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.