Indo-Scythian Kingdom, Azes I, Silver tetradrachm, c. 1st century BCE

Indo-Scythian Kingdom, Azes I, Silver tetradrachm, c. 1st century BCE

Indo-Scythian Kingdom, Azes I, Silver tetradrachm, c. 1st century BCE

Weight: 9.52 gm., Diam: 26 mm.

King mounted on horse right, holding spear, Greek legend around:

BAΣIΛEΩΣ BAΣIΛEΩN MEΓAΛOY // AZOY

Zeus standing facing, holding thunderbolt and spear, Kharoshthi legend around:Maharajasa rajarajasa mahatasa // Ayasa In the north-west, the Indo-Greek kingdom was also crumbling in the face of a powerful new military presence: the Indo-Scythians. These were tribes that had entered India from a nomadic existence in Central Asia. One of the earliest forays of Scythians seems to have occurred around 150 BCE, when they laid waste to the northern Greek city of Ai-Khanoum (in the northern part of modern Afghanistan). They seem to have slowly given up their nomadic ways and began to challenge the Indo-Greeks for supremacy in the area. There is also some evidence that they intermarried with Indo-Greek royalty.

The greatest expansion of the Indo-Scythian realm was made by Azes I. Coin 10 is a silver tetradrachm of this ruler, issued probably in the middle of the 1st century BCE. The overall design of the coin clearly borrows from the standard Indo-Greek types. There is a portrait of the king on the obverse, circled by a Greek legend, and there is a chosen deity on the reverse, circled by a Kharoshthi legend. What is different, however, is that the king's portrait is not a bust, but rather a representation of the king mounted on a horse, dressed in full armor, carrying a spear. The horse must have been an important and potent symbol for a nomadic people and this equestrian portrait recalls the past, even though the Scythians were now living a settled life. The deity on the reverse is Zeus, holding a large fulmen (or thunderbolt) in his right hand and a scepter in his left; it is interesting that the Scythian nomads quickly adopted the worship of Greek gods.

Panchala Kingdom, Bhumimitra, Copper double karshapana, c. 1st century BCE

Panchala Kingdom, Bhumimitra, Copper double karshapana, c. 1st century BCE

Panchala Kingdom, Bhumimitra, Copper double karshapana, c. 1st century BCE

Weight: 15.52 gm., Diam: 25 mm.

Deity (Bhumi?) on a pedestal /

Three Panchala symbols, Brahmi legend below: 

Bhumimitrasa New kingdoms were emerging on the ruins of the Mauryan empire in northern India also. One such kingdom was Panchala. This had been one of the 16 great mahajanapadas in the time of the Buddha. Draupadi, one of the central characters of the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, was reportedly a Panchala princess. This janapada had been absorbed by Magadha as it pursued its program of expansion. But now this kingdom was reconstituted under the Mitra kings, who issued a most interesting and long-lived series of coins. Coin 9 is an early Panchala coin of this period, an issue of King Bhumimitra. The Panchala coins all carry the name of the issuing king in Brahmi letters; these are some of the earliest indigenous Indian coins to carry legends. The illustrated coin carries an image of a deity on the obverse and an incuse punch on the reverse which has the legend Bhumimitrasa with the three symbols of the Panchala kingdom above. The Panchala series lasted over two centuries, from the mid-2nd century BCE to well into the 1st century CE.

Pandya Kingdom, Sangam period, Anonymous bronze unit, c. 3rd - 1st century BCE

Pandya Kingdom, Sangam period, Anonymous bronze unit,

 c. 3rd - 1st century BCE

Weight: 7.82 gm., Dim: 29 x 22 mm.

Elephant right, barred trident and altar before, various symbols above /

Stylized fish (Pandya dynastic symbol)

Ref: MAC 4988-95, Krishnamurthy 52-54

After the collapse of the Mauryan empire around the end of the 3rd century BCE, a number of small kingdoms were established all over India. In southern India, three major dynasties, the Cheras, the Cholas and the Pandyas, emerged as powerful rulers. This period saw a cultural flowering, particularly of literature in the Tamil language, and has been called the Sangam age, after the Sangams, or Literary Conventions, that were held at that time. Coin 8 is a magnificent copper issue of the Pandya kingdom from roughly this time period. It shows an elephant standing right along with a number of symbols on the obverse and a highly stylized fish, the dynastic symbol of the Pandyas, on the reverse. The artistic standard of the carving is quite high.

The square shape of the coin and the presence of multiple symbols recalls the characteristics of the Mauryan coinage. However, there is an important difference. The symbols have all been carved on to a single die, which has then been used to strike the coin. Thus the coin is die-struck rather than punchmarked, evidence of Greek influence. The symbols on the coin seem to be both Hindu and Buddhist. The barred trident in front of the elephant and the crescent moon above seem quite clearly Shaivite, while the railed tree and the wheel are likely Buddhist in origin. Thus the coin provides some concrete evidence for the theory that the Sangam age was characterized by religious toleration.

Indo-Greek Kingdom, Menander I, Silver tetradrachm, c. 155-130 BCE

Indo-Greek Kingdom, Menander I, Silver tetradrachm, c. 155-130 BCE

Indo-Greek Kingdom, Menander I, Silver tetradrachm, c. 155-130 BCE

Weight: 9.74 gm., Diam: 25 mm.

Diademed, helmeted bust of Menander right, Greek legend around:

Athena Alkidemos standing left, seen from behind, holding aegis on left arm, hurling thunderbolt with right, monograms at left and right, Kharoshthi legend around: maharajasa tratarasa // menamdrasa

The Bactrian kingdom established by Diodotos seems to have flourished uninterrupted for about 75 years. However, around 175 BCE, a scion of the Seleucid family appears to have attempted to overthrow the renegade usurpers. Eucratides (the Great) succeeded to a large extent and established his rule in Bactria and also south of the Hindu Kush. However, from this time on, it appears the various Greek factions engaged in an almost continuous civil war as rival families established themselves in different locations and fought one another for supremacy. One king who seems to have reconstituted a large kingdom was Menander. According to the ancient Buddhist text, the Milindapanha, Menander was a seeker of the Truth who was greatly interested in Buddhist teachings (Milinda is the Pali version of the name Menander). However, the text of the Milindapanha betrays no Greek influence and Menander's coinage does not contain any Buddhist symbols. Thus it is likely that the text is apocryphal.

This is a silver tetradrachm of Menander on a reduced Indian standard of just over 9 gm. The coin is still very much in the Greek style. We have a diademed, helmeted bust of the king right on the obverse and Menander's favorite deity, Athena Alkidemos, on the reverse. However, there is an important departure from the previous Bactrian issues such as the stater of Diodotos we saw earlier. The Greek legend has migrated to the obverse and a new legend, in the local Prakrit language and using the Kharoshthi script, has appeared on the reverse. The legend: maharajasa tratarasa menamdrasa is a translation of the obverse Greek legend BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣΩTHPOΣ MENANΔPOY (of King Menander, the Savior). This coin was issued south of the Hindu Kush mountains and has bowed to the requirements of the Indian marketplace by adopting the reduced weight standard and introducing a local language legend. Other coins display another concession to Indian tastes: many Indo-Greek coins are square in shape, particularly the bronze ones, in imitation of the traditional square shape of the silver (and later copper) karshapanas of the Mauryans and their successors, the Sungas.