The Parthian Empire was founded by Arsaces I of Parthia when he rebelled against the Seleucid Empire. King Mithridates, the great grandson of Arsaces I, further expanded by the empire by taking over Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. The Parthian kingdom had its reach from Turkey to eastern Iran. The largest of these sub-kingdoms — the Indo Parthian kingdom, located west of the Parthian homeland — was founded in the late 1st century BC by the first of several kings named Gondophares, who was a Scythian (Saka) king and member of the Suren family, one of the seven major noble houses of the Parthians.. It was called the Indo Parthian Empire since its coinage was influenced by the coinage of Parthia.

There is still a lot of dispute about their origin. It was the third biggest dynasty that ruled over present day Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Northern India. Their first capital city was Taxila in present- day South Central Pakistan. Later they shifted their capital city between Kabul and Peshawar.

The Indo- Parthians were excellent horsemen, travelers and commendable warriors. They adopted the religions, art, and architecture of their empire which was a mix of Hellenistic, Persian, Greek and other cultures.

Local and foreign texts and also artifacts have proved useful in knowing more about Parthian history but there is still a lot left unknown. The records which were written on Parthia, at a later stage feature Greek, Parthian and Aramaic inscriptions. The Greek philosopher Apollonius Tyana is said to have visited India and explained that that the Indo-Parthian King Pharaotes had been given a Greek education.

The Chinese explore- Zang Qian described Parthia as an advanced urban civilization. Trade between India and China was flourishing under the silk trade route. Parthians were known to supply Chinese silk to the Romans.

Parthian art had a style of its own. Their art had Iranian and Greek roots. Many excavations have found examples of Parthian art works.

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