Samyam517: made initial details added tags - done

2026-02-26T05:18:49Z

made initial details added tags - done

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{{Infobox monarch
| name = Telephos Euergetes (the Benefactor)
| succession = [[Indo-Greek]] king
| image = Telephos with Helios and Selene.jpg
| caption = '''Obv:''' [[Anguipede]], the limbs ending in lotus blossoms. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ ΤΗΛΕΦΟΥ (King Telephus the Benefactor) 
'''Rev:''' [[Helios]] radiate and [[Silene]] with crescent. [[Kharoshthi]] legend: MAHARAJASA KALAKRAMASA TELIPHASA (King Telephus the Benefactor).
| reign = 75–70 BCE
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| birth_place = Sagala{{cn|date=September 2022}}
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[[File:Telephos.jpg|300px|thumb|Bronze coin of king Telephus. '''Obv:''' Zeus seated on a throne, scepter in left hand, forming a benediction gesture with the right hand, similar to the Buddhist vitarka [[mudra]]. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ ΤΗΛΕΦΟΥ '''Rev:''' Squatting man, right hand forward. [[Kharoshthi]] legend: MAHARAJASA KALAKRAMASA TELIPHASA.]]
'''Telephus Euergetes''' ({{langx|grc|Τήλεφος Εὐεργέτης|Tēlephos Euergetēs}}; ''[[Euergetes]]'' means "the Benefactor") was a late [[Indo-Greek]] king who seems to have been one of the weak and brief successors of [[Maues]]. Bopearachchi dates Telephus between 75–70 BCE and places him in Gandhara, Senior to c. 60 BCE and suggests that he ruled in some parts of Pushkalavati or even further west.

Nothing is known about his dynastic connections. His few coins are rather singular and none of them bear his likeness, a rare occurrence in Indo-Greek coinage. Despite his Greek name, Telephus might therefore have been a ruler of [[Saka]] origin. His epithet was also unprecedented.

==Coinage==
The silver coinage of Telephus is rare and mostly consists of [[drachm]]s; only a few [[tetradrachm]]s are known. On the Greek side is a serpent-footed monster holding the stems of two plants, and on the [[Kharoshthi]] side two deities that probably should be identified with [[Helios]] and [[Selene]], the sun and moon. Both types were unique in the area, though the monster would later appear on bronzes of [[Hippostratus]].

An example of one of his bronzes is seen above, The obverse is the common type of sitting Zeus making a benediction gesture, whereas on the reverse is the unique type of a squatting man holding what on some specimens looks like a spear, on others a palm branch.

Telephus used only two monograms, which he inherited from [[Maues]].

===Overstrikes===
Telephos overstruck the earlier king [[Archebius]].

==See also==
* [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]]
* [[Greco-Buddhism]]
* [[Indo-Scythians]]
* [[Indo-Parthian Kingdom]]
* [[Kushan Empire]]

==References==
* ''The Greeks in Bactria and India'', W. W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.
* ''The Coin Types of the Indo-Greek Kings, 256-54 B.C.'', A. K. Narain.

==External links==
*[http://coinindia.com/galleries-telephos.html Coins of Telephus]

{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Maues]]|as=[[Indo-Scythian]] king}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Indo-Greek Kingdom|Indo-Greek]] ruler of [[Gandhara]]|years=75–70 BCE}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Azes I]]|as=[[Indo-Scythian]] king}}
{{s-end}}
{{Indo-Greek kings}}
{{Hellenistic rulers}}

[[Category:Indo-Greek kings]]
[[Category:1st-century monarchs in Asia]]

Telephus Euergetes - Revision history

Samyam517: made initial details added tags - done