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Demetrius, Greek king of Bactria, is a legend as well as an enigma. Mentioned by Geoffrey Chaucer ("D, lord of Ind") and a hero of Indian folklore
under the folk-etymological name Dharma-Mithra, he is mainly known from coins.
Silver coin depicting the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius (200-180 B.C.)
wearing an elephant scalp, symbol of his conquest of India He was the son of Euthydemus and succeeded him around 200 B.C., after which
he conquered extensive areas in what now is eastern Iran, Pakistan, Punjab and northern India, thus creating a Greco-Indian empire far from Hellenistic Greece, that was to last until 1 B.C.
According to Ptolemy, a Demetriapolis was founded in Arachosia.
Polybius mentions him being murdered by his general Eucratides, the empire being divided shortly after his death.
The great Greco-Indian king Menander of India is said to have been a relative or officer of Demetrius. However, scarcity of sources make
historians unsure about chronology, and most likely the coins of Demetrius refer to two kings, the second of which is by default
assumed to be son of the first. Other Bactrian kings like Pantaleon, Agathocles and Antimachus may also have belonged to the same dynasty and period, but their precise relationship remains
unveiled.
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