The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c7.13

c7.13

procedure. The Kushāṇa peaked cap was replaced by the Hindu head-dress from the beginning (Pl. I. 8-15), but the foreign coat and trousers lingered on some coin-types for several decades. On vast majority of the coins, however, the king began to be shown as wearing the Indian dhoti. Ardox-sho was transformed into Durgā by seating her on lion (Pl. I. 8-13), or into Lakshmī by providing her with a lotus seat and by substituting the cornucopiæ by the lotus (Pl. V. 1-5). The Standard type was sought to be successfully Indianised by substituting the standard either by the battle-axe (Pl. III. 5), or by the bow (Pl. IV. 6). The vast majority of the types of the Gupta emperors are thoroughly national and represent the indigenous numismatic art at its best.