Part 2

_Parthia._--About the same period, the great Parthian kingdom was founded in Central Asia and lasted till 220 A.D. The Parthian coinage is of silver (drachms and tetradrachms) and bronze. Although Parthian drachms are at the present day one of the most extensive of ancient coinages, their classification is exceedingly difficult on account of our ignorance of Parthian history, and the fact that the coins do not bear the name of the issuer but of Arsakes, the founder of the dynasty. The silver drachms bear on the obverse the portrait of the reigning king, and on the reverse the first king Arsakes seated holding a bow, with a legend in Greek characters which is at first simply (coin of) "the king Arsakes" (Plate II. 2, drachm of Mithridates I. the Great, 171-138 B.C.), but gradually increases in length till a century later it assumes the form (coin of) "the king of kings Arsakes, the just, the illustrious, the beneficent, the friend of the Greeks," which remains the usual legend. Tetradrachms with similar legends were also struck in large numbers; their usual reverse type is the Parthian king seated, receiving a wreath from the goddess of Victory or from a City goddess (Plate II. 3, tetradrachm of Phraates IV., 38-3 B.C.). After the reign of Phraates IV. the coins are dated in the Seleucid era, while the later coins bear a Pehlevi legend in addition to the Greek inscription which is by this time almost unintelligible.

_Sassanian Empire._--Early in the third century A.D. the last remnants of Parthian power were destroyed by Ardashir, a Persian prince, who founded the Sassanian empire, which after successfully disputing the supremacy of Asia with the Romans for four centuries finally fell before the conquering hosts of Islam. The Sassanian silver coins, particularly of the later kings, are exceedingly numerous at the present day, but the gold and copper are rare. The types of the gold and silver are throughout the dynasty the same; on the obverse is the head of the king with a long legend of the form, "Ardashir, worshipper of Ahura Mazda, divine king of kings of Iran, a scion of the celestial race," on the reverse a fire-altar, usually with two attendant priests, and at first the legend "the fire of Ardashir" (etc.), later the mint and regnal year of issue. The earlier coins are of remarkably good workmanship, and give us fine portraits of the Sassanian kings (Plate II. 4, gold coin of Ardashir I., 226-241 A.D.; Plate II. 5, silver drachm of Sapor I., 241-272 A.D.). The gold coins weigh rather less than an English sovereign, and their standard appears to be derived from Roman solidi; the silver coins are drachms following the Parthian standard, and, particularly the latter pieces, are remarkable for their thin fabric (_e.g._ Plate II. 7, Khusrau (Chosroes) II., Parvez, 590-628 A.D.) which was copied by the Arabs in their silver coins, and can be traced in certain Mohammadan series to the present day.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--B. V. Head, _Historia Numorum_ (Oxford, 1911), pp. 643-845; B. V. Head, _Coinage of Lydia and Persia_ (London, 1878); British Museum Catalogue of Greek Coins, _Lydia_ (1901), _Syria_ (1878), _Parthia_ (1905), _Phoenicia_ (1910); E. Babelon, _Perses Acheménides_ (Paris, 1893); E. Babelon, _Rois de Syrie_ (Paris, 1890); Dorn & Bartholomaei, _Monnaies Sassanides_ (St. Petersburg, 1875).

II.--MOHAMMADAN COINAGES

(_Exclusive of India_)

_Beginnings of Arab Coinage._--The Arabs were unacquainted with the art of coinage till they learned it on their campaigns of conquest in Syria (Byzantine) and Persia (Sassanian). At first they were content to issue gold and copper pieces imitated from contemporary Byzantine coins (Plate II. 9, early copper coin of Abd-al-Malik; obverse, figure of the Caliph; reverse, modified Byzantine cross), while their silver pieces were copies of late Sassanian coins (like Plate II. 7), with the addition of _bismillah_ (in the name of God) on the margin.

_Abd-al-Malik's Reformed Currency._--Though one traditionist says that even Adam felt the need for money and struck dinars and dirhems, more reliable authorities agree in attributing to Abd-al-Malik, the fifth Omayyad Caliph (684-705 A.D.), the institution in 696 A.D. of a purely Muslim coinage, worthy of the great Arab empire and the foundations on which it was built. This coinage was of gold, silver, and copper, and the names _dinar_ (denarius aureus), _dirhem_ (drachma), and _falus_ (follis), which have remained in use practically to the present day, were borrowed from the Byzantines. The dinar originally weighed rather more than half a sovereign, while the dirhem was a little less than sixpence in English money, but the names came to mean simply gold and silver coin respectively.

Mohammad's interdiction of any form of image-making, as savouring of idolatry, limited the orthodox Caliph to legends on his coins, but thereby gave Arab coins an importance as historical documents possessed by no other series. From the earliest times they bore the mint and date (in the Mohammadan era dating from 622 A.D.), and later the ruler's name and titles, often including valuable genealogical data, were added. The right of striking coins was one of the privileges of sovereignty, and Muslim coins thus throw a good deal of light on Arab history.

Plate II. 6 is a dinar, and Plate II. 8 a dirhem of Abd-al-Malik; both bear on the obverse the profession of faith, "There is no god but God; He hath no associate:" around the reverse of the dinar is the legend, "In the name of God this dinar was struck in the year 77" (696 A.D.), while the similar inscription on the dirhem includes the mint (Damascus, 79 A.H.) and is placed around the obverse. On both the reverse areas is "God is alone; God is eternal; He begets not and is not begotten" (the dinar ends here, but the dirhem continues) "nor is there any one like unto Him" (Koran, cxii.). Around the obverse of the dinar and reverse of the dirhem is, "Mohammad is the prophet of God, sent with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over all other religions" (dinar stops here), "averse though the idolaters may be" (Koran ix. 33).

_Abbasids._--In 750 A.D. the Abbasids overthrew the Omayyads, and at first made but superficial alterations in the coinage; the long reverse formula was replaced by the simple profession, "Mohammad is the prophet of God." Plate III. 2, a dinar of the "good" Caliph Harun-al-Rashid (786-809 _A.D._) is typical of the period, except that it bears the name of his ill-fated vizier, Ja'afar, who will be remembered by readers of the _Arabian Nights_ as the companion of the Caliph's nocturnal ramblings, on whom this signal honour was conferred. In the ninth century a second marginal inscription, "To God belongs the order before and after, and in that day the believers shall rejoice in the help of God" (Koran, xxx. 3, 4) was added on the obverse, while the Caliph's name begins to appear regularly on the reverse area.

_Contemporaries of the Caliphs._--Coins with similar legends were struck by the various dynasties which arose on the weakening of the authority of the Caliph in the ninth and tenth centuries. In addition to the ruler's name they usually bear the name of the reigning Caliph, whose spiritual authority was still recognised; such are Plate III. 1, a dirhem of the Samanid Nasr b. Ahmad struck in 300 A.H. at Samarkand, which was then one of the great centres of Mohammadan learning and literary activity; Plate III. 4, a Buwayhid dinar of Rukn-al-Daula (932-976 A.D.), struck at Hamadan in 352 A.H., bearing the name of the _fainéant_ Caliph al-Muti; and Plate III. 6, a dinar, struck at Rayy, 447 A.H., of the Great Seljuk Toghrul Beg (1037-1063 A.D.), the Turkish conqueror of Western Asia whose descendants were among the most redoubtable of the "Saracens." Plate III. 3, a dinar of the last Abbasid Caliph--Al-Mustasim (1242-1258 A.D.), illustrates the change in the fabric and calligraphy of the coinage which had taken place in six centuries. Plate III. 5 is a dinar of Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030 A.D.), with the reverse legend in Sanskrit for the benefit of his Indian subjects.

_Seljuks, Ortukids, and Ayyubids_ (_Saracens_).--Plate III. 7, a dirhem of Sulaiman II. (1199-1203 A.D.), a Seljuk of Asia Minor, is the first of a series of striking deviations from the orthodox Mohammadan type, prompted as much by necessities of commerce with Christian nations as by a lack of orthodoxy on the part of their issuers, heretics though they were. The obverse area is occupied by a horseman holding a mace over his shoulder, while around is the Shia form of the Mohammadan creed (as above, with the addition of the words "Ali is the friend of God"); the reverse bears the usual data. Plate III. 8 is a dirhem of one of his successors Kaikubad I. (1219-1236 A.D.), a fine specimen of the calligraphy of the period; Plate III. 9, is a dirhem of his successor, Kai-Khusru II. (1136-1245 A.D.), bearing the "lion and sun," the horoscope of his beautiful Georgian wife, whose portrait he wished to place on his coins, till his counsellors persuaded him to be content with her horoscope. The coins of the Ortukids, who were also prominent opponents of the Crusaders, are remarkable for their immense variety of types borrowed from all sources (Greek, Roman, Byzantine, etc.). Plate IV. 1, reverse of a copper coin of Kara Arslan (1148-1174 A.D.), and Plate IV. 2, of a copper coin of Alpi (1152-1176 A.D.), represent Christ seated and the Virgin crowning the emperor respectively, both well-known Byzantine types. The Saracen best known by name to English readers is Saladin the Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt and Syria (1169-93 A.D.) whose capture of Jerusalem in 1187 provoked the Third Crusade in which Richard I., Coeur-de-Lion, took a prominent part. Plate IV. 3 is a dirhem struck by him at Damascus, his Syrian capital, in 582 A.H. (1186 A.D.).

_Mongols._--In the thirteenth century the Mongols, led by the Chingiz Khan (1206-1227 A.D.), one of the greatest conquerors the world has known, subjugated practically all Asia with the exception of India. Plate IV. 4 is one of the rare coins attributed to Chingiz Khan, while Plate IV. 5 is a handsome dinar struck by Arghun, one of the earliest (1284-1295 A.D.) of the Persian line of Mongols (obverse, Mohammadan (Shia) creed and date, etc.; reverse, the Khan's titles, etc., in Mongol). Tamerlane (1369-1404 A.D.) (Timur Lang, Timur the Lame), a distant descendant of Chingiz Khan, is another great conqueror familiar to English readers through Marlowe and Gibbon. One of the coins struck by him, with the name of his nominal sovereign, Suyurghatmish, is figured on Plate IV. 6. Plate IV. 7 is a dirhem of his son and ultimate successor, Shah Rukh (1404-1447 A.D.), of a type (obverse, Mohammadan creed, with the names of the four orthodox Caliphs around the margin; reverse, titles) which was very popular in the fifteenth and sixteenth century. Plate IV. 8 is an early Ottoman coin struck by Mohammad I. (1402-1421 A.D.) at Brusa in 822 A.H. (1419 A.D.), of a type which served the Turks for some centuries.

_Persia._--The earliest coins of the Shahs of Persia (_e.g._ Plate IV. 10, reverse of a silver coin of Ismail I. (1502-1524 A.D.) struck at Meshhed in 924 A.H. (1518 A.D.)) are of the type instituted by Shah Rukh to which they may be traced through the Shaibanid coinage; the later Persian coins are smaller and thicker (Plate IV. 12, mohur of the great conqueror Nadir Shah (1736-1747 A.D.)). Plate IV. 11, a gold tuman of Fath-Ali Shah (1797-1834 A.D.), the first Shah with whom England entered into diplomatic relations, is a remarkable fine product of the Persian mint. Nasir-al-Din (1848-1896 A.D.) instituted a mint on the European model in Teheran, and struck coins with his portrait (_e.g._ Plate IV. 13, a gold tuman), or the Lion and Sun, on the obverse and his titles on the reverse.

_Bukhara._--The coins of the Emirs of Bukhara, now under Russian suzerainty, are mainly of gold (_e.g._ Plate IV. 9, a gold tila of the fanatical Haidar Tora, 1800-1826 A.D.).

_Afghanistan._--The Emirs (Durrani and Barakzai) of Afghanistan, who became independent of Persia in the eighteenth century, adopted the standards and types of their Moghul contemporaries. A mint on the European model has recently been established in Kabul, and its coins are rapidly replacing older issues.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--O. Codrington, _Musulman Numismatics_ (London, 1904); S. Lane-Poole, _Mohammadan Dynasties_ (London, 1894); British Museum Catalogue of Oriental Coins, vols, i.-x.; British Museum Catalogue of Persian Coins, _Shahs of Persia_ (1887); W. H. Valentine, _Copper Coins of Modern Muhammadan States_ (London, 1911); M. Longworth Dames, _Coins of the Durranis_ (_Numismatic Chronicle_, 1888); L. White King, _Coins of the Barakzais_ (_Numismatic Chronicle_, 1896).

III.--COINS OF INDIA

_Early Hindu Coins._--The earliest coins of India are square or oblong pieces of silver or copper punched with various symbols, the exact significance of which is not exactly known. They were probably made by money-changers or by the authority responsible for the purity of the coin. These pieces date from as early as the fourth century B.C. and circulated all over India (Plate V. 1). To a somewhat later date belong the coins of various native states in North India; these soon became profoundly influenced by the coinages of foreign invaders, and indeed it is only lately that the independent origin of coinage in India has been generally recognised (Plate V. 3, silver coin of the Kuninda king, Amoghabhuti, second century B.C.).

_Foreign Invaders._--Early in the second century B.C., in the reign of Euthydemus, the Greeks of Bactria began to invade India. We possess coins of his son Demetrius, of the square Indian form with an Indian legend on the reverse, showing a compromise between the Greek and Indian methods of coinage. Henceforth the coins of his successors, many of whom are otherwise unknown to history, are bilingual (Plate V. 2, hemidrachm of Apollodotos I., _c._ 150 B.C.). Towards the end of the second century B.C. the Scythians invaded Bactria and India; their coins are imitated from those of their Greek predecessors, but are much inferior as works of art (Plate V. 4, silver coin of Azes I., _c._ 90 B.C.).

They were followed about the middle of the first century B.C. by the Kushans who founded a great empire in North-West India. The Kushan kings of whom the greatest was Kanishka, famed in Buddhist legend, have left a great wealth of gold and copper coins remarkable for the variety of deities (Zoroastrian, Greek, Hindu, and Buddha) depicted on their reverses (Plate V. 5, gold coin of Kanishka).

_Andhras and Western Satraps._--During the first three centuries A.D. the Western Satraps, a dynasty of Scythic origin, ruled a powerful kingdom in Western India. Their coinage of silver, forming a long dated series, appears to be derived from hemidrachms of the Greek kings possibly influenced by Roman denarii (Plate V. 8, Damaghsada, _c._ 180 A.D.). Unique among India coinages is the lead coinage of the Andhras who ruled in Central and Southern India from the third century B.C. till they fell before the Satraps (Plate V. 7, Vilivayakura, _c._ 100 A.D.; reverse only).

_Guptas._--A new era in the history of India begins in the fourth century A.D. with the rise of the Gupta dynasty which conquered practically all India and held it for two centuries. Their coinage, mainly of gold, is derived from the Kushan, but displays great originality and variety of types, and has legends in pure Sanskrit (Plate V. 9, gold coin (_suvarna_) of Samudragupta, 340-380 A.D., commemorating his horse-sacrifice on his conquests; V. 10, _suvarna_ of Kumaragupta I., 414-450 A.D.).

_Huns._--The Gupta empire finally fell before the inroads of barbarous Huns, who swept down through Persia on India about the same time that their kinsmen under Attila were ravaging Europe. They have left numerous coins imitated from Sassanian or Indian types (Plate V. 12, silver coin of Toramana, _c._ 514-544 A.D., with Sassanian types). From the Hun imitations of Sassanian coins are descended certain coins of very rude fabric known to the natives as "asses' head" money, which circulated very largely in North India from the sixth to the eighth century (Plate V. 11).

_Mediaeval Hindu Dynasties._--The later Kushan type (Plate V. 6, gold, _c._ 250 A.D.), with a king standing, sacrificing at altar on the obverse and a goddess enthroned facing on the reverse, survived for centuries on the base gold and rude copper coins of Kashmir (Plate VI. 1, gold, Yasovarman, _c._ 730 A.D.), and the seated goddess remains a familiar type on the gold coins of the mediaeval Hindu dynasties of the present United and Central Provinces, and even survived on the coins of Mohammadan invaders (Plate VI. 4, gold coin of Hallakshanavarman, 1097-1110 A.D., of Jejahuti). Among the commonest of Indian coins are the silver "Bull and Horseman" coins of the Brahman kings of Kandahar (Plate VI. 2, Spalapatideva, _c._ 875 A.D.), the types of which were copied by various Hindu kings (_e.g._ Plate VI. 3, Prithvi-Raja of Delhi, 1166-1192 A.D.) and retained by their Mohammadan conquerors.

_South India._--In South India the primitive punch-marked coins remained much longer in circulation than in the north, and from the frequent finds of Roman gold and silver coins, it is probable that these formed the major part of the currency in the early centuries of the Christian era. Many of the Hindu coins of South India are uninscribed, and their attribution is still uncertain. To the Chera dynasty of Malabar are attributed certain gold coins having an elephant on the obverse (Plate V. 13, thirteenth century). Copper coins, having on the obverse a figure of the king standing and on the reverse the king seated, were introduced by Rajaraja of the Chola dynasty (_c._ 1030 A.D.); this type spread through South India, was introduced into Ceylon on the Chola conquest, and adopted there by the independent kings of Kandy (Plate VI. 7, Parakramabahu, 1153-1186 A.D.). Thick gold cup-shaped pieces are attributed to the Western Chalukyas of the Deccan (eighth century A.D., Plate VI. 6), while large thin gold coins were struck by the eastern branch of the family (Plate VI. 8, Rajaraja, 1021-1062 A.D.); both bear the Chalukya emblem, the boar. Certain cup-shaped gold pieces bearing a lotus were struck by the Kadambas of Northern Mysore (Plate VI. 9). The great mediaeval Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagara (Mysore) has left an extensive series of gold and copper coins. Its small gold coins called pagodas (Plate VI. 5, Venkata Raya, _c._ 1530-1542 A.D.), bearing one or more deities on the obverse, formed the pattern for later coinages not only of the native states but also of various European invaders of South India.

_Sultans of Delhi._--When Mohammad bin Sam (1193-1205 A.D.) defeated the allied Hindu forces on the plain of Thaneswar in 1193 he became master of India and founded the dynasty known as the Sultans of Delhi, which survived till the Moghul conquest. In addition to striking coins of the usual Mohammadan type he copied the coins of his Hindu predecessors (_e.g._ Plate VI. 10, copper, _cf._ 2 and 3; VI. 11, gold, _cf._ 4). The coins of his successors are the tanka (about 175 grains) in gold and in silver, in addition to smaller coins of copper and billon. Plate VI. 13 may be taken as typical; it is a gold tanka of Mohammad III. bin Tughlak (1324-1351 A.D.); on one side it bears the name of the Sultan, "Mohammad Shah Sultan who trusts in the support of the Merciful One," with a marginal inscription giving the date and mint (Delhi, 726 A.H. (1326 A.D.)); on the other side is a form of the Muslim creed. Plate VI. 12 is one of the remarkable brass tokens with which the same Sultan sought to displace gold and silver money. It bears a legend giving the value at which it was to pass, and an appeal to the piety of his subjects in a legend from the Koran, "He that obeys the Sultan obeys the Merciful One." Though no fraud was intended, this token currency was a failure. Plate VI. 14 is a silver tanka of Sher Shah (1539-1545 A.D.), one of the last and one of the greatest of the Sultans of Delhi. The obverse bears the Mohammadan creed and the names of the first four caliphs on the margin, a type which survived for two centuries longer in the Moghul coins. The coins of the various Mohammadan states which became independent of Delhi in the fifteenth century cannot be detailed here. Plate VII. 1, a silver tanka of Ghiyas-al-Din of Malwa (1468-1500 A.D.), may be taken as typical of them.

_Moghul Emperors._--The Moghul Emperors made but little change in the types and standards of the coins of their predecessors, but gave the standard gold coin the name mohur, while the silver was called the rupee. Plate VII. 2 is a mohur of Jalal-al-Din ("Glory of the Faith"), Mohammad Akbar (1556-1605 A.D.), struck at Agra in 976 A.H. (1568 A.D.), similar in type to Sher Shah's tanka (Plate VI. 14). The coins of his son Nur-al-Din ("Light of the Faith"), Mohammad Jahangir (1605-1627 A.D.), are the most remarkable of the series. Plate VII. 3, a mohur of Jahangir, is a fine specimen of calligraphy (obverse, Mohammadan creed; reverse, titles and mint; Lahore, 1015 A.H.), while Plate VII. 4 is the obverse (Ram) of a mohur of the remarkable series issued by him bearing the signs of the zodiac. Jahangir was, like many of the Moghuls, a heavy drinker, and went so far as to portray himself with the wine cup in his hand on a well-known mohur (Plate VII. 5). Plate VII. 6, a mohur of his successor Shihab-al-Din ("Flame of the Faith"), Shah Jahan (1628-1659), is typical of the coinage of the period (obverse as Plate VII. 2, reverse, titles; Agra, 1050 A.H. (1640 A.D.)). His successor, Aurangzib (1659-1707 A.D.), replaced the religious legends on the obverse by the mint and date, and this remained the usual type to the end of the series. (Plate VII. 7, mohur of Shah Alam II. 1759-1806 A.D.; Delhi, 1205 A.H.).

At the end of the eighteenth century numerous states became practically independent of the Great Moghul, but struck coins which still bore his name. When the last Moghul Emperor was deposed in 1858, the name of Queen Victoria began to appear on the coins of such native states as were allowed to continue issuing coins. To attain uniformity in the currency of the empire this right has been gradually curtailed by the British government, and is now exercised only by a few of the more important states, such as Hyderabad, which issues coins struck by modern European machinery.

_Assam and Nepal._--Two important Hindu kingdoms, Assam and Nepal, were never subject to the Moghuls. The kings of Assam issued an extensive coinage (octagonal in form) till their territory was acquired by Britain (Plate VII. 8, rupee "of the divine king Siva Sinha (1714-1744 A.D.) a bee on the lotus feet of Hara and Gauri"). Plate VII. 9 is a silver mohur of Prthvi Vira Vikrama (1881) of Nepal, the reigning Maharaja of Nepal.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--E. J. Rapson, _Indian Coins_ (Strassburg, 1897); Sir A. Cunningham, _Coins of Ancient India_ (London, 1891), _Coins of Mediaeval India_ (1894); British Museum Catalogue of Indian Coins, _Greek and Scythic Kings_ (1886), _Andhras and Western Ksatrapas_ (1908), _Sultans of Delhi_ (1885), _Muhammadan States_ (1885), _Moghul Emperors_ (1891); Catalogue of Coins in the Indian Museum, vol. i. by V. A. Smith (Oxford, 1906), vols. ii. and iii. (1907, 1908) by H. Nelson Wright; E. H. Walsh, _The Coins of Nepal_ (_Journ. of Roy. Asiat. Society_, 1907); J. Allan, _Coinage of Assam_ (_Num. Chron._, 1908).

IV.--THE COINAGES OF THE FAR EAST