Coins of the Greek kings of Northwest India, about 190-140 B.C. Taxila, Pakistan, Museum
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Photographer: Arthur Llewellyn Basham
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Ghandaran art centers in the west of India at the capitals of Pushkalavati (modern Charsadda) located on the junction of the Swat and Kabul Rivers, tributaries of the Indus, and at Taxila in Rawalpindi, the eastern-most portion of the Ghandaran region, The importance of the area was mainly derived from its location along a major trade route which had destinations in the West as well as the Near East, We have very good evidence in the quantity of Graeco-Bactrian coins found in northwest India that trade was lively and cultural exchanges easily brought about cross-influences in the art of Ghandara, Graeco-Bactrian coinage shows a pure Hellenistic style partly because many original western coins were in the region and partly because native minters were excellent copyists, Excavations at Taxila, the eastern capital, show that imports and direct imitations of Hellenistic art were consistently made and that there was a good market for western objects at least to the Ghandara region itself to make the local art feel the effects of western styles, Indian minters even adapted native deities of the sort found on western coinage, Occasionally, for example, an Athena type would show up disguised as the familiar mother-goddess of Indian tradition,
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Basham Collection
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circa 1970s
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This image is provided for research purposes only and must not be reproduced without the prior permission of the Archives Program, Australian National University.
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