| Conflict: | Shunga–Greek War |
| Width: | 315px |
| Date: | 2nd Century BCE |
| Place: | Indian Subcontinent |
| Map Size: | 220px |
| Result: | Shunga victory[1] [2] |
| Combatant1: | Greco-Bactrian Kingdom |
| Combatant2: | Shunga Empire |
| Commander1: | Demetrius I of Bactria Menander I |
| Commander2: | Pushyamitra Shunga Agnimitra Shunga Vasumitra Shunga[3] |
| Strength1: | 100,000 |
| Strength2: | 40,000 |
| Casualties1: | Unknown |
| Casualties2: | Unknown |
| Partof: | Greek campaigns in India |
The Shunga-Greek War comprised several conflicts between the Shunga Empire and the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. It is predominantly based on the Sanskrit play "Mālavikāgnimitram" by Kalidasa, which portrays events surrounding Pushyamitra Shunga.
The Greek king Demetrius is regarded to have tried to invade the subcontinent after his win over the Kabul Valley.[4] The Shungas were able to successfully resist the invasion and expel the Greeks out of Mathura.
The first phase of the invasion starts with the Greek ruler Demetrius I's conquest of the Kabul Valley. He invaded the Indian subcontinent during the rule of the Mauryan Empire. He first invaded the province of Arachosia and was successful in taking control of the region. He then decided to raid the eastern territories of the subcontinent. He entered the Punjab region and again gained success. He may have had control over the Indian territories of Mathura and Patliputra for a short period of time.[5]
"Those who came after Alexander went to the Ganges and Pataliputra" (Strabo, XV.698)
Hindu texts also suggest that the Greeks gained control on the territories of Saketa, Panchala, Mathura and Pataliputra (Yuga Purana).[6]
However, Demetrius is said to have invaded only the northern territories of India. Later conquests had been done by Menander. The Buddhist text Milinda Panha describes Menander as:
The first phase of the invasion ended here, followed by a civil war in Bactria. The Gargi-samhita states that the Yavanas who laid siege to Pushpapura did not remain in Madhyadesa for long due to "interregnum struggles, which escalated into "a cruel and dreadful war in their own kingdom." As a result, the Greeks seem to have lost control of Madhyadesa, as well as parts of the Punjab and the lower Sindhu valley, to Pushyamitra, at least temporarily. The King Demetrius returned back to Bactria leaving his governors to rule.[7] [8]
The Indo-Greeks and the Shungas seem to have reconciled and exchanged diplomatic missions around 110 BCE, as indicated by the Heliodorus pillar, which records the dispatch of a Greek ambassador named Heliodorus, from the court of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas, to the court of the Shunga emperor Bhagabhadra at the site of Vidisha in central India.[9]