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
Date
1972
Authors
Dobbins, Keith Walton
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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.
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