title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Euthydemus was attacked by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III around 210 BC. Although he commanded 10,000 horsemen, Euthydemus initially lost a battle on the Arius and had to retreat. He then successfully resisted a three-year siege in the fortified city of Bactra (modern Balkh), before Antiochus finally decided to recognize the new ruler, and to offer one of his daughters to Euthydemus's son Demetrius around 206 BC. Classical accounts also relate that Euthydemus negotiated peace with Antiochus III by suggesting that he deserved credit for overthrowing the original rebel Diodotus, and that he was protecting Central Asia from nomadic invasions thanks to his defensive efforts:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Following the departure of the Seleucid army, the Bactrian kingdom seems to have expanded. In the west, areas in north-eastern Iran may have been absorbed, possibly as far as into Parthia, whose ruler had been defeated by Antiochus the Great. These territories possibly are identical with the Bactrian satrapies of Tapuria and Traxiane.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: To the north, Euthydemus also ruled Sogdiana and Ferghana, and there are indications that from Alexandria Eschate the Greco-Bactrians may have led expeditions as far as Kashgar and Ürümqi in Chinese Turkestan, leading to the first known contacts between China and the West around 220 BC. The Greek historian Strabo too writes that:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Several statuettes and representations of Greek soldiers have been found north of the Tien Shan, on the doorstep to China, and are today on display in the Xinjiang museum at Urumqi (Boardman).


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Greek influences on Chinese art have also been suggested (Hirth, Rostovtzeff). Designs with rosette flowers, geometric lines, and glass inlays, suggestive of Hellenistic influences, can be found on some early Han dynasty bronze mirrors.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Numismatics also suggest that some technology exchanges may have occurred on these occasions: the Greco-Bactrians were the first in the world to issue cupro-nickel (75/25 ratio) coins, an alloy technology only known by the Chinese at the time under the name "White copper" (some weapons from the Warring States period were in copper-nickel alloy). The practice of exporting Chinese metals, in particular iron, for trade is attested around that period. Kings Euthydemus, Euthydemus II, Agathocles and Pantaleon made these coin issues around 170 BC and it has alternatively been suggested that a nickeliferous copper ore was the source from mines at Anarak. Copper-nickel would not be used again in coinage until the 19th century.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The presence of Chinese people in the Indian subcontinent from ancient times is also suggested by the accounts of the "Ciñas" in the "Mahabharata" and the "Manu Smriti".


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The Han Dynasty explorer and ambassador Zhang Qian visited Bactria in 126 BC, and reported the presence of Chinese products in the Bactrian markets:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Upon his return, Zhang Qian informed the Chinese emperor Han Wudi of the level of sophistication of the urban civilizations of Ferghana, Bactria and Parthia, who became interested in developing commercial relationships with them:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: A number of Chinese envoys were then sent to Central Asia, triggering the development of the Silk Road from the end of the 2nd century BC.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The Indian emperor Chandragupta, founder of the Mauryan dynasty, had re-conquered northwestern India upon the death of Alexander the Great around 322 BC. However, contacts were kept with his Greek neighbours in the Seleucid Empire, a dynastic alliance or the recognition of intermarriage between Greeks and Indians were established (described as an agreement on Epigamia in Ancient sources), and several Greeks, such as the historian Megasthenes, resided at the Mauryan court. Subsequently, each Mauryan emperor had a Greek ambassador at his court.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Chandragupta's grandson Ashoka converted to the Buddhist faith and became a great proselytizer in the line of the traditional Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism, directing his efforts towards the Indian and the Hellenistic worlds from around 250 BC. According to the Edicts of Ashoka, set in stone, some of them written in Greek, he sent Buddhist emissaries to the Greek lands in Asia and as far as the Mediterranean. The edicts name each of the rulers of the Hellenistic world at the time.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Some of the Greek populations that had remained in northwestern India apparently converted to Buddhism:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Furthermore, according to Pali sources, some of Ashoka's emissaries were Greek Buddhist monks, indicating close religious exchanges between the two cultures:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Greco-Bactrians probably received these Buddhist emissaries (At least Maharakkhita, lit. "The Great Saved One", who was "sent to the country of the Yona") and somehow tolerated the Buddhist faith, although little proof remains. In the 2nd century AD, the Christian dogmatist Clement of Alexandria recognized the existence of Buddhist Sramanas among the Bactrians ("Bactrians" meaning "Oriental Greeks" in that period), and even their influence on Greek thought:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: In India, the Maurya Dynasty was overthrown around 185 BC when Pushyamitra Shunga, the commander-in-chief of Mauryan Imperial forces and a Brahmin, assassinated the last of the Mauryan emperors Brihadratha. Pushyamitra Shunga then ascended the throne and established the Shunga Empire, which extended its control as far west as the Punjab.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Buddhist sources, such as the "Ashokavadana", mention that Pushyamitra was hostile towards Buddhists and allegedly persecuted the Buddhist faith. A large number of Buddhist monasteries (viharas) were allegedly converted to Hindu temples, in such places as Nalanda, Bodhgaya, Sarnath or Mathura. While it is established by secular sources that Hinduism and Buddhism were in competition during this time, with the Shungas preferring the former to the latter, historians such as Etienne Lamotte and Romila Thapar argue that Buddhist accounts of persecution of Buddhists by Shungas are largely exaggerated. Some Puranic sources however also describe the resurgence of Brahmanism following the Maurya Dynasty, and the killing of millions of Buddhists, such as the "Pratisarga Parva" of the "Bhavishya Purana":


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Some narrative history has survived for most of the Hellenistic world, at least of the kings and the wars; this is lacking for India. The main Greco-Roman source on the Indo-Greeks is Justin, who wrote an anthology drawn from the Roman historian Pompeius Trogus, who in turn wrote, from Greek sources, at the time of Augustus Caesar. In addition to these dozen sentences, the geographer Strabo mentions India a few times in the course of his long dispute with Eratosthenes about the shape of Eurasia. Most of these are purely geographical claims, but he does mention that Eratosthenes' sources say that some of the Greek kings conquered further than Alexander; Strabo does not believe them on this, nor does he believe that Menander and Demetrius son of Euthydemus conquered more tribes than Alexander There is half a story about Menander in one of the books of Polybius which has not come down to us intact.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: There are Indian literary sources, ranging from the Milinda Panha, a dialogue between a Buddhist sage Nagasena and Indianized names that may be related to Indo-Greek kings such as Menander I. Names in these sources are consistently Indianized, and there is some dispute whether, for example, "Dharmamitra" represents "Demetrius" or is an Indian prince with that name. There was also a Chinese expedition to Bactria by Chang-k'ien under the Emperor Wu of Han, recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian and Book of the Former Han, with additional evidence in the Book of the Later Han; the identification of places and peoples behind transcriptions into Chinese is difficult, and several alternate interpretations have been proposed.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Other evidence of the broader and longer influence of Indo-Greeks is possibly suggested by Yavanarajya inscription, dated to the 1st-century BC. It mentions Yavanas, a term which is derived from "Ionians", and which at that time most likely means "Indo-Greeks".


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Demetrius I, the son of Euthydemus is generally considered the Greco-Bactrian king who first launched the Greek expansion into India. He is therefore the founder of the Indo-Greek realm. The true intents of the Greek kings in occupying India are unknown, but it is thought that the elimination of the Maurya Empire by the Sunga greatly encouraged this expansion. The Indo-Greeks, in particular Menander I who is said in the "Milindapanha" to have converted to Buddhism, also possibly received the help of Indian Buddhists.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: There is an inscription from his father's reign already officially hailing Demetrius as victorious. He also has one of the few absolute dates in Indo-Greek history: after his father held off Antiochus III for two years, 208–6 BC, the peace treaty included the offer of a marriage between Demetrius and Antiochus' daughter. Coins of Demetrius I have been found in Arachosia and in the Kabul Valley; the latter would be the first entry of the Greeks into India, as they defined it. There is also literary evidence for a campaign eastward against the Seres and the Phryni; but the order and dating of these conquests is uncertain.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Demetrius I seems to have conquered the Kabul valley, Arachosia and perhaps Gandhara; he struck no Indian coins, so either his conquests did not penetrate that far into India or he died before he could consolidate them. On his coins, Demetrius I always carries the elephant-helmet worn by Alexander, which seems to be a token of his Indian conquests. Bopearachchi believes that Demetrius received the title of "King of India" following his victories south of the Hindu Kush. He was also given, though perhaps only posthumously, the title ("Aniketos", lit. "Invincible") a cult title of Heracles, which Alexander had assumed; the later Indo-Greek kings Lysias, Philoxenus, and Artemidorus also took it. Finally, Demetrius may have been the founder of a newly discovered Yavana era, starting in 186/5 BC.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: After the death of Demetrius, the Bactrian kings Pantaleon and Agathocles struck the first bilingual coins with Indian inscriptions found as far east as Taxila so in their time (c. 185–170 BC) the Bactrian kingdom seems to have included Gandhara. These first bilingual coins used the Brahmi script, whereas later kings would generally use Kharoshthi. They also went as far as incorporating Indian deities, variously interpreted as Hindu deities or the Buddha. They also included various Indian devices (lion, elephant, zebu bull) and symbols, some of them Buddhist such as the tree-in-railing. These symbols can also be seen in the Post-Mauryan coinage of Gandhara.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The Hinduist coinage of Agathocles is few but spectacular. Six Indian-standard silver drachmas were discovered at Ai-Khanoum in 1970, which depict Hindu deities. These are early Avatars of Vishnu: Balarama-Sankarshana with attributes consisting of the Gada mace and the plow, and Vasudeva-Krishna with the Vishnu attributes of the Shankha (a pear-shaped case or conch) and the Sudarshana Chakra wheel. These first attempts at incorporating Indian culture were only partly preserved by later kings: they all continued to struck bilingual coins, sometimes in addition to Attic coinage, but Greek deities remained prevalent. Indian animals however, such as the elephant, the bull or the lion, possibly with religious overtones, were used extensively in their Indian-standard square coinage. Buddhist wheels (Dharmachakras) still appear in the coinage of Menander I and Menander II.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Several Bactrian kings followed after Demetrius' death, and it seems likely that the civil wars between them made it possible for Apollodotus I (from c. 180/175 BC) to make himself independent as the first proper Indo-Greek king (who did not rule from Bactria). Large numbers of his coins have been found in India, and he seems to have reigned in Gandhara as well as western Punjab. Apollodotus I was succeeded by or ruled alongside Antimachus II, likely the son of the Bactrian king Antimachus I.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The next important Indo-Greek king was Menander I who is considered to have been the most successful of the Indo-Greek kings, and who expanded the kingdom to its greatest extent by means of his various conquests. The finds of his coins are the most numerous and occur across the greatest geographical area, more than any of the other Indo-Greek kings. Coins stamped with Menander's likeness can be found as far away as Eastern Punjab over 600 miles distant. Menander seems to have begun a second wave of conquests, and it seems likely that the easternmost conquests were made by him.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Thus from 165 BCE until his death in 130 BCE, Menander I ruled Punjab with Sagala as his capital. Menander subsequently made an expedition across northern India to Mathura, where the Yavnarajya inscription was recorded. However, it is not known if this was a contiguous empire, or ruled through key city centers or polis. Soon after, Eucratides I king of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom began warring with the Indo-Greeks in the north western frontier.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: According to Apollodorus of Artemita, quoted by Strabo, the Indo-Greek territory for a while included the Indian coastal provinces of Sindh and possibly Gujarat. With archaeological methods, the Indo-Greek territory can however only be confirmed from the Kabul Valley to the eastern Punjab, so Greek presence outside was probably short-lived or non-existent.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Some sources also claim that the Indo-Greeks may have reached the Shunga capital Pataliputra in northern India. However, the nature of this expedition is a matter of controversy. The only recorded primary account regarding this campaign was written in the Yuga Purana, however this text was written as a forthcoming prophecy of an impending conflict. It is not known if the expedition was carried out, or if the Yavanas (Indo-Greeks) were successful in this campaign.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: However the claim that the Yavanas held Pataliputra is not supported by numismatic or historical accounts, and is even contradicted by some inscriptions. King Kharavela of Kalinga, during his forth year reigning, was recorded in the Hathigumpha inscription to have routed a demoralized Indo-Greek army back to Mathura. It is not known which Indo-Greek was leading the army at the time, however it is presumed to be Menander I or perhaps even a later ruler. Then during his twelfth year in power, Kharavela is recorded to have battled the Shunga Empire and defeated the emperor Brhaspatimitra, known as Pushyamitra Shunga. Kharavela is then stated to have sacked the capital Pataliputra, and reclaimed the Jain idols and treasures that had been plundered from Kalinga and taken to Pataliputra. Based on the chronology and date during 1st century BC, it is postulated that Menander was the one leading the Indo-Greeks during Kharavela's reign.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The important Bactrian king Eucratides seems to have attacked the Indo-Greek kingdom during the mid 2nd century BC. A Demetrius, called "King of the Indians", seems to have confronted Eucratides in a four-month siege, reported by Justin, but he ultimately lost.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: It is uncertain who this Demetrius was, and when the siege happened. Some scholars believe that it was Demetrius I."(Demetrius I) was probably the Demetrius who besieged Eucratides for four months", D.W. Mac Dowall, pp. 201–202, "Afghanistan, ancien carrefour entre l'est et l'ouest". This analysis goes against Bopearachchi, who has suggested that Demetrius I died long before Eucratides came to power.</ref> In any case, Eucratides seems to have occupied territory as far as the Indus, between ca. 170 BC and 150 BC. His advances were ultimately reclaimed by the Indo-Greek king Menander I,


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Menander is also remembered in Buddhist literature, where he is called Milinda. He is described in the Milinda Panha as a convert to Buddhism and that he became an arhat whose relics were enshrined in a manner reminiscent of a Buddha. He also introduced a new coin type, with Athena Alkidemos ("Protector of the people") on the reverse, which was adopted by most of his successors in the East.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Following the death of Menander his empire was greatly reduced due to the emergence of new kingdoms and republics within India. The most eminent entities to reform were the Yaudheya and the Arjunayanas, which were military confederations that had been annexed by the Maurya Empire. These republics began to mint new coins mentioning military victories, that were reminiscent of Indo-Greek type coins. Along with numismatic evidence, the Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman details the conquests of the Saka King Rudradaman I of the Western Satraps over the Yaudheya Republic, reaffirming their independence.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: From the mid-2nd century BC, the Scythians, in turn being pushed forward by the Yuezhi who were completing a long migration from the border of China, started to invade Bactria from the north. Around 130 BC the last Greco-Bactrian king Heliocles was probably killed during the invasion and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom proper ceased to exist. The Parthians also probably played a role in the downfall of the Bactrian kingdom, and supplanted the Scythians.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: There are however no historical recordings of events in the Indo-Greek kingdom after Menander's death around 130 BC, since the Indo-Greeks had now become very isolated from the rest of the Graeco-Roman world. The later history of the Indo-Greek states, which lasted to around the shift BC/AD, is reconstructed almost entirely from archaeological and numismatical analyses.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Greek presence in Arachosia, where Greek populations had been living since before the acquisition of the territory by Chandragupta from Seleucus, is mentioned by Isidore of Charax. He describes Greek cities there, one of them called Demetrias, probably in honour of the conqueror Demetrius.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: It is theorized that Greek advances temporarily went as far as the Shunga capital Pataliputra (today Patna) in eastern India. Senior considers that these conquests can only refer to Menander: Against this, John Mitchener considers that the Greeks probably raided the Indian capital of Pataliputra during the time of Demetrius, though Mitchener's analysis is not based on numismatic evidence.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The seriousness of the attack is in some doubt: Menander may merely have joined a raid led by Indian Kings down the Ganges, as Indo-Greek presence has not been confirmed this far east.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: To the south, the Greeks may have occupied the areas of the Sindh and Gujarat, including the strategic harbour of Barygaza (Bharuch), conquests also attested by coins dating from the Indo-Greek ruler Apollodotus I and by several ancient writers (Strabo 11; Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Chap. 41/47):


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The "Periplus" further explains ancient Indo-Greek rule and continued circulation of Indo-Greek coinage in the region:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Narain however dismisses the account of the Periplus as "just a sailor's story", and holds that coin finds are not necessarily indicators of occupation. Coin hoards further suggest that in Central India, the area of Malwa may also have been conquered.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: From numismatic, literary and epigraphic evidence, it seems that the Indo-Greeks also had control over Mathura during the period between 185 BCE and 85 BCE, and especially during the rule of Menander I (165–135 BC). Ptolemy mentioned that Menander's ruler extended to Mathura (Μόδυρα).


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Slightly northwest of Mathura, numerous Indo-Greek coins were found in the city of Khokrakot (modern Rohtak), belonging to as many as 14 different Indo-Greek kings, as well as coin molds in Naurangabad, suggesting Indo-Greek occupation of Haryana in the 2nd-1st centuries BC.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: An inscription in Mathura discovered in 1988, the Yavanarajya inscription, mentions "The last day of year 116 of Yavana hegemony ("Yavanarajya")". The "Yavanarajya" probably refers to the rule of the Indo-Greeks in Mathura as late as around 70–60 BC (year 116 of the Yavana era). The extent of Indo-Greek rule in Mathura has been disputed, but it is also known that no remains of Sunga rule have been found in Mathura, and their territorial control is only proved as far as the central city of Ayodhya in northern central India, through the Dhanadeva-Ayodhya inscription. Archeological excavations of cast die-struck coins have also revealed the presence of a Mitra dynasty (coin issuers who did not name themselves "kings" on their coins) in Mathura sometime between 150 BC to 20 BC. Additionally, coins belonging to a Datta dynasty have also been excavated in Mathura. Whether these dynasties ruled independently or as satraps to larger kingdoms is unknown.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Several figures of foreigners appear in the terracottas of Mathura art from the 4th to the 2nd century BCE, which are either described simply as "foreigners" or Persian or Iranian because of their foreign features. These figurines might reflect the increased contacts of Indians with foreigners during this period. Several of these seem to represent foreign soldiers who visited India during the Mauryan period and influenced modellers in Mathura with their peculiar ethnic features and uniforms. A helmeted head of a soldier, probably Indo-Greek, is also known, and dated to the 1st century BCE, now in the Mathura Museum. One of the terracotta statuettes, usually nicknamed the "Persian nobleman" and dated to the 2nd century BCE, can be seen wearing a coat, scarf, trousers and a turban.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Mathura may then have been conquered by the Mitra dynasty, or ruled independently by the Datta dynasty during the 1st century BC. In any case Mathura was under the control of the Indo-Scythian Northern Satraps from the 1st century of the Christian era.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The term "Yavana" is thought to be a transliteration of "Ionians" and is known to have designated Hellenistic Greeks (starting with the Edicts of Ashoka, where Ashoka writes about "the "Yavana" king Antiochus"), but may have sometimes referred to other foreigners as well after the 1st century AD.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Patanjali, a grammarian and commentator on Pāṇini, around 150 BC, describes in the "Mahābhāsya", the invasion in two examples using the imperfect tense Sanskrit, denoting a recent or ongoing events:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The Brahmanical text of the "Yuga Purana" describes events in the form of a prophecy, which may have been historical, relates the attack of the Indo-Greeks on the capital Pataliputra, a magnificent fortified city with 570 towers and 64 gates according to Megasthenes, and describes the ultimate destruction of the city's walls:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Accounts of battles between the Greeks and the Shunga in Central India are also found in the "Mālavikāgnimitram", a play by Kālidāsa which is thought to describe an encounter between a Greek cavalry squadron and Vasumitra, the grandson of Pushyamitra, during the latter's reign, by the Sindh River or the Kali Sindh River.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: According to Mitchener, the Hathigumpha inscription indicates the presence of the Indo-Greeks led by a ruler listed as "ta" from Mathura during the 1st century BCE. Although, the name of the king has been omitted and undeciphered. The remaining syllables [ta] has been disputed. It has been argued by Tarn to be referencing the ruler Demetrius. However this interpretation is disputed by other historians like Narain, which point out the discrepancies in chronology and the fact Demetrius didn't ventured past Punjab. Instead most historians now theorize it to be the Indo-Greek ruler Menander I, or perhaps a later Yavana king from Mathura.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: But while this inscription may be interpreted as an indication that Demetrius I was the king who made conquests in Punjab, it is still true that he never issued any Indian-standard coins, only numerous coins with elephant symbolism, and the restoration of his name in Kharosthi on the Hathigumpha inscription: "Di-Mi-Ta", has been doubted. The ""Di"" is a reconstruction, and it may be noted that the name of another Indo-Greek king, Amyntas, is spelt "A-Mi-Ta" in Kharosthi and may fit in.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Menander is considered to have been probably the most successful Indo-Greek king, and the conqueror of the largest territory. The finds of his coins are the most numerous and the most widespread of all the Indo-Greek kings. Menander is also remembered in Buddhist literature, where he is called Milinda, and is described in the Milinda Panha as a convert to Buddhism: he became an arhat whose relics were enshrined in a manner reminiscent of the Buddha. He also introduced a new coin type, with Athena Alkidemos ("Protector of the people") on the reverse, which was adopted by most of his successors in the East.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: From the mid-2nd century BC, the Scythians, in turn being pushed forward by the Yuezhi who were completing a long migration from the border of China, started to invade Bactria from the north. Around 130 BC the last Greco-Bactrian king Heliocles was probably killed during the invasion and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom proper ceased to exist. The Parthians also probably played a role in the downfall of the Bactrian kingdom.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Immediately after the fall of Bactria, the bronze coins of Indo-Greek king Zoilos I (130–120 BC), successor of Menander in the western part of the Indian territories, combined the club of Herakles with a Scythian-type bowcase and short recurve bow inside a victory wreath, illustrating interaction with horse-mounted people originating from the steppes, possibly either the Scythians (future Indo-Scythians), or the Yuezhi (future Kushans) who had invaded Greco-Bactria. This bow can be contrasted to the traditional Hellenistic long bow depicted on the coins of the eastern Indo-Greek queen Agathokleia. It is now known that 50 years later, the Indo-Scythian Maues was in alliance with the Indo-Greek kings in Taxila, and one of those kings, Artemidoros seems to claim on his coins that he is the son of Maues, although this is now disputed.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The extent of Indo-Greek rule is still uncertain and disputed. Probable members of the dynasty of Menander include the ruling queen Agathokleia, her son Strato I, and Nicias, though it is uncertain whether they ruled directly after Menander.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Other kings emerged, usually in the western part of the Indo-Greek realm, such as Zoilos I, Lysias, Antialcidas and Philoxenos. These rulers may have been relatives of either the Eucratid or the Euthydemid dynasties. The names of later kings were often new (members of Hellenistic dynasties usually inherited family names) but old reverses and titles were frequently repeated by the later rulers.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: While all Indo-Greek kings after Apollodotus I mainly issued bilingual (Greek and Kharoshti) coins for circulation in their own territories, several of them also struck rare Greek coins which have been found in Bactria. The later kings probably struck these coins as some kind of payment to the Scythian or Yuezhi tribes who now ruled there, though if as tribute or payment for mercenaries remains unknown. For some decades after the Bactrian invasion, relationships seem to have been peaceful between the Indo-Greeks and these relatively hellenised nomad tribes.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: It is around this time, in 115 BC, that the embassy of Heliodorus, from king Antialkidas to the court of the Sungas king Bhagabhadra in Vidisha, is recorded. In the Sunga capital, Heliodorus established the Heliodorus pillar in a dedication to Vāsudeva. This would indicate that relations between the Indo-Greeks and the Sungas had improved by that time, that people traveled between the two realms, and also that the Indo-Greeks readily followed Indian religions.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Also around the same period, circa 115 BC, decorative reliefs were introduced for the first time at nearby Sanchi, 6 km away from Vidisha, by craftsmen from the northwest. These craftsmen left mason's marks in Kharoshthi, mainly used in the area around Gandhara, as opposed to the local Brahmi script. This seems to imply that these foreign workers were responsible for some of the earliest motifs and figures that can be found on the railings of the stupa. These early reliefs at Sanchi, (those of Sanchi Stupa No.2), are dated to 115 BC, while the more extensive pillar carvings are dated to 80 BC. These reliefs have been described as "the oldest extensive stupa decoration in existence". They are considered the origin of Jataka illustrations in India.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: A warrior figure, the Bharhut Yavana, appeared prominently on a high relief on the railings of the stupa of Bharhut circa 100 BC. The warrior has the flowing head band of a Greek king, a northern tunic with Hellenistic pleats, he hold a grape in his hand, and has a Buddhist triratana symbol on his sword. He has the role of a dvarapala, a Guardian of the entrance of the Stupa. The warrior has been described as a Greek, Some have suggested that he might even represent king Menander.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Also around that time, craftsmen from the Gandhara area are known to have been involved in the construction of the Buddhist torana gateways at Bharhut, which are dated to 100–75 BC: this is because mason's marks in Kharosthi have been found on several elements of the Bharhut remains, indicating that some of the builders at least came from the north, particularly from Gandhara where the Kharoshti script was in use.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Cunningham explained that between the architraves of the gateway, but none on the railings which all had Indian markings, summarizing that the gateways, which are artistically more refined, must have been made by artists from the North, whereas the railings were made by local artists.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Again in Sanchi, but this time dating to the period of Satavahana rule circa 50–1 BC, one frieze can be observed which shows devotees in Greek attire making a dedication to the Great Stupa of Sanchi. The official notice at Sanchi describes "". The men are depicted with short curly hair, often held together with a headband of the type commonly seen on Greek coins. The clothing too is Greek, complete with tunics, cloaks, and sandals, typical of the . The musical instruments are also quite characteristic, such as the double flute called aulos. Also visible are carnyx-like horns. They are all celebrating at the entrance of the stupa.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The actual participation of Yavanas/Yonas (Greek donors) to the construction of Sanchi is known from three inscriptions made by self-declared Yavana donors:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: King Philoxenus (100–95 BC) briefly occupied the whole Greek territory from the Paropamisadae to Western Punjab, after what the territories fragmented again between smaller Indo-Greek kings. Throughout the 1st century BC, the Indo-Greeks progressively lost ground to the Indians in the east, and the Scythians, the Yuezhi, and the Parthians in the West. About 20 Indo-Greek kings are known during this period, down to the last known Indo-Greek rulers, Strato II and Strato III, who ruled in the Punjab region until around 10 AD.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Around eight "western" Indo-Greek kings are known; most of them are distinguished by their issues of Attic coins for circulation in the neighbouring region.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: One of the last important kings in the Paropamisadae (part of the Hindu Kush) was Hermaeus, who ruled until around 80 BC; soon after his death the Yuezhi or Sakas took over his areas from neighbouring Bactria. When Hermaeus is depicted on his coins riding a horse, he is equipped with the recurve bow and bow-case of the steppes and RC Senior believes him to be of partly nomad origin. The later king Hippostratus may however also have held territories in the Paropamisadae.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: After the death of Hermaeus, the Yuezhi or Saka nomads became the new rulers of the Paropamisadae, and minted vast quantities of posthumous issues of Hermaeus up to around 40 AD, when they blend with the coinage of the Kushan king Kujula Kadphises. The first documented Yuezhi prince, Sapadbizes, ruled around 20 BC, and minted in Greek and in the same style as the western Indo-Greek kings, probably depending on Greek mints and chelators.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Around 80 BC, an Indo-Scythian king named Maues, possibly a general in the service of the Indo-Greeks, ruled for a few years in northwestern India before the Indo-Greeks again took control. He seems to have been married to an Indo-Greek princess named Machene. King Hippostratus (65–55 BC) seems to have been one of the most successful subsequent Indo-Greek kings until he lost to the Indo-Scythian Azes I, who established an Indo-Scythian dynasty in 48/47 BC. Various coins seem to suggest that some sort of alliance may have taken place between the Indo-Greeks and the Scythians.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Although the Indo-Scythians clearly ruled militarily and politically, they remained surprisingly respectful of Greek and Indian cultures. Their coins were minted in Greek mints, continued using proper Greek and Kharoshthi legends, and incorporated depictions of Greek deities, particularly Zeus. The Mathura lion capital inscription attests that they adopted the Buddhist faith, as do the depictions of deities forming the vitarka mudra on their coins. Greek communities, far from being exterminated, probably persisted under Indo-Scythian rule. There is a possibility that a fusion, rather than a confrontation, occurred between the Greeks and the Indo-Scythians: in a recently published coin, Artemidorus seems to present himself as "son of Maues" ( but this is now disputed), and the Buner reliefs show Indo-Greeks and Indo-Scythians reveling in a Buddhist context.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The last known mention of an Indo-Greek ruler is suggested by an inscription on a signet ring of the 1st century AD in the name of a king Theodamas, from the Bajaur area of Gandhara, in modern Pakistan. No coins of him are known, but the signet bears in kharoshthi script the inscription ""Su Theodamasa"", ""Su"" being explained as the Greek transliteration of the ubiquitous Kushan royal title ""Shau"" ("Shah", "King").


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The Indo-Greek kingdoms lost most of their eastern territories in the 1st century BC following the death of Menander. The Arjunayanas and the Yaudheya Republic mention military victories on their coins ("Victory of the Arjunayanas", "Victory of the Yaudheyas"). These entities would remain independent until being conquered by the Saka King Rudradaman I of the Western Satraps.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: They would again win independence until being conquered by Samudragupta (350-375 CE) of the Gupta Empire, and would disintegrate soon after.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: During the 1st century BC, the Trigartas, Audumbaras and finally the Kunindas also started to mint their own coins, usually in a style highly reminiscent of Indo-Greek coinage.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The Yavanas may have ruled as far as the area of Mathura from the time of Menander I until the middle of the 1st century BC: the Maghera inscription, from a village near Mathura, records the dedication of a well "in the one hundred and sixteenth year of the reign of the Yavanas", which corresponds to circa 70 BC. In the 1st century BC, however, they lost the area of Mathura, either to the Mitra rulers under the Shunga Empire or to the Datta dynasty.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Fleeing the Sakas in the west, the Indo-Greeks continued to rule a territory in the eastern Punjab. The kingdom of the last Indo-Greek kings Strato II and Strato III was conquered by the Northern Satrap Saka ruler Rajuvula around 10 AD.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Nahapana had at his court a Greek writer named Yavanesvara ("Lord of the Greeks"), who translated from Greek to Sanskrit the Yavanajataka ("Saying of the Greeks"), an astrological treatise and India's earliest Sanskrit work in horoscopy.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: A large number of Buddhist caves in India, particularly in the west of the country, were artistically hewn between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. Numerous donors provided the funds for the building of these caves and left donatory inscriptions, including laity, members of the clergy, government officials. Foreigners, mostly self-declared "Yavanas", represented about 8% of all inscriptions.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Yavanas from the region of Nashik are mentioned as donors for six structural pillars in the Great Buddhist Chaitya of the Karla Caves built and dedicated by Western Satraps ruler Nahapana in 120 AD, although they seem to have adopted Buddhist names. In total, the Yavanas account for nearly half of the known dedicatory inscriptions on the pillars of the Great Chaitya. To this day, Nasik is known as the wine capital of India, using grapes that were probably originally imported by the Greeks.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Two more Buddhist inscriptions by Yavanas were found in the Shivneri Caves. One of the inscriptions mentions the donation of a tank by the Yavana named Irila, while the other mentions the gift of a refectory to the Sangha by the Yavana named Cita. On this second inscription, the Buddhist symbols of the triratna and of the swastika (reversed) are positioned on both sides of the first word "Yavana(sa)".


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: One of the Buddhist caves (Cave No.17) in the Pandavleni Caves complex near Nashik was built and dedicated by "Indragnidatta the son of the Yavana Dharmadeva, a northerner from Dattamittri", in the 2nd century AD. The city of "Dattamittri" is thought to be the city of Demetrias in Arachosia, mentioned by Isidore of Charax.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: In the Manmodi Caves, near Junnar, an inscription by a Yavana donor appears on the façade of the main Chaitya, on the central flat surface of the lotus over the entrance: it mentions the erection of the hall-front (façade) for the Buddhist Samgha, by a Yavana donor named Chanda:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: These contributions seem to have ended when the Satavahana King Gautamiputra Satakarni vanquished the Western Satrap ruler Nahapana, who had ruled over the area where these inscriptions were made, c. AD 130. This victory is known from the fact that Gautamiputra Satakarni restruck many of Nahapana's coins, and that he is claimed to have defeated a confederacy of Shakas (Western Kshatrapas), Pahlavas (Indo-Parthians), and Yavanas (Indo-Greeks), in the inscription of his mother Queen Gotami Balasiri at Cave No. 3 of the Nasik Caves:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Inscriptions of the 3rd century (AD 210–325) at the Nagarjunakonda Buddhist complex in southern India again mention the involvement of the Yavanas with Buddhism: an inscription in a monastery (Site No.38) describes its residents as Acaryas and Theriyas of the Vibhajyavada school, "who had gladdened the heart of the people of Kasmira, Gamdhara, Yavana, Vanavasa, and Tambapamnidipa".


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Several Gandhara Buddha statues with dated inscriptions, are now thought to have been dated in the Yavana era (originating c. 186 BC). One of the statues of the Buddha from Loriyan Tangai has an inscription mentioning "the year 318". The era in question is not specified, but it is now thought, following the discovery of the Bajaur reliquary inscription and a suggestion by Richard Salomon which has gained wide acceptance, that it is dated in the Yavana era beginning in 186 BC, and gives a date for the Buddha statue of c. AD 143.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: This would make it one of the earliest known representations of the Buddha, after the Bimaran casket (1st century AD), and at about the same time as the Buddhist coins of Kanishka.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Another statue of Buddha, the Buddha of Hashtnagar, is inscribed from the year 384, also probably in the Yavana era, which is thought to be AD 209. Only the pedestal is preserved in the British Museum, the statue itself, with folds of clothing having more relief than those of the Loriyan Tangai Buddha, having disappeared.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Buddhism flourished under the Indo-Greek kings, and their rule, especially that of Menander, has been remembered as benevolent. It has been suggested, although direct evidence is lacking, that their invasion of India was intended to show their support for the Mauryan empire which may have had a long history of marital alliances, exchange of presents, demonstrations of friendship, exchange of ambassadors and religious missions with the Greeks. The historian Diodorus even wrote that the king of Pataliputra had "great love for the Greeks".


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The Greek expansion into Indian territory may have been intended to protect Greek populations in India, and to protect the Buddhist faith from the religious persecutions of the Shungas. The city of Sirkap founded by Demetrius combines Greek and Indian influences without signs of segregation between the two cultures.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The first Greek coins to be minted in India, those of Menander I and Apollodotus I bear the mention "Saviour king" (ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ), a title with high value in the Greek world which indicated an important deflective victory. For instance, Ptolemy I had been "Soter" (saviour) because he had helped save Rhodes from Demetrius the Besieger, and Antiochus I because he had saved Asia Minor from the Gauls. The title was also inscribed in Pali as ("Tratarasa") on the reverse of their coins. Menander and Apollodotus may indeed have been saviours to the Greek populations residing in India, and to some of the Indians as well.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Also, most of the coins of the Greek kings in India were bilingual, written in Greek on the front and in Pali on the back (in the Kharosthi script, derived from Aramaic, rather than the more eastern Brahmi, which was used only once on coins of Agathocles of Bactria), a tremendous concession to another culture never before made in the Hellenic world. From the reign of Apollodotus II, around 80 BC, Kharosthi letters started to be used as mintmarks on coins in combination with Greek monograms and mintmarks, suggesting the participation of local technicians to the minting process. Incidentally, these bilingual coins of the Indo-Greeks were the key in the decipherment of the Kharoshthi script by James Prinsep (1835) and Carl Ludwig Grotefend (1836). Kharoshthi became extinct around the 3rd century AD.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: In Indian literature, the Indo-Greeks are described as Yavanas (in Sanskrit), or Yonas (in Pali) both thought to be transliterations of "Ionians". In the Harivamsa the "Yavana" Indo-Greeks are qualified, together with the Sakas, Kambojas, Pahlavas and Paradas as "Kshatriya-pungava" i.e. foremost among the Warrior caste, or Kshatriyas. The Majjhima Nikaya explains that in the lands of the Yavanas and Kambojas, in contrast with the numerous Indian castes, there were only two classes of people, Aryas and


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: In addition to the worship of the Classical pantheon of the Greek deities found on their coins (Zeus, Herakles, Athena, Apollo...), the Indo-Greeks were involved with local faiths, particularly with Buddhism, but also with Hinduism and Zoroastrianism.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan Empire, conquered the Greek satraps left by Alexander, which belonged to Seleucus I Nicator of the Seleucid Empire. The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka would then establish the largest empire in the Indian Subcontinent through an aggressive expansion. Ashoka converted to Buddhism following the destructive Kalinga War, abandoning further conquests in favor of humanitarian reforms. Ashoka erected the Edicts of Ashoka to spread Buddhism and the 'Law of Piety' throughout his dominion. In one of his edicts, Ashoka claims to have converted his Greek population along with others to Buddhism.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The last Mauryan Emperor Brihadratha was assassinated by Pushyamitra Shunga, the former senapati or "army lord" of the Mauryan Empire and founder of the Shunga Empire. Pushyamitra is alleged to have persecuted Buddhism in favor of brahmanism, likely in attempt to further remove the legacy of the Mauryan Empire.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: It is possible that Menander I Soter or the "Saviour king", choose Sakala as his capital due to the Buddhist presence there. Menander I, is stated to have converted to Buddhism in the Milinda Panha, which records the dialogue between Menander and the Buddhist monk Nagasena. Menander is claimed to have obtained the title of an arhat.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Another Indian text, the "Stupavadana" of Ksemendra, mentions in the form of a prophecy that Menander will build a stupa in Pataliputra.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Plutarch also presents Menander as an example of benevolent rule, and explains that upon his death, the honour of sharing his remains was claimed by the various cities under his rule, and they were enshrined in "monuments" (μνημεία, probably stupas), in a parallel with the historic Buddha:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The Butkara stupa was "monumentalized" by the addition of Hellenistic architectural decorations during Indo-Greek rule in the 2nd century BC. A coin of Menander I was found in the second oldest stratum (GSt 2) of the Butkara stupa suggesting a period of additional constructions during the reign of Menander. It is thought that Menander was the builder of the second oldest layer of the Butkara stupa, following its initial construction during the Mauryan Empire.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Several Indo-Greek kings use the title "Dharmikasa", i.e. "Follower of the Dharma", in the Kharoshti script on the obverse of their coins. The corresponding legend in Greek is "Dikaios" ("The Just"), a rather usual attribute on Greek coins. The expression "Follower of the Dharma" would of course resonate strongly with Indian subjects, used to this expression being employed by pious kings, especially since the time of Ashoka who advocated the Dharma in his inscriptions. The seven kings using "Dharmakasa", i.e. "Follower of the Dharma", are late Indo-Greek kings, from around 150 BC, right after the reign of Menander I, and mainly associated with the area of Gandhara: Zoilos I (130–120 BC), Strato (130–110 BC), Heliokles II (95–80 BC), Theophilos (130 or 90 BC), Menander II (90–85 BC), Archebios (90–80 BC) and Peukolaos (c. 90 BC). The attribute of "Dharmika" was again used a century later by a known Buddhist practitioner, Indo-Scythian king Kharahostes, to extoll on his coins the virtues of his predecessor king Azes.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: From the time of Agathokleia and Strato I, circa 100 BC, kings and divinities are regularly show on coins making blessing gestures, which often seem similar to the Buddhist Vitarka mudra. As centuries passed, the exact shapes taken by the hand becomes less clear. This blessing gesture was also often adopted by the Indo-Scythians.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BC in central India in Vidisha near modern Besnagar, by Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to the court of the Shunga king Bhagabhadra. The pillar originally supported a statue of Garuda. In the dedication, the Indo-Greek ambassador explains he is a devotee of "Vāsudeva, the God of Gods". Historically, it is the first known inscription related to the Bhagavata cult in India.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: In general, the art of the Indo-Greeks is poorly documented, and few works of art (apart from their coins and a few stone palettes) are directly attributed to them. The coinage of the Indo-Greeks however is generally considered some of the most artistically brilliant of Antiquity. The Hellenistic heritage (Ai-Khanoum) and artistic proficiency of the Indo-Greek world would suggest a rich sculptural tradition as well, but traditionally very few sculptural remains have been attributed to them. On the contrary, most Gandharan Hellenistic works of art are usually attributed to the direct successors of the Indo-Greeks in India in the 1st century AD, such as the nomadic Indo-Scythians, the Indo-Parthians and, in an already decadent state, the Kushans In general, Gandharan sculpture cannot be dated exactly, leaving the exact chronology open to interpretation.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The possibility of a direct connection between the Indo-Greeks and Greco-Buddhist art has been reaffirmed recently as the dating of the rule of Indo-Greek kings has been extended to the first decades of the 1st century AD, with the reign of Strato II in the Punjab. Also, Foucher, Tarn, and more recently, Boardman, Bussagli and McEvilley have taken the view that some of the most purely Hellenistic works of northwestern India and Afghanistan, may actually be wrongly attributed to later centuries, and instead belong to a period one or two centuries earlier, to the time of the Indo-Greeks in the 2nd–1st century BC:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: This is particularly the case of some purely Hellenistic works in Hadda, Afghanistan, an area which "might indeed be the cradle of incipient Buddhist sculpture in Indo-Greek style". Referring to one of the Buddha triads in Hadda, in which the Buddha is sided by very Classical depictions of Herakles/Vajrapani and Tyche/Hariti, Boardman explains that both figures "might at first (and even second) glance, pass as, say, from Asia Minor or Syria of the first or second century BC (...) these are essentially Greek figures, executed by artists fully conversant with far more than the externals of the Classical style".


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Alternatively, it has been suggested that these works of art may have been executed by itinerant Greek artists during the time of maritime contacts with the West from the 1st to the 3rd century AD.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, beyond the omnipresence of Greek style and stylistic elements which might be simply considered an enduring artistic tradition, offers numerous depictions of people in Greek Classical realistic style, attitudes and fashion (clothes such as the chiton and the himation, similar in form and style to the 2nd century BC Greco-Bactrian statues of Ai-Khanoum, hairstyle), holding contraptions which are characteristic of Greek culture (amphoras, "kantaros" Greek drinking cups), in situations which can range from festive (such as Bacchanalian scenes) to Buddhist-devotional.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Uncertainties in dating make it unclear whether these works of art actually depict Greeks of the period of Indo-Greek rule up to the 1st century BC, or remaining Greek communities under the rule of the Indo-Parthians or Kushans in the 1st and 2nd century AD. Benjamin Rowland thinks that the Indo-Greeks, rather than the Indo-Scythians or the Kushans, may have been the models for the Bodhisattva statues of Gandhara


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Very little is known about the economy of the Indo-Greeks, although it seems to have been rather vibrant.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The abundance of their coins would tend to suggest large mining operations, particularly in the mountainous area of the Hindu-Kush, and an important monetary economy. The Indo-Greek did strike bilingual coins both in the Greek "round" standard and in the Indian "square" standard, suggesting that monetary circulation extended to all parts of society. The adoption of Indo-Greek monetary conventions by neighbouring kingdoms, such as the Kunindas to the east and the Satavahanas to the south, would also suggest that Indo-Greek coins were used extensively for cross-border trade.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: It would also seem that some of the coins emitted by the Indo-Greek kings, particularly those in the monolingual Attic standard, may have been used to pay some form of tribute to the Yuezhi tribes north of the Hindu-Kush. This is indicated by the coins finds of the Qunduz hoard in northern Afghanistan, which have yielded quantities of Indo-Greek coins in the Hellenistic standard (Greek weights, Greek language), although none of the kings represented in the hoard are known to have ruled so far north. Conversely, none of these coins have ever been found south of the Hindu-Kush.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: The Indo-Greek kings in Southern Asia issued the first known cupro-nickel coins, with Euthydemus II, dating from 180 to 170 BC, and his younger brothers Pantaleon and Agathocles around 170 BC. As only China was able to produce cupro-nickel at that time, and as the alloy ratios are exclusively similar, it has been suggested that the metal was the result of exchanges between China and Bactria.


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: An indirect testimony by the Chinese explorer Zhang Qian, who visited Bactria around 128 BC, suggests that intense trade with Southern China was going through northern India. Zhang Qian explains that he found Chinese products in the Bactrian markets, and that they were transiting through northwestern India, which he incidentally describes as a civilization similar to that of Bactria:


title: Indo-Greek Kingdom

text: Recent excavations at the burial site of China's first Emperor Qin Shi Huang, dating back to the 3rd century BCE, also suggest Greek influence in the artworks found there, including in the manufacture of the famous Terracotta army. It is also suggested that Greek artists may have come to China at that time to train local artisans in making sculptures.


title: Like Nastya

text: Anastasia Sergeyevna Radzinskaya (born January 27, 2014), known online as Like Nastya, is a Russian-American YouTuber. She and her parents, Sergey and Anna Radzinskaya, host several YouTube channels producing original child-oriented stories and roleplays. Her main channel is the 5th most-viewed and 7th most-subscribed channel in the world.


title: Like Nastya

text: Anastasia's content includes, among other things, children's songs, educational entertainment, unboxings, vlogging, and roleplays. Her channels are dubbed into German, Arabic, Bangla, French, Portuguese, Hindi, Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, and Indonesian.


title: Like Nastya

text: Anastasia was born in Krasnodar Krai, Southern Russia. She was incorrectly diagnosed with cerebral palsy, her doctors feared she might never be able to speak.


title: Like Nastya

text: Before starting their channel, Anastasia's mother Anna owned a bridal salon in Krasnodar while her father Sergey owned a small construction company. In 2015, Anastasia's parents sold their companies, and in January 2016, they created their YouTube channel, which grew rapidly from their content. The family relocated to Miami, Florida in 2018.


title: Like Nastya

text: Anastasia's parents signed with multi-channel network Yoola and social media company Jellysmack. According to "Forbes", Anastasia was "one of the world's fastest-growing creators, thanks to videos in seven languages" in 2019, becoming the third highest-paid YouTuber in the world, with an estimated annual income of $18 million.(₽1 billion)


title: Paul Feig

text: Paul Samuel Feig (; born September 17, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is known for directing films starring frequent collaborator Melissa McCarthy, including "Bridesmaids" (2011), "The Heat" (2013), "Spy" (2015), and "Ghostbusters" (2016). He also directed the black comedy mystery film "A Simple Favor" (2018) and the romantic comedy film "Last Christmas" (2019).


title: Paul Feig

text: Feig created the comedy series "Freaks and Geeks" (1999–2000) and "Other Space" (2015). He has also directed several episodes of the U.S version of "The Office", "Arrested Development", "Weeds" and "Nurse Jackie", as well as episodes of "Mad Men", "30 Rock", and "Parks and Recreation". He received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards for writing on "Freaks and Geeks" and two for producing and directing on "The Office".


title: Paul Feig

text: As an actor, Feig is best known for playing Tim the Camp Counselor in the comedy film "Heavyweights" (1995). He also appeared as Bobby Wynn in the sitcom "The Jackie Thomas Show" (1992–93) and as Mr. Eugene Pool on the sitcom "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" (1996–97).


title: Paul Feig

text: Feig was born and raised in Mount Clemens, Michigan. His mother, Elaine Elizabeth (née Artingstall), was a telephone operator, and his father, Sanford William Feig, owned Ark Surplus on Gratiot Avenue. Feig's father was born Jewish and converted to Christian Science; Feig's parents met at a church social, and Feig was also raised in Christian Science.


title: Paul Feig

text: After a year at Wayne State University, Feig moved to Los Angeles and transferred to the University of Southern California. He also worked as a tour guide at Universal Studios Hollywood, embarked on a stand-up comedy act, and landed minor roles on various television shows. Feig also appeared in a number of films, such as "Ski Patrol", and in a role alongside Ben Stiller in the 1995 film "Heavyweights", in which he played camp counselor Tim. On the first season of "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch", Feig portrayed Mr. Eugene Pool, Sabrina's science teacher.


title: Paul Feig

text: With "Heavyweights" co-scripter Judd Apatow, Feig created the short-lived comedy series "Freaks and Geeks", inspired by his experiences at Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Township, Michigan. The show aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 television season. Eighteen episodes were completed, but the series was canceled after only twelve had aired. Despite the short run, "Freaks and Geeks" has since maintained a devoted cult following. The show was named in "Time" magazine's 100 Greatest Shows of All Time, and in summer 2008, "Entertainment Weekly" ranked "Freaks and Geeks" as the 13th best show of the past 25 years. Feig was nominated for two Emmys for writing the show's pilot and the season finale.


title: Paul Feig

text: Feig made his directorial debut with the drama film "I Am David", which premiered at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. He later directed the Christmas comedy film "Unaccompanied Minors" (2006).


title: Paul Feig

text: In 2011, Feig was consulted to direct the Apatow-produced comedy film "Bridesmaids". Written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, the plot centers on Annie (Wiig), who suffers a series of misfortunes after being asked to serve as maid of honor for her best friend, Lillian, played by Maya Rudolph. Budgeted at $32.5 million, "Bridesmaids" was both critically and commercially successful, eventually grossing over $288 million worldwide, and served as a touchstone for discussion about women in comedy. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and received multiple other accolades, including Academy Award nominations in the Best Supporting Actress for Melissa McCarthy and Best Original Screenplay for Wiig and Mumolo.


title: Paul Feig

text: In 2013, Feig reunited with McCarthy on buddy cop action comedy film "The Heat", also starring Sandra Bullock. Directed by Feig and written by Katie Dippold, it centers on a mismatched police pairing who must overcome their differences in order to take down a mobster. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the chemistry, and performances of Bullock and McCarthy, and was a success at the box office, grossing $229 million worldwide against a $43 million budget.


title: Paul Feig

text: In 2015, Feig wrote, directed, and produced the spy comedy movie "Spy" for 20th Century Fox, again starring Melissa McCarthy. It follows the life of a secret agent, Susan Cooper, trying to expose the black-market. The film received acclaim from critics and became another box office success at an international gross of $235.7 million. It was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for McCarthy. Also in 2015, Feig produced the animated feature "The Peanuts Movie" for Blue Sky Studios, based on the "Peanuts" comic strip and characters created by Charles M. Schulz. That same year, it was announced that Feig will direct a film adaptation of Play-Dohs for Hasbro Studios, 20th Century Fox, and Chernin Entertainment.


title: Paul Feig

text: During 2015, Feig also created the science fiction comedy series "Other Space" for Yahoo!'s video on demand service Yahoo! Screen and wrote the show's first episode. The series stars Trace Beaulieu, Neil Casey, Eugene Cordero, Joel Hodgson, Conor Leslie, Bess Rous, Karan Soni, and Milana Vayntrub as the dysfunctional crew of an exploratory spaceship who become trapped in an unknown universe. "Other Space" received positive reviews, but was not renewed for a second season due to Yahoo! Screen being shut down in 2016. Feig later created a Tumblr to provide direct links to each episode after he reobtained the rights to the series. In 2020, the series was picked up by streaming service DUST.


title: Paul Feig

text: In 2016, Feig directed and co-wrote the female driven reboot of the "Ghostbusters" franchise, starring McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones as four women who begin a ghost-catching business in New York City. The announcement of the female-led cast in 2015 drew a polarized response from the public and internet backlash, leading to the film's IMDb page and associated YouTube videos receiving low ratings prior to the film's release. The film grossed $229 million worldwide against a production budget of $144 million, becoming the highest-grossing live-action comedy domestically of 2016. However, due to its high production and marketing budget, it is considered a box-office bomb.


title: Paul Feig

text: In 2017, Feig produced Jonathan Levine's comedy film "Snatched", starring Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn as a mother-daughter couple who are abducted while on vacation in South America. The same year, he began production on the comedy thriller "A Simple Favor". Based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Darcey Bell, it stars Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, and Henry Golding, and follows a small town blogger who tries to solve the disappearance of her mysterious and rich best friend. Released in September 2018, the film received generally favorable reviews from critics, with praise for the plot twists and performances of Kendrick and Lively.


title: Paul Feig

text: In 2018, Feig directed an advertisement for Diet Coke starring Hayley Magnus, which was shown during the Super Bowl. In 2019, he directed the romantic comedy "Last Christmas", reteaming with Henry Golding, who starred in the film alongside Emilia Clarke. The film received mixed reviews and was a box office success, earning over $120 million.


title: Paul Feig

text: In March 2019, following 20th Century Fox's acquisition by The Walt Disney Company, Feig announced he would be moving his Feigco production studio to Universal Pictures.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev ( ; born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakh politician and diplomat who is currently serving as the President of Kazakhstan since 12 June 2019. Shortly before that, he served as acting president after the resignation of Nursultan Nazarbayev, who previously held the presidential post for nearly three decades.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Born in Alma-Ata (now Almaty), Tokayev attended the Moscow State Institute of International Relations where after graduating in 1975, he worked as a diplomat in Singapore and China. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Tokayev became the Deputy Foreign Minister of a newly independent Kazakhstan in 1992, where he was involved on the issues of nuclear disarmament within the former Soviet republics. In 1999, Tokayev became the Deputy Prime Minister, and in October of that year with the endorsement of the Parliament, he was appointed as Prime Minister by President Nursultan Nazarbayev. From 2002, Tokayev served as Foreign Minister and State Secretary, where he continued to play an active role in the field of nuclear non-proliferation. He was the Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva from 2011 to 2013 and served twice as a Chairman of the Kazakh Senate from 2007 to 2011 and 2013 to 2019.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In 2019, Tokayev assumed office as the acting president after Nursultan Nazarbayev's resignation. Being a member of the ruling Amanat party, he won a non-democratic snap election in June of that year with the support of Nazarbayev as the nominee for the party. After being fully sworn to office, Tokayev pledged to continue Nazarbayev's policies. During his presidency, he has enacted several reforms including increasing workers' salaries, reducing corruption, abolishing capital punishment, and decentralizing the local government. From 2020, Tokayev had endured the economic downturn and troubles caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and War in Afghanistan and has sought to solve Kazakhstan's rising inflation, domestic terrorism, illegal migration, drug trafficking, nuclear energy development and power shortages caused by cryptocurrency mining, as well as the COVID-19 vaccination rollout. In 2022, Tokayev announced constitutional reforms that would limit his powers and grant more authority to the Parliament. As a result, he initiated a constitutional referendum upon which was backed by an overwhelming number of voters and led to the complete stripping of Nazarbayev's post-presidential privileges regarding policymaking.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Since becoming president, Tokayev's political influence and role in Kazakhstan had steadily grown apart from Nazarbayev as he assumed various other powerful positions which were previously held by Nazarbayev starting with the chairmanship of the Assembly of People in 2021. In January 2022, he imposed nationwide state of emergency, sacked the entirety of Asqar Mamin's government, and ordered for security forces to use deadly force following a two-week long violent unrest that had broken out on early January of that year. Shortly thereafter, Tokayev took leadership role in the Security Council and ruling Amanat party from Nazarbayev and along with his relatives, dismissed several officials who held a close relationship with Nazarbayev.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: While managing to maintain the country's stability, ensuring political transition, and enacting new reforms, Tokayev's governance has remained authoritarian with human rights abuses. The 2022 Suisse secrets leaks revealed that the Tokayev family had maintained an elaborate network of secretive offshore wealth assets since at least 1998.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was born to a Muslim Kazakh family in the city of Alma-Ata (now Almaty). His father, Kemel Tokayev (1923–1986), was a World War II veteran and a well-known writer who is considered to be the founder of Kazakh detective fiction. His mother, Turar Shabarbayeva (1931–2000), worked at the Alma-Ata Institute of Foreign Languages. He was named after his uncle Kemel Tokayev, who was also a Red Army soldier and was killed during the Battle of Rzhev. When describing the impact the war had on his father, Tokayev said that he "did not like to talk about the war" and only shared his feelings upon "his first encounter with the enemy, the courage of the average soldier, and his burning desire to return home." Kemel after the war received a medal for his coverage of the development of the Virgin Lands campaign.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Tokayev spent part of his childhood in the village of , Karatal District, Almaty Region, where his family had lived for generations. From 1970, Tokayev attended the Moscow State Institute of International Relations where he studied Mandarin. In his fifth year, Tokayev was sent to training courses at the Soviet embassy in China for six months.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Upon graduation from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1975, Tokayev joined the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he was posted to the Soviet Embassy in Singapore.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In 1979, Tokayev returned to the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1983, he went to China for training courses at the Beijing Language Institute. In 1984–1985, he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was then posted to the Soviet embassy in Beijing where he served until 1991 as Second Secretary, First Secretary, and Counsellor. In 1991, he enrolled at the Soviet Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow for a training course towards senior diplomats.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In March 1992, Tokayev was appointed as a Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan. From there, he briefly took stance against nuclear disarmament in the former Soviet republics of Belarus and Ukraine under pressure by Russia, letting negotiations to be held under the United Nations Security Council, writing it as “a significant success of Kazakh diplomacy, which was taking its first steps in the international arena, opened the way for further negotiations with all influential states at the highest level."


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In 1993, he became First Deputy Foreign Minister and on 13 October 1994, Tokayev was appointed to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In March 1999, Tokayev was promoted to the post of Deputy Prime Minister. In October 1999, with the endorsement of the Parliament, he was appointed as a Prime Minister by Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. During his tenure, the GDP growth rate grew by 13.5% in 2001 while the inflation rate being reduced by 11.2%.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: On 20 November 2001, at the Khabar Agency broadcast, Tokayev threatened to resign from his post as the PM unless President Nursultan Nazarbayev would dismiss several government officials whom he accused of being "intriguers" such as Deputy PM Oraz Jandosov, Labour and Social Protection of the Population Minister Alikhan Baimenov, Pavlodar Regional äkim Galymzhan Zhakiyanov and Deputy Defense Minister Janat Ertlesova by trying to decentralise the country's executive branch and slow down the democratization programs. The move came just days after a group of prominent Kazakh officials whom Tokayev accused and others announced the creation of Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan at a press conference. As a result, six cabinet members, including Jandosov, Zhakiyanov and Ertlesova were dismissed by Nazarbayev.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: On 28 January 2002, Tokayev resigned from his post without a full explanation, calling it a "normal event" due to "a strong presidency". He was subsequently appointed as a State Secretary and Minister of Foreign Affairs concurrently.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: As a Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tokayev played an active role in the field of nuclear non-proliferation. In 1995 and 2005, he participated in the Review Conferences for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in New York City. In 1996, he signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in New York, and in 2005 the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone in Central Asia (CANWFZ) in Semipalatinsk.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: He was elected Chairman of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States and of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Tokayev took part in ten sessions of the United Nations General Assembly. He held a diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: As Chair of the Senate of Kazakhstan, Tokayev was elected in 2008 as a vice-president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). He served the post until being relieved on 15 April 2011 after being appointed as Director-General of the United Nations. President Nursultan Nazarbayev expressed his gratitude towards Tokayev, stating that he's "absolutely committed to the path of reforms that I am pursuing."


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: On 16 October 2013, he was reappointed again as the Senate Chair and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate MP's.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: During the 2016 Protests against land reforms in Kazakhstan, Tokayev stressed the issue of land lease to be dealt with in a critical matter.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: After Kazakhstan unveiled its first proposed version of the Latin alphabet in 2017, it received criticism among citizens and linguistics over its use of apostrophes for marking accent letters. Many businesses and organisations began adopting the new Latinised script.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: During the interview to BBC News in June 2018, Tokayev hinted a possibility on Nazarbayev's succession by expressing his belief that he wouldn't run for re-election as his presidential term was to end in 2020.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In March 2011, the Secretary-General of the United Nations announced the appointment of Tokayev as Under Secretary-General, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva and Personal Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General to the Conference on Disarmament. He served as Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament. He was also the Designated Official for safety and security of U.N. personnel for Switzerland.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Tokayev holds a Doctorate in political science. He is the author of nine books and numerous articles on international affairs. He is a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, a member of the Panel of Eminent Persons at the Munich Security Conference, an Honorary Professor of Shenzhen University, an Honorary Professor and Doctor of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, as well as a member of its board of trustees. He is also Honorary Dean of the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations. As Director-General of UNOG, he received the "Academicus" award from the University of Geneva. According to the Russian Biographic Institution, Tokayev was admitted as a "Person of the year – 2018".


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: On 9 April 2019, Tokayev announced early elections to be held on 9 June 2019. From there, he guaranteed electoral transparency and insisted that Kazakhstan is a democratic state which Tokayev cited as reason for a president to be elected according to the "will of the people" as well as eliminate "political uncertainty".


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Tokayev, with the backing of former president Nazarbayev, became a candidate for presidency following his nomination by the ruling Amanat party, then known as Nur Otan on 23 April 2019. During the campaign, Tokayev's election promises focused on continuation of existing policies, justice and progress, citing his personal reason in participating in the race to ensure Nazarbayev's continuity, a major part of Tokayev's platform. While campaigning, Tokayev was mocked on social media for his use of photo manipulation software to erase his wrinkles and double chin from official photos. He was elected president of Kazakhstan on 9 June with 71% of the popular vote. He was congratulated by foreign heads of state such as Xi Jinping, Ilham Aliyev, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Emomali Rahmon, and Sooronbay Jeenbekov.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: On 19 March 2019, then-President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced his resignation. According to the Constitution of Kazakhstan, in case of early termination of powers, the Senate Chairman becomes President until the end of the previous term. On 20 March, Tokayev officially took office as president. Immediately after the inauguration, Tokayev proposed renaming the capital city of Kazakhstan after his predecessor, and the same day the Parliament of Kazakhstan approved the renaming of Astana to Nur-Sultan. Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate Tokayev, inviting him to visit Moscow in a joint telephone conversation with him and Nazarbayev. The Chinese government also described Tokayev as an "old friend" and "good friend".


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Following his victory in the 2019 presidential election, Tokayev was fully sworn as Kazakhstan's second president on 12 June 2019 at the Palace of Independence in Nur-Sultan, which was attended by high-ranking Kazakh officials including former president Nazarbayev himself. From there, Tokayev addressed the nation that he would serve the nation's citizens fairly, embarking that "different opinions, united nation" would be a slogan of his presidency.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In June 2019, following a military ammo deposit blast in the town of Arys which resulted in evacuations of residents and hundreds of injuries, Tokayev launched a criminal case and ordered the Interior and Defence ministries to prevent possible more explosions, pledging that any perpetrators would be prosecuted. Tokayev paid visit to the town on 25 June, touring buildings that were affected by the blast as well as meeting with hospitalised victims.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Tokayev delivered his first State of the Nation Address on 2 September 2019. The address focused on strengthening civil society and social security, supporting domestic business and economic development.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In October 2019, it was announced that all potential ministerial candidates needed the approval of Nazarbayev before being appointed, with the exception of Minister of Defence, Interior Minister and Foreign Minister.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: After the Bek Air Flight 2100 crash, Tokayev declared the following day, 28 December 2019, a national day of mourning and said that "all those responsible will be severely punished in accordance with the law." He also ordered the suspension of the flight authorisation of Bek Air, the domestic airline involved.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Following the Dungan–Kazakh ethnic clashes which broke out in February 2020, Tokayev fired the governor, deputy governor and police chief of the southern Jambyl Region. Tokayev blamed "two criminal groups" fighting over contraband for the deadly ethnic violence between ethnic Kazakhs and the relatively wealthier Dungan minority.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In an interview to Informburo news agency, Tokayev commented on the fate of Mukhtar Dzhakishev, saying "this issue is exclusively within the competence of the court. Of course, I am aware that Dzhakishev has repeatedly applied for parole on ill-health. The session of the court of first instance will be held on 3 March. Let's wait for its decision, which I am sure will be fair." On 3 March 2020, the Semey City Court upheld the motion to grant parole to Dzhakishev. He served a 14-year prison sentence since 2009.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: On 2 May 2020, Nazarbayev's daughter Dariga Nazarbayeva was removed from the Senate and her role as the chair by Tokayev. Many theories arose that this was a sign of either Tokayev was expanding his political influence or a growing feud between the ruling elite.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In his second State of the Nation Address on 1 September 2020, Tokayev unveiled seven reforms with most focus on economic recovery. From there, he spoke of optimizing Kazakhstan's social system, increasing productivity and a greener economy, leveling business conditions, investing more in education and overseeing the state's administration as it becomes more sensitive and accountable.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In autumn 2020, Tokayev announced date for 2021 legislative elections, where he asserted that the electoral and political process had been liberalised to allow for greater involvement in civil society and that the newly incoming parliament convocation will focus on support for socio-economic reforms. During election day, Tokayev said that the government would resign in accordance with law and that he would consult with newly elected MPs and party leaders in regard to the appointments of Prime Minister and cabinet members. In the aftermath of vote, the ruling Nur Otan despite losing dozen seats, topped the results in which the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) citied that the elections "lacked genuine competition". At the opening session of the 7th Parliament held on 15 January 2021, Tokayev reappointed Asqar Mamin as the Prime Minister.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: On 28 April 2021, former president Nazarbayev resigned from the post as the chairman of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan (QHA). From there, he proposed Tokayev to succeed him which was supported by the QHA members. Tokayev, in turn, suggested Nazarbayev to be named as the "Honorary Chairman", saying that the status should "rightfully belong" to him due to a "historical merit."


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: On 23 November 2021, Kazakhstan's First President Nursultan Nazarbayev's spokesperson, Aidos Ukibay, announced that the former president will hand over the powers of the Nur Otan party chair to current President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Following the 2022 Kazakh unrest, Tokayev dismissed Prime Minister Asqar Mamin as well as his cabinet. While initially attempting to calm the public in early stages of the protests by promising to unveil his new proposed reforms and introduced price controls for liquefied natural gas, diesel and gasoline, as well as for socially significant goods, Tokayev issued orders for the army to use lethal force against protesters, and to "shoot to kill, without warning." He also appointed Alihan Smaiylov, who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister prior, as the new PM.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: On 16 March 2022, Tokayev proposed constitutional reforms to limit the powers of his office, saying the country needed to switch from "superpresidential" rule to a presidential republic with a strong parliament.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Early elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan were held on November 20, 2022, in which Kassym-Jomart Tokayev won with 81.31% of the votes.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: After assuming office, Tokayev outlined main directions for Kazakhstan which were increasing the incomes of population, eradication of corruption, judicial reforms, creating new jobs with decent wages, solving housing issues, fair social policies, regional developments, spiritualism, foreign national interests and youth opportunities. In his first month of presidency, Tokayev made several reorganisations and appointments within the administration and the ministerial cabinet with some top officials such as Presidential Administration head Bakhytzhan Sagintayev and National Security Committee chairman Karim Massimov keeping their posts while others being reshuffled or forced to stepped down.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In May 2020, Tokayev signed the laws “On the procedure for organizing and holding peaceful assemblies in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, “On introducing amendments to the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan“, “On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, and “On introducing amendments and additions to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Political Parties”. The new laws are an important part of the measures to strengthen the state's democratic foundations, and enhance the role of civil society. In his State of the Nation Address, he emphasised that "Kazakhstan must create a multi-party system to build a modern, effective state", also saying that the ruling Nur Otan party should collaborate more with other parties.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Tokayev advocated political reforms that would promote the concept of a "state that listens" to civil society creating a constructive dialogue. Tokayev initiated the establishment of the new National Council of Public Trust to facilitate this dialogue. He also called for direct elections for the äkıms (local heads) of rural districts, townships, and villages to be held in 2021 to which he signed decree on 14 September 2020 of the implementation of National Plan of Measures which set tasks for the drafting of constitutional amendments that would allow for rural äkım direct elections as well as the development of local government and its functions. After the 2021 legislative elections which saw three of five contesting parties retain their seats in the Mazhilis, Tokayev at the opening first session of the 7th Parliament proposed to reduce the electoral threshold from 7% to 5%, stating it would encourage more registered parties to participate in the future parliamentary elections as well as the vote option "Against all" to be re-included in the ballots once again. As the Parliament ratified Tokayev's proposed constitutional amendments, he signed the laws into place on 25 May 2021.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In December 2019, Tokayev announced that Kazakhstan would join the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, after the issue was raised by Kazakh human rights activists and experts during discussions at the meetings of the National Council of Public Trust. From there, Tokayev set the task for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to start the process of joining the Second Optional Protocol which would set measures in abolishing of death penalty in the country.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: At the Seventy-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tokayev spoke to the Assembly, saying that his decision was driven "to fulfill a fundamental right to life and human dignity." Kazakh Representative to the UN Kairat Umarov signed the protocol on 23 September 2020. On 2 January 2021, Tokayev signed decree approved by the Parliament in abolishing death penalty in Kazakhstan.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: During Tokayev's first months in office, in an attempt to reduce burden on socially vulnerable segments for the population; government bailouts for banks were put to an end and a system of loan forgiveness was implemented. In 2020, the salaries for teachers, doctors and social workers were increased.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In amidst of the worsening economic situation worldwide as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, Tokayev instructed the government to form an anti-crisis plan which would fulfill "all social obligations". A series of packages were unveiled in response, which aimed at easing burden for private sector by providing cheaper credit, tax incentives, cutting back on audits and promoting employment. As the pandemic progressed, inflation for goods began to grow leading to an increase in social and labour discontent particularly in western Kazakhstan. Tokayev, in response, blamed the government and the central bank for being too "powerless" and from there, urged them to reduce the inflation rate, noting the surplus amount of the money supply that exists in the state budget.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In September 2021, Tokayev called for an increase of the national minimum wage for the first time since 2018, citing the global pandemic that affected the purchasing power for citizens and asserted that it would lead to growth in domestic consumption. In terms of wage fund, Tokayev instructed the government to implement soft measures in encouraging businesses to raise salaries for employees by pledging for state-supported benefits.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 in Kazakhstan in March 2020, Tokayev enacted a state of emergency in the country on 15 March. During his national televised address, Tokayev stressed that he had signed a special decree on measures to ensure the stability of the state functioning, citing that the documents allow an increase the efficiency of state bodies, strengthen the vertical of power and make all necessary decisions promptly in a manual mode. In an attempt to curb the spread of the virus, Tokayev ordered the cancellations of both the Nowruz celebrations as well as the Victory Day military parade in honour of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. During the period, the nationwide lockdowns were prolonged twice before being lifted in May 2020. Just a month later in July 2020, Tokayev reintroduced restrictions in Kazakhstan which lasted until August 2020. In autumn 2020, Tokayev assessed that the lockdowns would be avoided depending on the levels of public mask and social distancing compliance.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: As a proponent of COVID-19 vaccination, Tokayev blamed Healthcare Ministry and the entire government as during a slow jab pace in the early months of the vaccine administering. In an effort to boost public confidence, Tokayev received his dose of a Kazakh-manufactured Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in April 2021, to which according to a spokesperson that Tokayev felt no side effects in result. Tokayev also vowed to crackdown on fraudulent vaccine passports and provide Kazakh citizens broader options for different vaccine manufacturers.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: At the teacher's conference held in August 2019, Tokayev announced that the average salary for schoolteachers in Kazakhstan would be increased by double within four years. He also instructed the Ministry of Education and Science to develop and launch special programs to overcome the academic gap of children from low-income families and schools in socially troubled areas, noting the need of overcome educational inequality specially between rural and urban areas.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Tokayev expressed the need for Kazakhstan to have a nuclear power plant in April 2019, claiming that the country would face an electricity deficit by 2030. From early 2021, energy consumption in Kazakhstan sharply rose by 8% as a result of increase in cryptocurrency mining from farmers fleeing China.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In May 2021, Tokayev announced the Low-Carbon Development Concept, a national project which seeks to reduce Kazakhstan's dependency on coal by development electric power industry and the country's energy balance by 2035.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In his inaugural speech, Tokayev called environmental issues "concerning" and proposed a unified policy by adopting a new code which would protect the environment. On 17 June 2019, he signed a decree forming the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources, appointing Magzum Myrzagaliev to the post. The Ministry was given the authority to protect the environment, oversee the rational use of natural resources, geology and reproduction of the mineral and raw materials base, as well as the treatment of solid household waste, water and wastewater, and forestry.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Tokayev addressed the problems regarding the air pollution in Almaty. He instructed the government, city äkımat, and Samruk-Energy to implement final decision in the transformation of the Almaty-2 thermal power station to natural gas in order to limit harmful emissions that come from the plant which is estimated to be 30% of all other sources, warning that any delay would be "absolutely unacceptable."


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: On 4 October 2021, Tokayev signed a bill aimed at protecting the ecosystem of the Caspian Sea by establishing a regular assessment for the state of marine environment and coastal areas of the sea, and an assessment to the level of sea pollution along the coastline.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Tokayev supported a health insurance mandate in Kazakhstan as a way to improve the quality and accessibility of medical services as well as maintained funding for free medical care and the development of healthcare system.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: On 7 July 2020, Tokayev signed the new code "On public health and healthcare system" and law "On amendments and additions to certain legislative acts on healthcare issues" into place, which strengthened legal protection for medical personnel, introduced a differentiated approach to medical errors, and redefined a citizen's rights regarding vaccination. The code also restricted the consumption of e-cigarettes and introduced a ban on the import, production and distribution of snus and other non-smoking tobacco products, as well as introduced administrative responsibility for the sale of tobacco products to persons under the age of 21.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Tokayev pledged for the government to continue in investing for the development of infrastructure so that Kazakh citizens would have an access for clean drinking water, natural gas and public transport and continue in monitoring the implementation of the Nurly Zhol programme, of which was enacted by Nazarbayev. He called for the officials along with the Parliament and Accounts Committee to ensure the efficient use of budget funds.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: During a visit to Almaty in May 2020, Tokayev was presented with plans for the reconstruction of the Almaty International Airport which included a new terminal, from there he expressed his desire that the Almaty Airport would become largest aviation hub in Central Asia.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Tokayev pledged continuity of foreign policy initiated by his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev. This means the continuation of measures to attract foreign investments, multi-vector foreign policy and ensuring security in the region. During his first month in office, he had met 4 world leaders, 2 of them abroad and the other two in Nur-Sultan.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In April 2021, Tokayev signed decree forming the Special Representative for International Cooperation, claiming that such post would increase attention of Kazakhstan's leadership to international cooperation concerns in the light of the dynamically changing global and regional agenda. He appointed Erzhan Kazykhanov to the post, whom was instructed to deal with issues of expanding international cooperation in the humanitarian sphere, climate diplomacy, as well as promoting Kazakhstan's key foreign policy initiatives.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: During the sixth meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia held on 10–11 October 2021, Tokayev proposed turning the intergovernmental forum into a full-fledged organisation, outlining that the transformation would emphasise Asia's new role in global affairs which in turn give the member states commitment to create "a truly common, indivisible, and comprehensive security architecture on the largest continent".


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: Following the 2021 Taliban offensive, Tokayev urged to take measures in ensuring safety of Kazakhstani citizens and diplomats within Afghanistan, in which Kazakhstan would closely follow its developments. During a meeting with the EU Special Representative for Central Asia Tehri Hakala, Tokayev expressed concern in regards to the stability in Afghanistan, warning that entire region of Central Asian is facing a risk due to the conflict. On 18 August 2021, he instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to attempt to provide a maximum assistance in returning ethnic Kazakhs residing in Afghanistan, while noting that the issue of accepting Afghan refugees would not be considered.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: According to political analyst Rico Isaacs, the decision in Tokayev replacing Nursultan Nazarbayev was due to his own full will to not rapidly implement democratic reforms, which would hurt Nazarbayev's legacy of stability and relations with Russia. Just two weeks after taking office, Tokayev visited Moscow in his first foreign state visit on 4 April 2019, meeting with Putin alongside other Russian officials. During the visit, Putin offered Russian assistance to Tokayev in the construction of a proposed nuclear power plant in the country. In June 2019, Tokayev stated that the decision of constructing a nuclear power plants would be made on decision by local matter, if by means of a referendum.


title: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

text: In late 2020, Russian lawmakers Vyacheslav Nikonov and Yevgeny Fyodorov made remarks on how the entire Kazakhstani territory was a gift given by the Soviet Union and that was currently being leased by Russia. This sparked backlash from the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs which warned about severing relations between both nations due to "provocative attacks". In response to controversial statements, Tokayev in response on "Egemen Qazaqstan," wrote that such words from "some foreign citizens" are aimed at "spoiling" relations between two states, insisting that "nobody from outside gave Kazakhs this large territory as a gift."