Andragoras was a Seleucid satrap

Satrap

Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires....

 of the province of Partahia (Parthia

Parthia

Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....

), under the Seleucid rulers Antiochus I Soter

Antiochus I Soter

Antiochus I Soter , was a king of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. He reigned from 281 BC - 261 BC....

 and Antiochus II Theos

Antiochus II Theos

Antiochus II Theos was a king of the Hellenistic Seleucid Kingdom who reigned 261 BC – 246 BC). He succeeded his father Antiochus I Soter in the winter of 262–61 BC...

.

Andragoras wrested independence from the Seleucid Empire in 247–245 BCE, at a time when the Seleucids were embroiled in conflict with Ptolemaic

Ptolemaic Kingdom

The Ptolemaic Kingdom in and around Egypt began following Alexander the Great's conquest in 332 BC and ended with the death of Cleopatra VII and the Roman conquest in 30 BC. It was founded when Ptolemy I Soter declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt, creating a powerful Hellenistic state stretching from...

 Egypt. He revolted soon after the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world, covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 to 125 BC...

 itself had broken away from the Seuleucids. In defiance, he issued coins in which he wears the royal diadem as well as his name. Andragoras was a neighbour, a contemporary, and probably an ally of Diodotus I

Diodotus I

Diodotus I Soter was Seleucid satrap of Bactria, rebelled against Seleucid rule soon after the death of Antiochus II in c. 255 or 246 BC, and wrested independence for his territory. He died in 239 BC....

 in Bactria

Bactria

Bactria and also appears in the Zend Avesta as Bukhdi. It is the ancient name of a historical region located between south of the Amu Darya and west of the Indus River...

, who also wrested independence around the same time, giving rise to the Greco-Bactrian kingdom

Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world, covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 to 125 BC...

.

Andragoras ruled only for a few years, before being vanquished and killed by the Parni

Parni

The Parni or Aparni were an east Iranian people of the Ochus River valley, southeast of the Caspian Sea...

 led by Arsaces

Arsaces I of Parthia

Arsaces I was the founder of the Arsacid dynasty, and after whom all 30+ monarchs of the Arsacid empire officially named themselves. A celebrated descent from antiquity begins with Arsaces.A 1st century AD tradition casts Arsaces as descending from the 5th-century BC Achaemenid monarch...

 around 238 BCE, who went on to create the Parthian Empire

Parthian Empire

The Parthian Empire , also known as the Arsacid Empire , was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia...

:

"He (Arsaces) was used to a life of pillage and theft, when he heard about the defeat of Seleucus against the Gauls. Relieved from his fear of the king, he attacked the Parthians with a band of thieves, vanquished their prefect Andragoras, and, after having killed him took the power over the nation" ("Hic solitus latrociniis et rapto uiuere accepta opinione Selencum a Gallis in Asia uictum, solutus regis metu, cum praedonum manu Parthos ingressus praefectum eorum Andragoran oppressit sublatoque eo imperium gentis inuasit") Justin, xli. 4.