Yavana era

[1][3] It was initially thought that the era started around 180-170 BCE, and corresponded to accession to the Greco-Bactrian throne of Eucratides, who solidified Hellenic presence in the Northern regions of India.

[4] The exact historical event corresponding to the creation of this Yavana era is uncertain, but it may mark the alliance of Antimachos I and Apollodotus I in toppling Agathokles, thereby creating a unified realm north and south of the Hindu-Kush.

[6] Although Greco-Bactrian or Indo-Greek kings generally did not put dates on their coins, some of them Plato (circa 140 BCE) and Heliocles uncharacteristically do so.

Some of the coins of Plato have inscriptions such as MZ, MT, MN which can be interpreted as dates in the Greek numerals system using the Yavana era which started around 186 BCE.

This matches the dating given by numismatician Bopearachchi, who places Plato between 145–140 BCE, since his coins are not found in the ruins of Ai Khanoum, a Bactrian city which was destroyed during the reign of Eucratides.

It is considered that this inscription is attesting the control of the Indo-Greeks in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE in Mathura, a fact that is also confirmed by numismatic and literary evidence.

"In year 318, the day 27 of Prausthapada, gift of Buddhaghosa, the companion of Samghavarma" This would make it one of the earliest known representations of the Buddha, after the Bimaran casket (1st century CE), and at about the same time as the Buddhist coins of Kanishka.