Invasions 🏹

NCERT-aligned UPSC Core History topic from NCERT Class 11/12 + standard reference works (Bipan Chandra, R.S. Sharma, Romila Thapar). Every item is anchored to a real location on India's map — built for boards (CBSE, ICSE, state) and UPSC aspirants.

📚 NCERT TEXTBOOK ALIGNMENT
Class UPSC History — NCERT Class 11/12 + standard reference works (Bipan Chandra, R.S. Sharma, Romila Thapar) — Chapter: Sharma Ch 17: Central Asian Contacts (Indo-Greeks, Shakas, Parthians, Kushans).
7LOCATIONS
72QUESTIONS
UPSC CORENCERT LEVEL
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Key locations covered (7)

Sample questions (12 of 72)

Origin of the Indo-Greeks?
After ALEXANDER'S death (323 BCE), his general SELEUCUS NIKATOR took the eastern Persian empire → Seleucid Empire. ~250 BCE the Greek satrap of BACTRIA (DIODOTUS) revolted + founded an INDEPENDENT GREEK KINGDOM in Bactria; later DEMETRIUS I (~190 BCE) crossed the Hindu Kush + invaded India after the fall of the Mauryas. Indo-Greek kings ruled NW India + Punjab for ~200 years.
MENANDER / Milinda — most famous Indo-Greek?
MENANDER I (r. ~165-130 BCE) — most famous Indo-Greek king; capital at SAGALA (modern Sialkot, Pakistan); his coins are found over a wide area. His CONVERSATION with the Buddhist monk NAGASENA is recorded in the famous Pali text "MILINDA-PANHA" ("Questions of Milinda") — Menander converted to Buddhism + became a great patron. Earliest known case of a foreigner converting to Indian religion.
Indo-Greek COIN innovations?
First INDIAN coins to bear PORTRAITS of kings (each ruler's actual face); bilingual GREEK + KHAROSHTHI inscriptions (or Greek + BRAHMI); finely struck silver TETRADRACHMS + bronze; introduced Greek artistic conventions to India; provided the first reliable DATING evidence for post-Mauryan rulers.
Indo-Greek influence on Indian art?
(i) PORTRAIT coinage — became standard later. (ii) Hellenistic ART motifs (drapery, anatomical realism) blended into the GANDHARA art school (1-5 c. CE) — Greek-style Buddhas. (iii) HORSE riding + cavalry tactics improved. (iv) Greek + Indian astronomers exchanged knowledge (Greek concept of zodiac + 7-day week reached India).
Indo-Greeks ruled in NW India during?
c. 200 BCE - 10 CE
Most famous Indo-Greek ruler was?
Menander I (Milinda), c. 165-130 BCE
Menander's dialogue with Buddhist monk Nagasena is in?
Milindapanho (Questions of Milinda)
Indo-Greeks were first to issue?
Gold coins in India + portrait coins of kings
Capital of Indo-Greek kingdom was?
Sakala (Sialkot)
Heliodorus pillar at Besnagar honours which Indo-Greek envoy of which king?
Heliodorus, envoy of Antialcidas of Taxila — dedicated to Vasudeva (Vishnu)
Who were the Shakas?
CENTRAL ASIAN nomads (probably proto-Iranian); displaced from their homelands by the YUEZHI tribes (~150 BCE); migrated south + invaded NW India ~80-50 BCE. Set up MULTIPLE Shaka kingdoms: Northern (Mathura), Western (Saurashtra-Malwa centred at Ujjain), Southern (Maharashtra-Karnataka). Western Shakas (Kshatrapas) lasted longest, until 388 CE when Chandragupta II Vikramaditya defeated them.
RUDRADAMAN I + Junagadh inscription?
RUDRADAMAN I (r. ~130-150 CE) — greatest Western Shaka (Kardamaka dynasty); his JUNAGADH ROCK INSCRIPTION (~150 CE) is one of the EARLIEST long inscriptions in PURE SANSKRIT (earlier inscriptions used Prakrit). Records the REPAIR of the SUDARSHAN LAKE at Girnar (originally built by Mauryan Pushyagupta + Tushaspha, damaged by storm). Mentions defeats of Satavahanas + Yaudheyas; demonstrates Western Shakas at peak.

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About this topic

This topic is part of the NCERT UPSC Core History syllabus, specifically the textbook NCERT Class 11/12 + standard reference works (Bipan Chandra, R.S. Sharma, Romila Thapar), drawn from the chapter Sharma Ch 17: Central Asian Contacts (Indo-Greeks, Shakas, Parthians, Kushans). Content is cross-referenced against the latest NCERT textbook editions + standard reference works (Bipan Chandra, R.S. Sharma, Romila Thapar, Satish Chandra for history; G.C. Leong, Savindra Singh for geography; the UPSC Civil Services prelims + mains syllabus).

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