Seleucus

Author: Dayanand Deswal

Coin of Seleucus Nicator

Seleucus I Nicator (c. 358 BC – 281 BC), generally known as Seleucus (सेल्यूकस) was one of the infantry generals under Alexander the Great, who eventually assumed the title of Basileus and established the Seleucid Empire over much of the territory in the Near East which Alexander had conquered.

Variants

• Seleucus (Anabasis by Arrian, p. 53, 76, 107, 273, 285, 291, 375, 405, 414, 420.)
• Seleucos

Jat Gotras Namesake

• Selu (सेलू) (Jat clan) → Seleucus (सेल्यूकस). Seleucus (c.358 BC – 281 BC) was one of the infantry generals under Alexander the Great, who eventually assumed the title of Basileus and established the Seleucid Empire over much of the territory in the Near East which Alexander had conquered.

History

After the death of Alexander in June 323 BC, Seleucus initially supported Perdiccas, the regent of Alexander's empire, and was appointed Commander of the Companions and chiliarch at the Partition of Babylon in 323 BC. However, after the outbreak of the Wars of the Diadochi in 322 BC, Perdiccas' military failures against Ptolemy in Egypt led to the mutiny of his troops in Pelusium. Perdiccas was betrayed and assassinated in a conspiracy by Seleucus, Peithon and Antigenes in Pelusium sometime in either 321 or 320 BC.

Seleucos invads India but defeated

Buddha Prakash writes....[p.92]: On Alexander’s death in Babylonia in June 323 B.C. his generals fought for the spoils of his conquests. Among them Antigonos and Seleucos contended for his domains in Asia. Fortune at first favoured Antigonos, but in 312 B.C. Seleucos occupied Babylon and in 306 B.C. assumed the regal title and next year planned to repeat the feat of Alexander by crossing over the Indus into the Panjab. But this time a different Panjab greeted him. Appian states that, on crossing the Indus, he met Androkottos (Candragupta) “the king of the Indians who dwelt about that river”. (Syriake, c. 55). This shows that throughout that period, Candragupta spent the greater part of his time in the Panjab, probably at its capital Takshashila, keeping a watchful eye on the political developments in western Asia and particularly the-designs and moves of Seleucos. Therefore, as soon as Seleucos-crossed the Indus, he received him with a vast army. The-exact strength of this army is not known, but its size can be guessed from the numbers of the various arms of his whole army, that is to say, 6,00,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, 9,000 elephants implying a force of 36,000 men and 8,000 chariots requiring 32,000 horses and 48,000 men. His infantrymen carried the broadswords as their principal weapons and as additional arms either javelins or bows and arrows, whereas a horseman carried two lances, resembling the kind called saunia by the Greeks, and a buckler. This vast army was administered by a war office, consisting of six boards of five members each, looking after the navy, transport and commissariat, infantry, cavalry, chariotry and elephantry respectively. As a keen military genius, Candragupta admired Alexander, as can be imagined from the anecdote that he paid honour to his altars on the Beas. Hence it is not unlikely that he adopted and assimilated many Greek features in his military organisation.

Seleucos was quickly shocked and worsted by the great

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[p.93]: army of Candragupta and compelled to conclude a humiliating peace almost exactly at the same spot where Alexander was accorded a hearty reception by Ambhi. He had to cede a large part of Ariana, consisting of Paropanisadai, Aria, Arachosia and Gedrosia with their capitals at Kabul, Herat, Kandahar and Makaran, to Candragupta. Thus the Maurya emperor reached the ‘scientific frontier' of the Hindukush which the Mughal emperors never held in its entirety and the British rulers sighed for in vain (V.A. Smith, Early History of India, p. 118). This was naturally the most splendid achievement of the Mauryas and a tribute to their sense of geopolitical realism.

After receiving such large territories from Seleucos, Candragupta did not mind giving him a force of 500 elephants which tilted the scales of victory in his favour at the battle of Ipsos in Phrygia with Antigonos in 301 B.C. It was in keeping with the old policy of sending military contingents, particularly elephant corps, to western Asia for the assistance of their friends pursued by Pukkusati and Poros. Its object was obviously to keep in touch with Asian developments and exercise some influence on them from the standpoint of Indian interests. Candragupta could have naturally thought that, after bringing Seleucos to his knees, it was desirable to prop him against his rival Antigonos whose rise to power might become a menace for him.

The defeat of Seleucos had such a powerful impact on popular mind as to become a legend overnight. Hence the rumour began to circulate that Seleucos entered into a matrimonial relation with Candragupta leading some to think that he married his daughter to him. But Seleucos had only two wives Apama and Stratonice and only one daughter Phila who was married to Antigonos Gonatas. Thus there could be no question of his having any matrimonial connection, much less marrying his daughter, to Candragupta. It was mainly a fancy of popular imagination stirred by the momentous triumph of the Maurya monarch over his Greek rival.

Mention by Pliny

Pliny has mentioned Murghab in 'Nations situated around the Hyrcanian Sea' as Margiane....Next comes the district of Margiane,⁵ so remarkable for its sunny climate. It is the only spot in all these regions that produces the vine, being shut in on every side by verdant and refreshing hills. This district is fifteen hundred stadia in circumference, but is rendered remarkably difficult of access by sandy deserts, which extend a distance of one hundred and twenty miles: it lies opposite to the country of Parthia, and in it Alexander founded the city of Alexandria. This place having been destroyed by the barbarians, Antiochus,⁶ the son of Seleucus, rebuilt it on the same site as a Syrian city.⁷ For, seeing that it was watered by the Margus,⁸ which passes through it, and is afterwards divided into a number of streams for the irrigation of the district of Zothale, he restored it, but preferred giving it the name of Antiochia.⁹

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5 This district occupied the southern part of modern Khiva, the southwestern part of Bokhara, and the north-eastern part of Khorassan. This province of the ancient Persian empire received its name from the river Margus, now the Moorghab. It first became known to the Greeks by the expeditions of Alexander and Antiochus I.

6 Antiochus Soter, the son of Seleucus Nicator.

7 The meaning of this, which has caused great diversity of opinion among the Commentators, seems to be, that on rebuilding it, he preferred giving it a name borne by several cities in Syria, and given to them in honour of kings of that country. To this he appears to have been prompted by a supposed resemblance which its site on the Margus bore to that of Antiochia on the Orontes.

8 The modern Moorghab; it loses itself in the sands of Khiva.

9 Its remains are supposed to be those of an ancient city, still to be seen at a spot called Merv, on the river Moorghab.

Mention by Pliny

Pliny mentions 'The Nations of India.'....The remaining distances beyond the above point (Hypasis or Beas River) were ascertained on the expedition of Seleucus Nicator. They are, to the river Sydrus,²³ one hundred and sixty-eight miles; to the river Jomanes, the same; some copies, however, add to this last distance five miles; thence to the Ganges, one hundred and twelve miles; to Rhodapha, five hundred and sixty-nine—though, according to some writers, this last distance is only three hundred and twenty-five miles; to the town of Calinipaxa,²⁴ one hundred and sixty-seven, according to some, two hundred and sixty-five; thence to the confluence of the river Jomanes²⁵ and Ganges, six hundred and twenty-five; most writers, however, add thirteen miles to this last distance; thence to the city of Palibothra,²⁶ four hundred and twenty-five—and thence to the mouth of the Ganges, six hundred and thirty-seven miles and a half.

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23 It does not appear that this river has been identified. In most of the editions it is called Hesidrus; but, as Sillig observes, there was a town of India, near the Indus, called Sydros, which probably received its name from this river.

24 It has been suggested that this place is the modern Kanouge, on the Ganges.

25 The modern Jumna. It must be borne in mind by the reader, that the numbers given in this Chapter vary considerably in the different MSS.

26 See the next Chapter.

इतिहास

सेल्यूकस सिकन्दर का प्रमुख सेनापति था। उसका पूरा नाम 'सेल्यूकस निकेटर' था। सिकन्दर के देहावसान के बाद वह बेबीलोन का शासक बना था। सिकन्दर की ही तरह सेल्यूकस ने भी भारत को जीतना चाहा। उसने क़ाबुल की ओर से सिन्धु नदी पार की, पर वह अपने लक्ष्य मे विफल रहा। इसका नतीजा सेल्यूकस तथा चन्द्रगुप्त मौर्य की सन्धि के रूप मे सामने आया।

• मौर्य शासक चन्द्रगुप्त से पराजित होने के बाद सेल्यूकस को क़ाबुल, कन्धार, गान्धार और हेरात व बलूचिस्तान के कुछ भाग उसे दे देने पड़े।
• सेल्यूकस ने ही मेगस्थनीज़ को राजदूत बनाकर चन्द्रगुप्त मौर्य के पास भेजा था।
• सेल्यूकस की बेटी थी- 'हेलेन'। उसका विवाह चाणक्य ने प्रस्ताव मिलने पर सम्राट चन्द्रगुप्त मौर्य से कराया, किन्तु चाणक्य ने विवाह से पहले ही हेलेन और चन्द्रगुप्त के सामने कुछ शर्ते रखीं, जिस पर उन दोनों का विवाह हुआ।
• पहली शर्त यह थी कि उन दोनों से उत्पन्न संतान उनके राज्य का उत्तराधिकारी नहीं होगी। चाणक्य ने इसका कारण बताया कि हेलेन एक विदेशी महिला है। भारत के पूर्वजों से उसका कोई नाता नहीं है। भारतीय संस्कृति से हेलेन पूर्णतः अनभिज्ञ है। दूसरा कारण यह बताया कि हेलेन विदेशी शत्रुओं की बेटी है। उसकी निष्ठा कभी भी भारत के साथ नहीं हो सकती। तीसरा कारण बताया की हेलेन का बेटा विदेशी माँ का पुत्र होने के नाते उसके प्रभाव से कभी मुक्त नहीं हो पायेगा और वह भारत की मिट्टी, भारतीय लोगों के प्रति पूर्ण निष्ठावान नहीं हो पायेगा।
• एक और शर्त चाणक्य ने हेलेन के सामने रखी कि वह कभी भी चन्द्रगुप्त के राज्य कार्य में हस्तक्षेप नहीं करेगी और राजनीति और प्रशासनिक अधिकार से पूर्णत: विरत रहेगी; परन्तु गृहस्थ जीवन में हेलेन का पूर्ण अधिकार होगा।

External Links

• http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Seleucus_I_Nicator
• https://thesecondachilles.com/2013/06/03/the-murder-of-seleucus-nicator/
• http://www.importantindia.com/8341/seleucus-nicator/

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