Kushan coinage

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Gold coin of king Havishka, Cleveland Museum of Art
Gold coin of king Vasudeva I, Cleveland Museum of Art
Gold coin of Kushan King Vasudeva II, Cleveland Museum of Art
Silver tetradrachm of the first known self-declared "Kushan" ("Kossano" on his coins), Heraios (ruled c. 1–30)
Shaka I
(325–345).

In the coinage of the North Indian and Central Asian Kushan Empire (approximately 30–375 CE) the main coins issued were gold, weighing 7.9 grams, and base metal issues of various weights between 12 g and 1.5 g. Little silver coinage was issued, but in later periods the gold used was debased with silver.[1]

The coin designs usually broadly follow the styles of the preceding

pantheon of deities used, is even stronger.[2] Under Kanishka the royal title of "King of kings" changed from the Greek "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ" to the Persian form "ϷAONANOϷAO" (Shah of Shahs).[3]

Much of what little information we have of Kushan political history derives from coins. The language of inscriptions is typically the Bactrian language, written in a script derived from Greek. Many coins show the tamga symbols (see table) as a kind of monogram for the ruler. There were several regional mints, and the evidence from coins suggests that much of the empire was semi-independent.

Kushan deities[4]

Skanda and Visakha
Kanishka I, with a depiction of the Buddha, with the legend "Boddo" in Greek script;Ahin Posh

The Kushan religious

pantheon is extremely varied, as revealed by their coins and their seals, on which more than 30 different gods appear, belonging to the Hellenistic, the Iranian, and to a lesser extent the Indian world. Greek deities, with Greek names are represented on early coins. During Kanishka's reign, the language of the coinage changes to Bactrian (though it remained in Greek script for all kings). After Huvishka, only two divinities appear on the coins: Ardoxsho and Oesho
(see details below).

Representation of entities from Greek mythology and Hellenistic syncretism are:

  • Ηλιος (
    Sarapis
    .

The Indic entities represented on coinage include:

The Iranian entities depicted on coinage include:

  • Αρδοχþο (ardoxsho,
    Ashi Vanghuhi
    )
  • Aþαειχþo (ashaeixsho,
    Asha Vahishta
    )
  • Αθþο (athsho, Atar)
  • Φαρρο (pharro,
    Khwarenah
    )
  • Λροοασπο (lrooaspa, Drvaspa)
  • Μαναοβαγο, (manaobago, Vohu Manah)
  • Μαο (mao, Mah)
  • Μιθρο, Μιιρο, Μιορο, Μιυρο (mithro and variants, Mithra)
  • Μοζδοοανο (mozdooano, Mazda *vana "Mazda the victorious?")
  • Νανα, Ναναια, Ναναϸαο (variations of pan-Asiatic nana, Sogdian nny, in a Zoroastrian context
    Aredvi Sura Anahita
    )
  • Οαδο (oado
    Vata
    )
  • Oαxþo (oaxsho, "Oxus")
  • Ooρoμoζδο (ooromozdo, Ahura Mazda)
  • Οραλαγνο (orlagno, Verethragna)
  • Τιερο (tiero, Tir)

Additionally:

Deities on Kushan coinage
  • Mahasena on a coin of Huvishka
    Mahasena on a coin of Huvishka
  • Four-faced Oesho
    Four-faced Oesho
  • Rishti
    Rishti
  • Manaobago
    Manaobago
  • Pharro
    Pharro
  • Ardochsho
    Ardochsho
  • Oesho
    Oesho
  • Oesho with bull
    Oesho with bull
  • Kushan Carnelian seal representing the "ΑΔϷΟ" (adsho Atar), with triratana symbol left, and Kanishka's dynastic mark right
    Kushan
    triratana
    symbol left, and Kanishka's dynastic mark right

Base metal issues

MacDowell (1968) identified three regional copper issues of

Vima Taktu of separate coinage in their first issue, which would correspond to the three previous realms making up the Kushan empire. The northern area, Bactria which had the largest sized coins of 12 g (tetradrachms) and 1.5 g, Gandhara
whose coinage weighed 9–10 g for large and 2 g for small, and the Indian area, where coins are 4 g each.

MacDowell (1960) proposed a gradual reduction of all three issues starting with Huvishka, while Chattopadhyay (1967) proposes a rapid devaluation of the issue by Kanishka. It seems that there were two reductions based on the coinage of the rulers just named.[8] Later issues were unified into a central coinage system of weights.

Gold coinage

Vima Kadphises issued three denominations of for this metal, a two of 15.75 grams, one of 7.8 grams and a quarter dinar piece of 1.95 grams.[9]

Imitations

Imitation of Kushan coinage
Kushan coin of Vasudeva II, 275–300 CE.
Standard type of Samudragupta, 335/350–375 CE
Samudragupta was the first Gupta ruler to mint coins. These were in imitation of the coinage of the Kushan Empire, adopting its weight standard, techniques and designs, following the conquests of Samudragupta in the northwest.[10][11] The two types of coins are similar, except for the headdress of the ruler (a close-fitting cap instead of the Kushan pointed hat), the Garuda standard instead of the trident, and Samudragupta's jewelry, which is Indian.[10]

The coinage of the Kushans was copied as far as the

Kushano-Sasanians in the west, and the kingdom of Samatata in Bengal to the east. Towards the end of Kushan rule, the first coinage of the Gupta Empire was also derived from the coinage of the Kushan Empire, adopting its weight standard, techniques and designs, following the conquests of Samudragupta in the northwest.[12][13][14][11] The imagery on Gupta coins then became more Indian in both style and subject matter compared to earlier dynasties, where Greco-Roman and Persian styles were mostly followed.[15][14][16][4] The standard coin type of Samudragupta, the first Gupta ruler to issue coins, is highly similar to the coinage of the later Kushan rulers, including the sacrificial scene over an altar, the depiction of a halo, while differences include the headdress of the ruler (a close-fitting cap instead of the Kushan pointed hat), the Garuda standard instead of the trident, and Samudragupta's jewelry, which is Indian.[10]

References

  1. ^ "ONSNUMIS.ORG – Kshaharata Questions". 2021-08-03. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  2. ^ MacDowell, "Mithra"
  3. ^ MacDowell, "Mithra", 308–309
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Sivaramamurti, pp. 56–59.
  6. ^ Sims-Williams, Nicolas. "Bactrian Language". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. 3. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
  7. ^ H. Humbach, 1975, pp. 402–408. K.Tanabe, 1997, p.277, M.Carter, 1995, p.152. J.Cribb, 1997, p. 40. References cited in "De l'Indus à l'Oxus".
  8. ^ "The Devaluation of Huvishka's Coinage". kushan.org. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2007.
  9. ^ "COINS OF KUSHAN DYNASTY". Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  10. ^
    ISBN 9788120804401
    .
  11. ^
    ISBN 9781438109961
    .
  12. ISBN 9780300119169
    .
  13. ^ Gupta inscriptions using the term "Dinara" for money: No 5–9, 62, 64 in Fleet, John Faithfull (1960). Inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings And Their Successors.
  14. ^
    ISBN 9788120804401
    .
  15. ^ Pal, 78
  16. ISBN 9780520059917
    .

[1]

Further reading

  • MacDowell, David W., "Mithra": "Mithra's Planetary Setting in the Coinage of the Great Kushans", in Études Mithriaques: Actes Du 2e Congrès International, Téhéran, Du 1er Au 8 Septembre, 1975, ed. Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin, 1978, BRILL,
    ISBN 9004039023, 9789004039025, preview

External links
  1. ^ Singh, Arvind Kumar (1996). Coins of The Great Kushans (1st ed.). Parimal Publications.
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