Demetrius II of India

Demetrius II Of India

Demetrius II was a Greco-Bactrian/Indo-Greek king who ruled brieftly during the 2nd century BCE. Little is known about him and there are different views about how to date him. Earlier authors such as Tarn and Narain saw him as a son and sub-king of Demetrius I, but this view is now abandoned.

Osmund Bopearachchi has suggested that he ruled in Bactria and Arachosia c. 175–170 BCE, but this has been challenged by later authors. R. C. Senior instead prefers c. 175–140 BCE, and this is supported by L M Wilson who also assumes from numismatical clues and portrait likeness that Demetrius II was a relative of Eucratides the Great. The later dating is supported by the circumstance that no coins of Demetrius II have been found in the ruins of Ai Khanoum, which was presumably destroyed during the reign of Eucratides I.