Theodorus

Theodorus was a "meridarch" (Civil Governor of a province) in the Swat province of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, in Modern northern Pakistan, probably sometime between 100 BCE and the end of Greek rule in Gandhara in 55 BCE.

He is only known from a dedication written in kharoshthi on a relic vase inserted in a stupa in the Swat area of Gandhara, dated to the 1st century BCE, the relic vase is now kept at the Lahore Museum. (line-for-line translation):

Description "Theudorena meridarkhena pratithavida ime sarira Sakamunisa bhagavato bahu-jana-stitiye"

"The meridarch Theodorus has enshrined these relics of Lord Shakyamuni, for the welfare of the mass of the people"

(Swāt relic vase inscription of the Meridarkh Theodoros )

This inscription represents one of the first known mention of the Buddha as a deity, using the word Bhagavat ("Lord", "All-embracing personal deity"), suggesting the emergence of Mahayana doctrines in Buddhism.

It is also one of the examples Greco-Buddhism.

Theodorus is considered as contemporary or slightly posterior to another Indo-Greek named Heliodorus, whose c.100 BCE inscriptions have been preserved in the Heliodorus pillar.