Theodorus (meridarch)
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Theodorus (Ancient Greek: Θεόδωρος) was a "meridarch" (Civil Governor of a province) in the Swat province of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, in Modern northern Pakistan, probably sometime between 100 BCE and the end of Greek rule in Gandhara in 55 BCE.
He is only known from a dedication written in kharoshthi on a relic vase inserted in a stupa in the Swat area of Gandhara, dated to the 1st century BCE, the relic vase is now kept at the Lahore Museum.[2] (line-for-line translation):
Description
- "Theudorena meridarkhena
- pratithavida
- ime sarira
- Sakamunisa bhagavato
- bahu-jana-stitiye"
- "The meridarch Theodorus
- has enshrined
- these relics
- of Lord Shakyamuni,
- for the welfare of the mass of the people"
- (Swāt relic vase inscription of the Meridarkh Theodoros [1])
This inscription represents one of the first known mention of the Buddha as a deity, using the Indian bhakti word Bhagavat ("Lord", "All-embracing personal deity"), suggesting the emergence of Mahayana doctrines in Buddhism.
It is also one of the examples Greco-Buddhism.
Theodorus is considered as contemporary or slightly posterior to another Indo-Greek named Heliodorus, whose c.100 BCE inscriptions have been preserved in the Heliodorus pillar.
References
- ^ Plate I, image 2 of Kharoshthi Inscriptions With The Exception Of Those Of Asoka by Sten Konow, 1929, published in India p.1-6
- ^ "Theodotus – Swāt – steatite miniature stūpa – Gandhāran Buddhist Texts". Retrieved 2025-06-10.
Sources
- Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques, Catalogue Raisonné, Osmund Bopearachchi, 1991, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, ISBN 2-7177-1825-7.
- The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies by Thomas McEvilley (Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts, 2002) ISBN 1-58115-203-5
- Buddhism in Central Asia by B.N. Puri (Motilal Banarsidass Pub, January 1, 2000) ISBN 81-208-0372-8
- The Greeks in Bactria and India, W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.
- Stefan Baums. 2012. “Catalog and Revised Texts and Translations of Gandharan Reliquary Inscriptions.” In: David Jongeward, Elizabeth Errington, Richard Salomon and Stefan Baums, Gandharan Buddhist Reliquaries, p. 204, Seattle: Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project (Gandharan Studies, Volume 1).
- Stefan Baums and Andrew Glass. 2002– . Catalog of Gāndhārī Texts, no. CKI 32