The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c9.s2.2

c9.s2.2

The Archer type is an adaptation of the Standard type. The king is usually shown as holding a bow by the left hand and an arrow by the right. In this type, there is a conscious effort to Indianise the Standard type. The notion of a king offering oblations, while dressed in coat and trousers, was foreign to Hindu tradition. The motif was adopted from the Kushāṇa proto-type on account of the persistant conservatism, which is so characteristic of Indian numismatics. We, however, see the mint-masters gradually improving upon the prototype by representing the king as *dhanurdhara* or bowman in the case of the Archer type and as *Kṛitāntaparaśu* or wielder of the battle-axe of Kṛitānta, God of Death, in the case of the Battle-axe type. The obverse legend is a metrical one, and proclaims the king's conquest of the earth by his prowess and of the heaven by his good deeds. The *biruda* on the reverse is *Apratiratha*, matchless chariot-warrior. The emperor was obviously proud of this epithet, because we find him described as *prithivyāmapratiratha* also in his Allahabad inscription.