Phraotes
Phraotes was a king of Taxila in Gandhara met by the Greek philosopher Apollonius of Tyana around 46 CE according to the Life of Apollonius Tyana written by Philostratus. It has been suggested that he might be identical with the Indo-Parthian king Gondophares IV Sases.[1]
Apollonius described Phraotes' residence, Taxila, as being the same size as Nineveh, being walled like a Greek city whilst also being shaped with Narrow roads,[2][3] and further describe Phraotes' kingdom as containing the old territory of Porus.[4] Following an exchange with the king, Phraotes is reported to have subsidized both barbarians and neighboring states, with the objective of averting incursions into his kingdom.[5] He also reported Hellenistic style urbanism in Taxila,[6] probably referring to Sirkap, and explains that Phraotes speaks Greek fluently, a language he had been educated in while in exile to the east, beyond the river Hyphasis:
"Tell me, O King, how you acquired such a command of the Greek tongue, and whence you derived all your philosophical attainments in this place?" [7]
[...]-"My father, after a Greek education, brought me to the sages at an age somewhat too early perhaps, for I was only twelve at the time, but they brought me up like their own son; for any that they admit knowing the Greek tongue they are especially fond of, because they consider that in virtue of the similarity of his disposition he already belongs to themselves."[8]
Phraotes also recounted that his father, being the son of a king, had become an orphan from a young age. In accordance with Indian customs, two of his relatives assumed responsibility for his upbringing until they were killed by rebellious nobles during a ritualistic ceremony along the Indus River.[9] This event led to the usurpation of the throne, compelling Phraotes' father to seek refuge with the king situated beyond the Hydaspes River, in modern-day Punjab, a ruler esteemed greater than Phraotes' father. Moreover, Phraotes states that his father received an education facilitated by the Brahmins upon request to the king and married the daughter of the Hydaspian king, whilst having one son who was Phraotes himself.[10] Phraotes proceeds to narrate the opportune moment he seized to reclaim his ancestral kingdom, sparked by a rebellion of the citizens of Taxila against the usurpers. With fervent support from the populace, Phraotes led a triumphant entry into the residence of the usurpers, whilst the citizens brandished torches, swords, and bows in a display of unified resistance.[11]
Notes
[edit]- ↑ Journal of the Numismatic Society of India, 1968, vol. 30, p. 188-190. A. K. Narain
- ↑ De Beauvoir Priaulx, Osmond (1860). "The Indian Travels of Apollonius of Tyana". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 17: 76. ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25581224.
Taxila was about the size of Ninovoh, walled like a Greek city
- ↑ De Beauvoir Priaulx, Osmond (1860). "The Indian Travels of Apollonius of Tyana". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 17: 77. ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25581224.
They are taken to the palace. They found the city divided by narrow streets, well-arranged, and reminding them of Athens.
- ↑ De Beauvoir Priaulx, Osmond (1860). "The Indian Travels of Apollonius of Tyana". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 17: 76. ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25581224.
and was the residence of a sovereign who ruled over what of old was the kingdom of Porus.
- ↑ De Beauvoir Priaulx, Osmond (1860). "The Indian Travels of Apollonius of Tyana". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 17: 78. ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25581224.
Phraotes, in answer, said that he was moderate because his wants were few, and that as he was wealthy, he employed his wealth in doing good to his friends, and in subsidizing the barbarians, his neighbours, to prevent them from themselves ravaging, or allowing other barbarians to ravage his territories.
- ↑ Description of the Hellenistic urbanism of Taxila:
- "Taxila, they tell us, is about as big as Nineveh, and was fortified fairly well after the manner of Greek cities" (Life of Apollonius Tyana, II 20) Archived 2016-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
- "I have already described the way in which the city is walled, but they say that it was divided up into narrow streets in the same irregular manner as in Athens, and that the houses were built in such a way that if you look at them from outside they had only one story, while if you went into one of them, you at once found subterranean chambers extending as far below the level of the earth as did the chambers above." (Life of Apollonius Tyana, II 23) Archived 2016-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "(Life of Apollonius Tyana, II 29)". Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
- ↑ "(Life of Apollonius Tyana, II 31)". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
- ↑ De Beauvoir Priaulx, Osmond (1860). "The Indian Travels of Apollonius of Tyana". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 17: 81. ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25581224.
The king then told how his father, the son of a king, had been left very young an orphan; and how during his minority two of his relatives according to Indian custom acted as regents, but with so little regard to law, that some nobles conspired against them, and slow them as they were sacrificing to the Indus, and seized upon the government
- ↑ De Beauvoir Priaulx, Osmond (1860). "The Indian Travels of Apollonius of Tyana". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 17: 81. ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25581224.
How on this his father, then sixteen years of age, fled to the king beyond the Hydaspes, a greater king than himself, who received him kindly... he requested to be sent to the Brahmans; and how the Brahmans educated him; and how in time he married the daughter of the Hydaspian king, and received with her seven villages as pin-money, and had issue one son, himself, Phraotes.
- ↑ De Beauvoir Priaulx, Osmond (1860). "The Indian Travels of Apollonius of Tyana". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 17: 81. ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25581224.
When I crossed the Hydraotis, I heard that, of the usurpers, one was already dead, and the other besieged in this very palace; so I hurried on, proclaiming to the villages I passed through who I was, and what were my rights : and the people received me gladly, and declaring I was the very picture of my father and grandfather, they accompanied me, many of them armed with swords and bows, and our numbers increased daily; and when we reached this city, the inhabitants, with torches lit at the altar of the Sun, and singing the praises of my father and grandfather, came out and welcomed me, and brought me hither.