Part 3

The extreme rarity of the money of a few kings, like Apollophanes, Polyxenos and Theophilos, leads us to suppose that they were pretenders. The most important kings, judging from the large number of their coin types, were Antialkidas, king of Taxila, circ. 155-130 B.C., Apollodotos, Menander and Strato I. Antialkidas appears on one of his numerous silver types wearing the striking flat cap, called “kausia” (Pl. II, 8). Apollodotos’ coinage is remarkable for the large variety of its copper types. Particularly noticeable are the large round pieces which he introduced (Pl. II, 3). Menander’s coins (Pl. II, 4) are found all over Northern India in great quantities, and his didrachms, with three distinct styles of portrait, are the finest of the series. The heads of two queens, Agathokleia and Kalliope, are found conjoined, the former with that of her son, Strato I, the latter with that of her husband, Hermaios (Pl. II, 9), on a few rare coins. The debasement which set in in Strato’s reign (Pl. II, 10) in the Eastern Kingdom, and is evidenced not only in the poorness of design but even in the striking of coins in lead, reached even a lower point in the coinage of Hermaios. On one type of copper, with the head of Hermaios on the obverse, the name of Kujūla Kadphises, the Kushāṇa, appears on the reverse (Pl. IV, 1).[16]

[16] It is suggested (_Camb. History of India_, p. 561) that the coins of Hermaios extended over a long period, and that it was these degenerate posthumous coins which Kujūla Kadphises copied.

II. COINS OF THE ŚAKAS AND PAHLAVAS

After the conquest of Bactria by the Śakas in 135 B.C. there must have been considerable intercourse, sometimes of a friendly, sometimes of a hostile character, between them and the Parthians, who occupied the neighbouring territory. This may account for the Parthian influence which appears in certain features on the coins of the Śakas, particularly in the title _Basileōs Basileōn_, “King of Kings,” which all these kings, following the example of the Arsacid dynasty, inscribed on the obverse of their coins.

Maues, whose coins are found only in the Panjāb, was the first king of what may be called the Azes group of princes. His silver is not plentiful; the finest type is that with a “biga” (two-horsed chariot) on the obverse, and to this type belongs a square hemidrachm, the only square Śaka silver coin known. His commonest copper coins, with an elephant’s head on the obverse and a “caduceus” (staff of the god Hermes) on the reverse (Pl. III, 4), are imitated from a round copper coin of Demetrios. On another copper square coin of Maues the king is represented on horseback. This striking device is characteristic both of the Śaka and Pahlava coinage (Pl. III, 7); it first appears in a slightly different form on coins of the Indo-Greek Hippostratos (Pl. II, 5); the Gupta kings adopted it for their “horseman” type, and it reappears in Mediæval India on the coins of numerous Hindu kingdoms, and was even employed by Muhammadan invaders until the fourteenth century.

Silver coins of Azes I and Azilises, especially of the former, are abundant. As on Maues’ coinage, Greek gods and goddesses, Zeus, Herakles, Pallas and Poseidon, appear on both silver and copper of these two kings, but now for the first time an Indian goddess, Lakshmī, is introduced. A favourite device on the silver of Azilises is the Dioskouroi (Pl. III, 9).[17] His copper coins are all square, whereas Azes’ commonest type is a large round coin with a bull on the observe and a lion on the reverse (Pl. III, 5), unquestionably copied from the large round coins of Apollodotos; for some of Azes I’s coins are restruck on those of Apollodotos and Hippostratos. Another copper coin shows the king Azes sitting cross-legged in the Indian fashion. On the reverse of another copper coin, of the common “king on horseback” type, appears the name of the Indian general, Aspavarma, which is also found on some coins of the Pahlava Gondopharnes: this is a most important piece of evidence, as it shows a connection between the two dynasties. The earlier Pahlava kings, which we may call the Vonones group, were evidently far less powerful than the Śaka rulers; their coins are scarcer, didrachms particularly so, and are found only west of the Indus valley. On no coins has the name of Vonones been found alone, but always associated either with Spalahores, his brother, or his nephew, Spalagadames; the names of the two latter are conjoined on another coin (Pl. III, 10). A fourth prince, Spalirises, strikes coins of his own and also in conjunction with Azes II.[18] All the silver coins of this group are of the usual “king on horseback” type; their copper coins are with one exception square.

[17] They are also represented on horseback as on Eukratides’ coins.

[18] This coin seems to provide the family link between the Śakas and Pahlavas.

Like the Indo-Greeks, the Śakas use Greek for the obverse and Kharoshṭhī for the reverse legend.

The most important of the later Pahlava kings was Gondophares, or Gondopharnes, famous as the King of India mentioned in the traditional stories connected with the Apostle St. Thomas. In the British Museum there is a silver coin of his struck in the pure Parthian style, but the rest of his didrachms—no smaller coins are known—are of billon (Pl. III, 8). Several types of these are known, but all have the usual “king on horseback” obverse. On the reverse of one type the god Śiva appears. His copper coins, all of them round, have a bust of the king in the Parthian style, with either a figure of Nike or Pallas on the reverse. The coins of his successors or contemporaries, Abdagases, Orthagnes and Pakores, closely follow in type those of Gondopharnes.

Connected with these later Pahlavas are a few princes who call themselves “Satrap”—among these the most prominent is Zeionises, who minted some rather striking didrachms in pure silver. His not uncommon copper coins imitate the bull and lion type of Azes. Lastly, there are a number of miscellaneous rulers, such as Miaos and Hyrcordes, whose coins present features so heterogeneous that it has been impossible hitherto to assign them ancestry, nationality or even an approximate date. The most important of these is the “nameless king,” whose superscription consists of the titles, “_King of Kings, the great Saviour_,” written in Greek only. His coins, all of copper, are well struck, especially the commonest type, which shows a diademed head of the king on the obverse and a horseman on the reverse (Pl. III, 6). On all appears his special symbol, a three-pronged fork (Fig. 3, v).[19]

[19] It has been suggested with great probability that the title _Sotēr Megas_ (Great Saviour) was that of the military governor (_stratēgos_) of Taxila under the Kushāṇas, and that these coins were the anonymous issues of successive _stratēgoi_. Cf. _Camb. History of India_, Vol. I, p. 581.

KEY TO PLATE III

1. Andhra: Gotamīputra Śrī Yajña Sātakarṇī, AR. Hemidrachm. Wt. 34 grs. Obv., head of king to right. In Brāhmī, _Raño Gotamiputasa Siri Yaña Sātakaṇisa_. Rev., Ujjain symbol and chaitya. In Southern Brāhmī, _Gotam (a) putasha Hiru Yaña Hātakaṇisha_ (Hiru = Śrī).

2. Western Kshatrapa: Dāmasena. AR. Wt. 34 grs. Obv., head of Satrap to right. Corrupt Greek inscription. Date 100 + 50 + 3 to left. Rev., chaitya, star and crescent. In Brāhmī, _Raño Mahākshatrapasa Rudrasīhasa putrasa raño Mahākshatrapasa Dāmasenasa_ “(Coin) of king Dāmasena, the great satrap, son of king Rudrasiṁha, the great satrap.”

3. Odumbara: Dharaghosha, AR. Wt. 37·5 grs. Obv., standing figure of Viśvāmitra(?). In Brāhmī, _Mahadevasa Raña Dharughoshasa Odumbarisa_, “(Coin) of the Mahadeva, king Dharughosha of Odumbara”; across, in Kharoshṭhī, _Viśvāmitra_. Rev., trident, battle-axe and tree within railing. Brāhmī legend as on obverse.

4. Maues. Æ. Wt. about 130 grs. Obv., head of elephant to right, bell suspended from neck. Rev., caduceus and monogram. In Greek, _Basileōs Mauou_ “(Coin) of king Maues.”

5. Azes. Æ. Wt. about 220 grs. Obv., humped bull to right, monogram above. In Greek, _Basileōs basileōn megalou Azou_. Rev., in Kharoshṭhī, _Maharajasa rajatirajasa mahatasa Ayasa_ “(Coin) of the great king of Kings, Azes.”

6. Nameless king: Sotēr Megas, Æ. Obv., diademed and radiate bust of king to right holding a lance: king’s special symbol to left. Rev., king on horseback to right, symbol to right. In Greek, _Basileus basileōn sotēr megas_, “King of kings, the great saviour.”

7. Azes I. AR. Didrachm. Wt. 142 grs. Obv., king on horseback to right, holding couched lance. Kharoshṭhī letter “Sa” below. Legend as on No. 5.

8. Gondopharnes. AR (base). Didrachm. Wt. 142 grs. Obv., king on horseback to right, right arm extended; king’s special symbol to right. In Greek, _Basileōs basileōn megalou Undopherou_. Rev., Zeus standing to right, right arm extended; monogram to right, Kharoshṭhī letters to left. In Kharoshṭhī, _Mahārāja rajatiraja tratara devavrada Gudu-pharasa_, “The king of kings, the great Gondopharnes, devoted to the gods.”

9. Azilises. AR. Didrachm. Obv., king on horseback holding elephant-goad in right hand, symbol to right. In Greek as on No. 5, but _Azilisou_. Rev., Discouroi standing side by side, armed with spears. Legend as No. 5, but _Ayilishasa_.

10. Spalyris with Spalagadames. Æ. Obv., in square frame the king on horseback. In Greek, _Spalurios dikaiou adelphou tou basileōs_ “(Coin) of Spalyris the just, the brother of the king.” Rev., naked diademed Herakles, with club, sitting on a rock; monogram to left. In Kharoshṭhī, _Śpalahoraputrasa dhramiasa Śpalagadamasa_ “(Coin) of Śpalagadames, son of Śpalahores (Spalyris) the just.”

KEY TO PLATE IV

1. Hermaios and Kujūla Kadphises. Æ. Obv., diademed bust of king to right. In Greek, _Basileōs stērossu Hermaiou_. (Meaning obscure.) Rev., Herakles facing, with lion’s skin and club. In Kharoshṭhī, _Kujūla Kasasa Kushana yavugasa dhramaṭhidasa_ “(Coin) of Kujūla Kasa, chief of the Kushāṇas, steadfast in the law.”

2. Kujūla Kadaphes—imitation of a Roman type. Æ. Obv., diademed head to right. In corrupt Greek, _Khoranou zaoou Kozola Kadaphes_. Rev., king seated to right on a chair, behind him a monogram. In Kharoshṭhī, ... _Kaphsasa[20] sachadhramaṭhitasa Khushanasa yüasa_ “(Coin) of Kapsha, chief of the Kushāṇas, steadfast in the true law.”

3. Vima Kadphises. AV. Double stater. Wt. 244·2 grs. Obv., king seated cross-legged, wearing crested helmet and diadem, thunderbolt in right hand; symbol to left. Legend in Greek letters, _Basileus Ooemo Kadphises_. Rev., Śiva radiate, standing in front of bull, long trident in right hand; symbol to left. In Kharoshṭhī, _Maharajasa rajadhirajasa sarvaloga iśvarasa Mahiśvarasa Vima Kaṭhphiśasa tradara_ “(Coin) of the great king, the king of kings, lord of the world, the Maheśvara, Vima Kaṭhphiśa, the defender.”[21]

4. Kanishka. AV. Wt. 122 grs. Obv., king radiate, standing to left sacrificing at a small altar, spear in left hand. In Greek characters, _Shāonānoshāo Kaneshki Koshāno_ “(Coin) of the king of kings, Kanishka the Kushāṇa.” Rev., Buddha facing nimbate, wallet in left hand; to right symbol. In Greek, _Boddo_.

5. Kanishka. AV. Wt. 30·8 grs. Obv., half-length portrait of king to left, spear in left hand. Legend as on No. 4. Rev., bearded deity to left, with fillet in right hand and tongs in left. To left symbol, to right _Athsho_.

6. Kanishka. Æ. Obv., as No. 4, but legend _Shāo Kaneshki_. Rev., Wind god, undraped and radiate, running to left; to left symbol, to right _Oado_.

7. Huvishka. AV. Wt. 120·9 grs. Obv., king riding on an elephant to right, holds sceptre and elephant-goad. Legend as on No. 4, but _Oēshki_. Rev., goddess to right, holding cornucopiae in both hands; to right symbol, to left _Ardokhsho_.

8. Huvishka. AV. Wt. 123 grs. Obv., king seated cross-legged, turning to left; goad in left hand, sceptre in right. Legend as on No. 7. Rev., bearded Herakles, with club and lion’s skin, standing, apple in left hand; to left symbol, to right _Herakilo_.

9. Vasudeva. AV. Wt. 122·3 grs. Obv., similar to No. 4, but king wears suit of chain-mail; also name _Bazodēo_ in legend. Rev., many-headed Śiva, standing in front of bull, trident in left hand; symbol to right, to left _Oesho_.

10. Later Great Kushāṇa. AV. Wt. 121·4 grs. Obv., as No. 4, but corrupt legend, Nāgarī letters, to left “ha,” to right “vi.” Rev., goddess seated on throne facing, holding noose in right, cornucopiae in left hand; left, above symbol, below Nāgarī “la”; to right _Ardokhsho_.

11. Yaudheya. Æ. Obv., soldier standing, holding spear in right hand. In Brāhmī, _Yaudheyagaṇasya iaya dvi_.... “Of the clan of Yaudheyas (?)” Rev., standing figure, symbol on either side.

[20] Four different Kharoshṭhī forms appear on coins—Kasa, Kaphsa, Kadapha and Kaü. It is uncertain how many persons they denote.

[21] Maheśvara (Mahesh) is a name of Śiva.

III. COINS OF THE WESTERN SATRAPS AND OTHER IMITATORS OF THE GREEK MODELS

The coinage of the Indo-Greek kings made a deep impression upon their successors and neighbours, just as the coinage of Bactria had impressed the conquering Śakas, who copied it extensively in that country. The crude coins of Miaos (or Heraos) and of Sapeleizes, two very obscure rulers, are evidently modelled on the issues of Heliokles and Eukratides. Śaka princes, like Maues, as we have seen, while adopting many Greek features, employed a characteristic coinage of their own. On the other hand, we find Rājuvula, one of the Śaka satraps who replaced the Hindu kings of Mathurā in the first century A.D., slavishly copying the billon hemidrachms of Strato II (Pl. I, 8). Nahapāna, a great Śaka conqueror who founded a kingdom in the Western Ghats at about the same period, also reproduced the Greek hemidrachm (Pl. II, 11), as did the Andhra king, Śrī Yajña Gotamīputra (Pl. III, 1). Another Śaka chieftain, Chashṭana, about A.D. 115, founded a kingdom in Mālwā, striking hemidrachms like those of Nahapāna on the Greek model, and resembling most nearly the coins of Apollodotos. The coins of both these princes preserve the remains of Greek characters on the obverse, and on the reverse are inscriptions in both Nāgarī[22] and Kharoshṭhī, but after the death of Chashṭana the Kharoshṭhī inscription disappears. His successors, known as the Western Satraps, extended his dominions by conquests from the Andhras until they embraced all the flourishing ports on the west coast with their valuable sea-borne trade. Their hemidrachms are found in great abundance throughout Western India: on the reverse of all appears the Buddhist _chaitya_ copied from the Andhra coinage; the portraits on the obverse are distinctly Scythian in appearance. These coins are of special historical importance; for in the reign of the fifth satrap, Jīvadāman, dates in the so-called Śaka era,[23] recording the year of issue, were added to the inscription (Pl. III, 2); and these are of the greatest service in helping to date events here and elsewhere in India down to the year A.D. 395, when the Guptas conquered the country, and the long and monotonous series of Western Satrap coins came to an end. The Guptas in their turn struck silver of the same type; and these degenerate descendants of the Greek hemidrachm had a further lease of life, when, imported by the Guptas from their western (Pl. VI, 1) to their central dominions (Pl. VI, 2), they were adopted by several minor dynasties, including the Maukharīs, and were even struck by the invading Huns (Pl. VI, 7).

[22] Nāgarī is a later form of Brāhmī script.

[23] The Śaka era started in A.D. 78; this date is now considered to mark the first year of Kanishka’s reign.

Imitation of both Greek and Śaka models is noticeable in the coins of the Hindu state of Odumbara. (Pl. III, 3), the modern Pathānkot; both these and the earlier silver coins of the Kuṇindas, who occupied hilly districts near the river Satlej, have legends in Brāhmī and Kharoshṭhī; both may be assigned to the first century B.C.

III

COINS OF THE KUSHĀṆA KINGS

_Note._—The monograms in Fig. 3b occur on coins of the following: (1) Eukratides, (2) Apollodotos, (3) Apollodotos, Maues, (4) Azes I, (5) Sotēr Megas, (6) Gondopharnes and Aspavarma.

The Yueh-chi, who drove the Śakas out of Bactria about the year 126 B.C., were destined to create “one of the greatest empires of ancient India.” At some date after A.D. 25, one of the five tribes of which they were composed, the Kushāṇas, became supreme, and under the leadership of the head of that tribe, Kujūla Kadphises, they passed south of the Hindu Kush, and overwhelmed the Pahlavas, then ruling in the Kābul valley. The deposition of Pacores, successor of Gondopharnes to the Pahlava kingdom of Taxila, must have taken place between the years A.D. 45 and A.D. 64, and was effected by Vima Kadphises, the second Kushāṇa king. Henceforward there is less confusion of dynasties. We know the names and the chronological order of these powerful Kushāṇa princes—Kujūla Kadphises, Vima Kadphises, Kanishka, Huvishka, Vāsudeva; the names of the three last are even recorded in several inscriptions. It seems to be now generally accepted that Kanishka was the founder of the so-called Śaka era, and that consequently his reign started in A.D. 78.[24] The chief remaining difficulty is the attribution of certain copper coins bearing the title _Kujūla Kadaphes_ (Kharoshṭhī—_Kuyula Kaphasa_); this must remain for the present unsettled.

[24] _Camb. History of India_, Vol. I, p. 583.

The commoner type of these Kadaphes coins deserves special attention (Pl. IV, 2); for the head on the obverse is directly copied from the coins of one of the earlier Roman Emperors, probably Augustus, and bears evidence to that Roman influence which is so marked in the gold coinage of the Kushāṇas, and which is partly traceable to the intercourse between the Yueh-chi and the Roman Empire before their invasion of India, an intercourse which resulted in Kushāṇa ambassadors being actually sent to the court of Augustus. But the plentiful issues in gold of Vima Kadphises and his two successors, all struck on the same standard as the Roman _aureus_, are due also to other causes. Exports from India to different provinces of the Roman Empire, carried by sea from the south, and by the overland routes in the north, were paid for in Roman gold; and the _aureus_ had, like the English _sovereign_ in more recent times, at this period acquired that status as a current coin in India, which it already possessed in those parts of Asia more directly under the influence of the imperial power. It was only natural that these Kushāṇa invaders should seek to win acceptance for their new gold currency by placing it on an equality with the popular Roman gold. There was, moreover, at this time a world shortage of silver: not only do we find the Pahlava kings striking didrachms in debased silver, but the silver _denarius_ itself was, during the early empire, being reduced in weight and fineness. This accounts for the disappearance of silver and the important place of gold in the Kushāṇa coinage, and is probably also partly the reason why the Western Satraps struck only small hemidrachms, and these often in inferior silver.

The coins of Kujūla Kadphises are all of copper. Those which he struck in the style of Hermaios have the head of the Greek king on the obverse (Pl. IV, 1), and he used the same type after the name of Hermaios had disappeared from the inscriptions; both these types were current in the Kābul province. Another type, akin to the Śaka coins, has a bull on the obverse and a Bactrian camel on the reverse. In one of his inscriptions, for which like his successor he uses both Greek and Kharoshṭhī, he is styled “_The Great King, King of Kings, the Son of Heaven_.”

The gold of Vima Kadphises (c. A.D. 45-78) was struck in three denominations, the double stater (Pl. IV, 3), the stater or _dināra_,[25] as the Kushāṇas called it (= the Roman _aureus_ of 124 grains weight), and the quarter stater. On the obverse of these appears either the king’s head or bust, or the king seated cross-legged on a couch, or, as on a rare stater in the British Museum, sitting in a two-horsed chariot. On the copper coins, which are of three sizes, the king is almost invariably standing, with his right hand placing an offering upon a small altar at his side. The portrait of the king is most realistic, though hardly flattering—a corpulent figure with a long heavy face and a large nose, he appears wearing the long Kushāṇa cloak and tall “Gilgit” boots, on his head a conical hat with streamers. Vima Kadphises must have been a zealous convert to the worship of the Hindu god Śiva, for the god or his emblem, the trident battle-axe, is the invariable device on the reverse of all his coins. The title “_Sotēr Megas_” on this king’s copper coins indicates a relationship between him and the so-called “nameless king” mentioned in the previous chapter, whose coins bear the same legend.

[25] _Dināra_ is derived from the Roman _denarius_. It affords an interesting example of the vicissitudes which so many coin names have experienced. The first letter of the same word _d (enarius)_ now signifies copper in English money.