Sophytes
Sophytes is described in Classical sources as a ruler in the Punjab region who submitted to Alexander and was, thereby, permitted to retain his realms. He made a gift of hunting dogs to Alexander. Scholars, including Sylvain Levi, have suggested, based on Panini, that the name Sophytes may be equated with the name Saubhuti, but there is no conclusive proof of this. It is not clear if this king Sophytes is the same as the individual named Sophytes on coins discovered in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent, or whether he was a later dynast based in Bactria.
Sophytes has been subject to a great deal of speculation, with Indian origin at one end of the spectrum and Greek at the other. Cunningham identifies him with the Indian King Fobnath of "Sangala," (a name some read as "Saka-town") while A.C.L. Carlleyle connects him with the same king's son Suveg, which is more likely in light of the identification of Fobnath as a royal title rather than a name; potentially making him a Madra of Saka/Iranian origin. Cunningham believes the Sobii and Kathaei to have been his subjects, whom he asserts were Turanians, making them of the same stock as the Saka or Indo-Scythians. It is interesting to note that Sagala was the capital of the later Indo-Greek dynasty of Menander I for several generations, and that Menander himself struck several coins with a similar reverse, suggesting that his dynasty inherited the older king's mints when he took the city for himself.
John D. Grainger however, identifies him as a Greek dynast; Frank L. Holt speculating that he was a mercenary captain who minted coins simply to meet the needs of his troops. In light of his coin type, he may have been a local official, installed (although he may have been an older official, reinstated or simply recognized) by Seleucus after he took the region.
References
- "Age of the Nandas and Mauryas", Nilakantha Shastri, Motilal Banarsidass (1967)
- "Hellenism in Ancient India", Gauranga Nath Banerjee, Munshiram Manoharlal.
- "Archaeological Survey of India - Report of Tours in the Central Doab and Gorakhpur in 1874-75 and 1875-76", A.C.L. Carrleyle and Maj. General Arthur Cunningham, Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing.
- "Symbols: Their Migration and Universality", Count Eugene Goblet d'Alviella, Dover Publications.
- "The Greeks in Bactria and India", Sir W. W. Tarn, Ares Publishers.
- "A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetter", John D. Grainger, Brill.
- "Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria", Frank L. Holt, University of California Press.
