Coinage and epigraphy of the Sakas and Pahlavas : a reconstruction of the political chronology and geography of the Indo-Iranian borderlands, 130 B.C. - A.D. 70

Abstract

This project was originally conceived as a comprehensive history of the Saka-Pahlava period covering cultural as well as political history. But in order to place cultural information and materials in chronological perspective it was necessary to establish basic facts about the political history of the time and region, and it soon became apparent that this effort would constitute a study in itself. So the reader will understand that this thesis is a means to an end. I am therefore attempting to reconstruct the political history of the period from the primary sources available, namely coins and inscriptions, as thoroughly as the evidence allows. Some points are pursued in greater detail than would ever be required for the elucidation of most cultural materials, but I hope that this analysis, particularly of the coins, will be of use to archaeologists in dating stratified excavations. I expect that my analysis of the imitation Hermaios coinage might prove to be especially useful in this regard. The study is presented in six chapters after the introduction, Chapter I. All of the relevant primary evidence is given in three appendices. This presentation of material is necessitated by the fact that its source is scattered through a large number of publications, some of which are difficult to obtain. In addition to this material I have found some new types or variations of coin types in private collections which have not been published. Each appendix has its own introduction which should be referred to before the appendix is consulted. Appendix I lists data about the coins which are not intrinsic to the coins themselves. The coin hoards of Section A are referred to in the text by Hoard and number. The provenance of coins is arranged according to kings in Section B and is referred to in the text by Location and number. Section C lists over struck coins which are referred to by Overstrike and number. Section D presents some observations on the economic s y stem of the region from the evidence of hoards and provenance of coins. Appendix II is a list of coin types arranged by mint series. Where there are conflicts between alternative arrangements one explanation has been accepted and the alternatives discussed in the text. Appendix III presents information from the inscriptions. Instead of giving texts of the inscriptions in Section A, I have catagorized the material according to its geographical and chronological relevance and personal and place names mentioned in it. This information is referred to by Inscription and number in the text. A composite list of names and forms of names is given at the end of the section. A few problems about the interpretation of some inscriptions are discussed in Section B. The chronological evidence of dated inscriptions is discussed in Section C. The general arrangement of the coins in their chronological and geographical context is discussed in Chapter II. The first phase of Scythian invasions into Indo-Greek kingdoms south of the Hindu Kush is discussed in Chapter III. This discussion covers the first series of imitation Hermaios coinage and the career of Maues . One group of Sakas and the Pahlavas first come to light in Sakastan and Arachosia. This circumstance of their history has influenced our scheme for Chapters IV - VII and the coinage series in Appendix II; the material is presented in a roughly west to east arrangement. The origins of Sakas and Pahlavas in Sakastan and Arachosia are discussed, respectively, in Chapters IV and VI. The invasions of these peoples into the region of the Indus River and beyond are covered in Chapters V and VII. In each case attention is concentrated on the transition between the invading people and their predecessors. I have tried to provide illustrations of examples of every coin type, but the quality of some of my photographs is not good enough for reproducing. Where it has been possible I have used photographs of coins which have not been illustrated in publications. All the illustrated material is collected in a loose-leaf folio to facilitate the comparison of different photographs. The seventeen overlays can be used on Maps IIII and on each other, The numbers on the plates conform to those in the text and appendices, and references to the plates are underlined . Some of the ideas presented in this thesis have been published. My chronology of the dated inscriptions is published in 'Eras of Gandhara ', Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia , VII (1970), 23-36. An analysis of the early imitation Hermaios coins is presented in 'The Question of the Imitation Hermaios Coinage', East and West , XX (1970), 307-326, and my dating of Sanabares is discussed in 'Sanabares and the Gondophares Dynasty', Numismatic Chronicle , ser. 7, XI (1971), 135-142. Diacritic marks are normally not put on transliterated G reek words, but in the absence of Greek type-face I have used diacritics in some instances when the word is taken from a coin legend or should otherwise be italicized (SOTER, soter ). When a Greek word is used as a label for a class of coins it is not given diacritics ('soter'), nor when it is used as part of a name (Menander Soter). Some special conventions representing palaeographic features in Greek legends are described in the introduction to Appendix II (p.180). Greek transliteration is used for names taken from Greek sources except in the cases of 'Bactria' where the more common spelling is followed, the Anglicized spelling of 'Scythian', and the names of Greek writers. The spelling 'Areia' is used in preference to Strabo's 'Aria'. This form of the name, which is closer to the original Iranian name of the region, is becoming the more common usage (e.g. Frye, Heritage of Persia, p . 257). The name Gandhara is here usually applied to the region west of the Indus River, including the lower Kabul Valley and the Kurram Valley. Gandhara proper, the region between Swat and the lower Kabul River, is designated on Map I. Differences in lettering styles on the political maps do not necessarily have any significance to their interpretation. The lettering was acquired from various sources, and it was not possible to obtain a sufficient quantity of some styles.