Heliodorus pillar, Vidisha

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Maurya Empire (322 BCE–180 BCE) Chandra gupta (322–297 BCE) Bindusara (297–272/268 BCE) Ashoka ("Samrat") (272/268–232 BCE) Dasharatha Maurya (232–224 BCE) Samprati (224–215 BCE) Shalishuka (215–202 BCE) Devavarman (202–195 BCE) Shatadhanvan (195–187 BCE) Brihadratha (187–180 BCE)

Shunga Empire (183 BCE– 73 BCE) Pushyamitra Shunga (185–149 BCE) Agnimitra (149-141 BCE) Vasujyeshtha (141–131 BCE) Vasumitra (131–124 BCE) Bhadraka (Odruka) (124–122 BCE) Pulindaka (122–119 BCE) Ghosha (Ghoshavasu) (119-108 BCE) Vajramitra (108-94 BCE) Bhagabhadra (94-83 BCE) Devabhuti (83-73 BCE)

The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BCE in Vidisha near modern Besnagar, by Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to the court of the Shunga king Bhagabhadra. 

Bhagabhadra was one of the kings of the Indian Shunga dynasty. He ruled in north, central, and eastern India around 110 BCE.

The town is situated east of the Betwa River, in the fork of the Betwa and Bes rivers, 9 km from Sanchi. The town of Besnagar, 3 km from present-day Vidisha on the west side of the river, became an important trade centre in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, under the Shungas, Nagas, Satavahanas, and Guptas, and was mentioned in the Pali scriptures. The Emperor Ashoka was the governor of Vidisha during his father's lifetime. His Buddhist Empress Vidisha Devi who was also his first wife was brought up in Vidisha. It finds mention in Kalidasa's Meghdoot.

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Historically, it is one of the earliest known inscription related to the Vaishnavism in India.

The sources of history after Mauryas are scant. There was no account left by Kautilya and Megasthenes about the later Mauryas. Our knowledge about the later Mauryas is based upon Puranas, Jain and Buddhism texts. Different Puranas give different accounts of Asoka’s successors. The account given by Vayu Purana says that Asoka was succeeded by Kunala while the Matsya Purana says that Asoka was succeeded by Suyasas. But all Purana accounts as well as Harchacharita of Banabhatta says- that the last Mauryan ruler was Brihadratha.

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Pillar inscription, made by Heliodorus circa 110 BCE

Devadevasa Va[sude]vasa Garudadhvajo ayam
karito i[a] Heliodorena bhaga
vatena Diyasa putrena Takhasilakena
Yonadatena agatena maharajasa
Amtalikitasa upa[m]ta samkasam-rano
Kasiput[r]asa [Bh]agabhadrasa tratarasa
vasena [chatu]dasena rajena vadhamanasa

Rubbing of the inscriptions.
This Garuda-standard of Vāsudeva, the God of Gods 
was erected here by the devotee Heliodoros,
the son of Dion, a man of Taxila,
sent by the Great Yona King
Antialkidas, as ambassador to
King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior
son of the princess from Varanasi, in the fourteenth year of his reign.

Based on Heliodorus pillar evidence it has been suggested that Heliodorus is one of the earliest Westerners on record to convert to Vaishnavism whose evidence has survived. But some scholars, most notably A. L. Basham and Thomas Hopkins, are of the opinion that Heliodorus was not the earliest Greek to convert to Bhagavata Krishnaism. Hopkins, chairman of the department of religious studies at Franklin and Marshall College, has said, "Heliodorus was presumably not the earliest Greek who was converted to Vaishnava devotional practices although he might have been the one to erect a column that is still extant. Certainly, there were numerous others including the king who sent him as an ambassador."

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Sunga pillar No25 at Sanchi,

A pillar of broadly similar design, Sanchi Pillar 25, can be seen in the nearby Buddhist complex of Sanchi. It is also attributed to the Sungas, in the 2nd-1st century BCE.