In the 2nd century BC, Fahrenheit was a world-class metropolis and the king of a hundred cities on the South Asian subcontinent. But the Mauryan Empire, which supported its prosperity, has fallen apart in the storm, and the Shunga Empire has not yet fully formed.
As a result, the Bactrian Greeks, who were entrenched in the north, marched southward and twice invaded the Ganges Valley. Although it did not last long, it invisibly expanded the eastern borders of ancient Greek civilization.
Dmitry I was the pinnacle of the Kingdom of Bactria
As early as 206 BC, the kingdom of Bactria survived the eastern crusade of the Seleucid army. The two sides shook hands and made peace under the city of Bactera, and the fledgling prince Dmitry caught the attention of Antiochus III. Based on his appreciation for this young man and the need for an alliance between the central and local interest groups, the king, who has always been arrogant, recruited him as his son-in-law. It was with this diplomatic blessing that Dmitry was able to succeed to the throne later and become the co-ruler of the Greek cities in Central Asia.
The later Mauryan Empire can only control the area around Fahrenheit
On the other hand, the Mauryan Empire of India, which had long dominated the subcontinent, was also on the verge of death. After the death of the great Emperor Ashoka, no successor was able to maintain a vast empire, which led to the gradual growth of the mountains in various places. For example, Alachosiya in present-day southern Afghanistan, Punjab in eastern Pakistan, Gujarat in the west, and Mathhura due north all showed separatist tendencies in a short period of time. There are also descendants of Capricorn from the lower Ganges, who are always ready to challenge the feud. As for the more remote Deccan Plateau, it has long ceased to be under the control of the Peacock Center.
Before the expedition to the Ganges, Bactria had taken control of northwestern India
After that, the kingdom of Bactria under Dmitry was heading towards a golden age. As the Seleucid Empire tacitly allowed it to monopolize one side, the Parthian barbarians on the border suffered a decline and were not threatened by powerful enemies for a short time. The local Greeks were able to show their strength, advancing into the hinterland of the river such as Samarkand, and sending an advance team to cross the green mountains and open up in the Western Regions. However, the benefits of these regions are more limited and far less attractive than those of India, which is rich in natural products. This, combined with the fact that many Greek remnants sought refuge in these areas, provided an excellent pretext for a full-scale invasion by the northern armies. Between 190 and 187 BC, they made frequent sorties to easily reclaim the provinces that had been lost after the death of Alexander the Great. Since the local elite was mostly Hellenistic, the whole process was quite easy.
Soldiers of Greek descent riding south on war elephants
However, the Greeks' ambitions went far beyond that, and they began to advance towards the Gyeonggi Center, the remnants of the Mauryan Empire. Since the latter had lost control over the provinces, it was naturally unable to raise a large army to defend against it, resulting in the surrender of Fahrenheit to the invaders without a fight. The last monarch, Brihadrata, was captured and became Dmitry's son-in-law. At this point, the kingdom of Bactria reached its peak stage.
The expedition to India doubled the size of Dmitry's empire
However, Dmitry's Indian policy did not have an immediate effect, but rather caused an uneven distribution of benefits within the kingdom. To put it simply, the southern faction with the palace as the core absorbs a large area of new territory, and only needs to defend it to ensure the harvest in drought and flood. But a military operation of this magnitude necessitates the recruitment of troops from all over the country. Therefore, the interest groups that were originally heavily placed in the north were suspected of being prostituted for nothing. Not only did they need to provide the king with soldiers, but they also had to face the exhaustion of the native defense capability. Therefore, there is no access to Khorezm, and there is no opportunity to develop a commercial base east of the Tien Shan Mountains.
Okratis was originally the governor of the Ferghana Basin
As a result, the governor of the Ferghana Basin, Okratis, openly rebelled and took control of the capital city of Bhaktra. Dmitry, who was far away from the front, was shocked and hurriedly transferred the expeditionary force that had poured into the Ganges valley back to Afghanistan to quell the unrest. However, the soldiers had long been tired of the years of war, and they were not willing to deal with it seriously, and caused a shocking scandal that tens of thousands of kings could not surround 300 renegades. Oklatis took the opportunity to break through and returned to his headquarters to gather more border troops to fight. As a result, Dmitry died of illness in North India in 180 BCE, relinquishing control of Bactria proper. The detachments that had gone south were attacking each other over heir disputes, and they no longer had the heart to pay attention to the situation in Fahrenheit City in the distance.
The north-south confrontation between the Okratis family and the Dmitry group
Thirty years later, the chaos has finally come to an end. The northern bloc of Okratis grew day by day, with Bactria itself as the core, and gradually incorporated the southern provinces of Alachosia and Sindh. The descendants of the Dmitry group settled in the Punjab and formed an Indo-Greek kingdom headed by Menand I. Completely surrounded by each other in the heart of the subcontinent, they effectively cut off any contact with the Western world. Perhaps to make up for the losses and secure more resources to sustain the civil war, the rich Ganges Valley was once again targeted.
The succession of Menand I saved the fate of the Indo-Greek kingdom
In 150 BC, Menander led an Indo-Greek coalition of about 60,000 men southward, all the way in the direction of Fahrenheit. The most elite detachment was the cavalry, which numbered only 1,000 men. Despite being much smaller than the Ancestors, it is still the most feared ace force in the region. The remainder of the main force was almost entirely infantry, consisting of a handful of Greek model troops, as well as more native auxiliaries trained on their model. Archers are usually recruited directly from indigenous populations, while the 700 elephants that move with the army can perform logistical transport functions in addition to regular operations.
Due to the lack of cavalry, Menander's army relied mainly on elephant maneuvering
At the same time, the Shunga dynasty from the southeast was firmly in control of the Ganges valley. In 180 B.C., they marched westward and beheaded the last Mauryan Emperor, who was in name only. Their armies were more traditional Indian, with a small number of ancient noble chariots in addition to war elephants, cavalry, and infantry detachments. However, if you want to defend the huge Fahrenheit City, you can only rely on the defenses left by the previous dynasty. For example, a 600-foot-wide and 45-foot-deep encircling ditch, a wall made of giant timber, and as many as 570 towers. In Ashoka's time, the empire had the resources to fill its defenses, but today's nouveau riche don't have the same capabilities. This is doomed to the victory or defeat of the offensive and defensive sides.
The Shunga Dynasty, which replaced the Mauryans, still had Fahrenheit as its capital
According to the dialogue in the Buddhist scripture "King Miranta Asks", we can roughly restore the Greeks' battle tactics in Fahrenheit. Relying on local Indian coolies, they dug trenches around the city and used the extra earth to build walls to reinforce them. As a result, most of the material ties between the internal residents and the outside world were initially severed. This was followed by the construction of a series of watchtowers on the blockade, camping in several directions, and arranging logistics warehouses. In short, to force the guards to surrender with hunger and despair. It is worth mentioning that the Indo-Greek armies may have retained ballista technology, capable of firing large arrows or small stone projectiles at the head of the city. Especially when deployed at the top of the tower, it is possible to form fire suppression in a certain area. There was also some kind of long-range weapon in ancient India, but it was generally considered to be an enlarged version of the bow and crossbow, which was greatly inferior in terms of range and power.
Classical Fahrenheit is a huge area and a challenge to the defenders
Due to the lack of records, it is unclear how long the siege lasted. But the Sanskrit scriptures of ancient India have left bits and pieces that reflect the collapse of the city's perimeter defenses. Since the total area of Fahrenheit is 25.5 square kilometers and there are 64 gates scattered throughout the city walls, it is easy to scatter the defenders. In addition to the continuous siege + harassment, the Greeks also pulled giant logs from nearby areas to make battering rams. Eventually, he managed to break through a large gate, allowing a large number of infantry to swarm in. The garrison of the Shunga Empire did not give up, and continued to fight street battles in the palace with its masonry structure, so as to avoid the complete fall of the whole city.
On the eve of the withdrawal, the Indo-Greeks had breached the outer defenses of Fahrenheit
At the critical moment, an alarm from the northwest called the war to a halt. It turned out that the army of the House of Okratis was crossing the Khyber Pass and heading towards the Punjab Five Valleys. Minander could only abandon the dying city of Fahrenheit and lead all the horses back to the capital Saqqara to fortify, and even the Mathhura region that he had previously controlled could not take care of. The Bactrian army's labor expedition ended in failure, and the two sides were able to continue to maintain a certain pattern of North and South Korea. Even thanks to the death of Euclatis, the Southern Bloc was able to retake the Indus Valley and even the Cambay Peninsula further south.
Before his death, Menander once expanded the Greek kingdom of India several times
Ironically, when Menander died in 130 BCE, his empire was similarly torn apart by disputes. Thus, the initial large-scale expedition to Fahrenheit became the limit of the Central Asian Greeks in the Eastern world.
After that, they are about to pay a terrible price for the frequent and unbridled infighting. They were attacked by the Serbs, Parthians, and Yues until they slowly and completely disappeared into the Indian subcontinent......
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