Telephus Euergetes

Indo-Greek king

Telephos Euergetes (the Benefactor)
Obv: Anguipede, the limbs ending in lotus blossoms. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ ΤΗΛΕΦΟΥ (King Telephus the Benefactor) Rev: Helios radiate and Silene with crescent. Kharoshthi legend: MAHARAJASA KALAKRAMASA TELIPHASA (King Telephus the Benefactor).
Indo-Greek king
Reign	75–70 BCE

Born	Sagala^{[citation needed]}

Telephus Euergetes (Ancient Greek: Τήλεφος Εὐεργέτης, romanized: Tēlephos Euergetēs; Euergetes means "the Benefactor") was a late Indo-Greek king who seems to have been one of the weak and brief successors of Maues. Bopearachchi dates Telephus between 75–70 BCE and places him in Gandhara, Senior to c. 60 BCE and suggests that he ruled in some parts of Pushkalavati or even further west.

Nothing is known about his dynastic connections. His few coins are rather singular and none of them bear his likeness, a rare occurrence in Indo-Greek coinage. Despite his Greek name, Telephus might therefore have been a ruler of Saka origin. His epithet was also unprecedented.

Coinage

The silver coinage of Telephus is rare and mostly consists of drachms; only a few tetradrachms are known. On the Greek side is a serpent-footed monster holding the stems of two plants, and on the Kharoshthi side two deities that probably should be identified with Helios and Selene, the sun and moon. Both types were unique in the area, though the monster would later appear on bronzes of Hippostratus.

An example of one of his bronzes is seen above, The obverse is the common type of sitting Zeus making a benediction gesture, whereas on the reverse is the unique type of a squatting man holding what on some specimens looks like a spear, on others a palm branch.

Telephus used only two monograms, which he inherited from Maues.

Overstrikes

Telephos overstruck the earlier king Archebius.

References

The Greeks in Bactria and India, W. W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.
The Coin Types of the Indo-Greek Kings, 256-54 B.C., A. K. Narain.

External links

Coins of Telephus

Preceded by

Maues

as Indo-Scythian king

Indo-Greek ruler of Gandhara
75–70 BCE

Succeeded by

Azes I

as Indo-Scythian king

Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kings, territories and chronology

Based on Bopearachchi (1991)^{[t 1]}

Territories/ dates	West Bactria	East Bactria	Paropamisade	Arachosia	Gandhara	Western Punjab	Eastern Punjab	Mathura^{[t 2]}
	Greco-Bactrian kings		Indo-Greek kings
326-325 BCE	Campaigns of Alexander the Great in India						Nanda Empire
312 BCE	Creation of the Seleucid Empire						Creation of the Maurya Empire
305 BCE	Seleucid Empire after Mauryan war		Maurya Empire
280 BCE	Foundation of Ai-Khanoum
255–239 BCE	Independence of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom Diodotus I		Emperor Ashoka (268-232 BCE)
239–223 BCE	Diodotus II
230–200 BCE	Euthydemus I
200–190 BCE	Demetrius I				Sunga Empire
190-185 BCE	Euthydemus II
190–180 BCE	Agathocles			Pantaleon
185–170 BCE	Antimachus I
180–160 BCE			Apollodotus I
175–170 BCE	Demetrius II
160–155 BCE			Antimachus II
170–145 BCE	Eucratides I
155–130 BCE	Yuezhi occupation, loss of Ai-Khanoum	Eucratides II Plato Heliocles I	Menander I
130–120 BCE	Yuezhi occupation		Zoilus I		Agathoclea			Yavanarajya inscription
120–110 BCE			Lysias		Strato I
110–100 BCE			Antialcidas		Heliocles II
100 BCE			Polyxenus		Demetrius III
100–95 BCE			Philoxenus
95–90 BCE			Diomedes	Amyntas		Epander
90 BCE			Theophilus	Peucolaus		Thraso
90–85 BCE			Nicias	Menander II		Artemidorus
90–70 BCE			Hermaeus	Archebius
			Yuezhi occupation		Maues (Indo-Scythian)
75–70 BCE				Vonones	Telephus	Apollodotus II
65–55 BCE				Spalirises		Hippostratus	Dionysius
55–35 BCE					Azes I (Indo-Scythians)		Zoilus II
55–35 BCE					Vijayamitra/ Azilises		Apollophanes
25 BCE – 10 CE				Gondophares	Zeionises	Kharahostes	Strato II Strato III
				Gondophares (Indo-Parthian)			Rajuvula (Indo-Scythian)
			Kujula Kadphises (Kushan Empire)				Bhadayasa (Indo-Scythian)	Sodasa (Indo-Scythian)
^ O. Bopearachchi, "Monnaies gréco-bactriennes et indo-grecques, Catalogue raisonné", Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1991, p.453 ^ Quintanilla, Sonya Rhie (2 April 2019). "History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE". BRILL – via Google Books.

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