Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c25: X. The Guptas and their Contemporaries
Indische Paläographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c25
- Language
- German
Contents
- c25.s1 § 101. The Nine Nāgas of Narwar — 2 parts
- c25.s2 § 102. ? Pārivrājaka Mahārājas — 2 parts
- c25.s3 § 103. Hūṇas — 4 parts
- c25.s4 § 104. Hūṇa coinage — 11 parts
X. The Guptas and their Contemporaries
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§ 90. The Imperial Guptas. - The founder of this dynasty, *Śrīgupta*, c. 260 A.D., and his son *Ghaṭotkaca*, are known only from the genealogical tables given in the inscrr. The coins begin in the reign of the third member of the dynasty, *Candragupta I* (**Plate IV, 9**), who is the first to use the imperial title *mahārājādhirāja*, and who is to be regarded as the founder of the Gupta era, the first year of which is 319-20 A.D. (Smith, JBA. 1894, p. 165). The period of Gupta supremacy in Northern India begins with this date and ends with the death of *Skandagupta* c. 480 A.D. For this period the order of succession of the Gupta monarchs is certain, the limits of their reigns are approximately determined, and the series of coins is complete. After the death of Skandagupta, the attacks of the Hūṇas, which began during his reign (v. inf. § 103), and probably also internal dissensions led to divisions in the Empire. In the case of the divisions there remains at present considerable doubt both as regards the order of succession and the dates of the different reigns. This later Gupta period comes to an end in 606 A.D., when Harṣavardhana of Kanauj gained paramount power over the whole of Northern India (Smith, JBA. 1894, p. 178).
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The original capital of the Gupta empire seems to have been Pāṭaliputra (the modern Patna), and it is not improbable that the inscr. *Licchavayaḥ* which occurs on the *rev.* of Candragupta's gold coins together with the name of his queen Kumāradevī may denote that she belonged to a royal family of Licchavis previously reigning at Pāṭaliputra (BÜHLER, WZKM. V, 225 ff.; SMITH, JRAS. 1893, p. 81). When a great extension of the empire took place by the conquest of the kingdom of the Kṣatrapas of Surāṣṭra and Mālwa in the reign of *Candragupta II Vikramāditya*, c. 410 A. D., it is probable that the capital was transferred, either permanently or occasionally, to a more central position at Ayodhyā (SMITH, JRAS. 1893, p. 86). At its greatest extent the Gupta empire seems to have comprised the whole of Northern India, with the exception of the Panjāb (SMITH, JBA. 1894, p. 178), which, no doubt, continued to be ruled by the Kuṣanas.
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§ 91. The Imp. Gupta coinage. — The coinage of the main portion of the empire was originally of gold and copper. The types of the gold coins are borrowed at first from the eastern mintages of the Later Great Kuṣaṇas (v. sup. § 74, class (2)); but they show a development of their own and are, without question, by far the finest examples of Indian art. After the annexation of the kingdom of the Kṣatrapas, the Guptas continued in this region the issue of a dated silver coinage, exactly imitated from the coinage of their predecessors except that, in place of the caitya, a frequent Gupta emblem, the peacock, appears on the reverse. A silver coinage bearing this type, but of a somewhat different fabric, seems subsequently to have been struck also in other parts of the empire (v. inf.). The dates on the silver coins of Candragupta II Vikramāditya are not beyond dispute (FLEET, Ind. Ant. 1885, p. 66), but those of his successors, Kumāragupta I (121—136: SMITH, JRAS. 1889, p. 128, and JBA. 1894, p. 175) and Skandagupta (144—? 16x; **Plate IV, 10**: date, 145) are more certain.
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The gold coins, at first, follow the weight-standard which the Kuṣaṇas seem to have borrowed from the Roman *aurei* (v. sup. § 70); but, later, there comes in another class of gold coins which seem to represent the Indian *suvarṇa* (= 146,4 grains or 9,48 grammes) and to be due to a revival of the ancient native weight-standard (v. sup. § 4). It is possible that coins of these two standards were in circulation together, and that they are distinguished on the inscrr. as *dīnāras* and *suvarṇas* respectively (FLEET, CII. III, p. 265; SMITH, JRAS. 1889, p. 43). During the reign of Skandagupta, the Roman standard is abandoned; but it is not equally certain whether or not the re-introduction of the *suvarṇa* took place at the same time or previously (RAPSON, NChr. 1891, p. 57; SMITH, JRAS. 1893, p. 105). The Gupta silver coins, like those of the Kṣatrapas from which they are imitated, seem to be intended for 'hemi-drachms' of the Persian standard (v. sup. § 8). It seems probable that this silver Gupta coinage, which was originally instituted in Surāṣṭra and Mālwa in the reign of Candragupta II Vikramāditya, formed the pattern for a silver issue in the northern and central provinces of the empire during the two succeeding reigns. These silver issues — which may conveniently be called the western and the central — are distinguished by a difference in fabric, workmanship, and design: the latter are thinner and flatter, more carefully executed, and represent the peacock of the reverse with tail more fully expanded (SMITH, JRAS. 1889, pp. 121, 127; C.CMI. p. 17). A debased coinage of copper plated with silver bearing the names of Kumāragupta and Skandagupta, but having a trident instead of a peacock as *rev.* type, is probably to be attributed to Valabhī (v. inf. § 98) at a period when it was still a province of the Gupta empire (SMITH, JRAS. 1893, p. 137; cp. also BÜHLER, WZKM. V, p. 216). The copper coinage of the main portion of the empire shows a greater originality in its types, and appears to owe little to any preceding copper coinage (**Plate IV, 11**: Candragupta II Vikramāditya; SMITH, JRAS.
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1889, p. 138, Pl. IV, 8–16; id. 1893, p. 133; JBA. 1894, p. 173; NChr. 1895, p. 167).
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The three articles by V. A. Smith, JRAS. 1889, p. 1; id. 1893, p. 77; and JBA. 1894, p. 164, form a digest of all work done in Gupta numismatics up to the dates of their publication. For full lists of authorities, v. JRAS. 1889, pp. 58. 59; id. 1893, p. 79, notes; JBA. 1894, p. 164 ff.
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§ 92. Division of the Gupta Emp. — During the last quarter of the 5^th cent. A.D., the western provinces become independent under the Senāpati Bhaṭārka of Valabhī (Burgess, ASWI. 1874—75, "Kāṭhiāwāḍ and Kacch", p. 80; v. § 98); while the northern and central provinces (E. Mālwa) were held by different branches of the imperial family; and, in other parts of the empire, powers previously subject or feudatory become independent. It will be necessary here to deal only with those to which coins can be attributed.
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For a outline of the history of this period: Fleet, Preface to CII, III; Smith and Hoernle, Bhitarī Seal of Kumāragupta II, with Synchronistic Table of Guptas and Contemporary Dynasties, JBA. 1889, p. 84.
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§ 93. Northern Guptas. — Three members of this branch in direct descent from Kumāragupta I Mahendra are known from the Bhitarī Seal. The name of the first is not at present certain. If read Sthira° (Bühler) it may, since Sthira is a synonym for Skanda, simply be another name of Skandagupta. If read Pura° (Hoernle) or Puru° (C.) it must be the name of a brother of Skanda°. To this ruler have been conjecturally assigned the coins bearing the title Prakāśāditya (Hoernle, JBA. 1889, p. 94; Smith, JRAS. 1889, Pl. III, 9. 10; id. 1893, p. 125). His son, the Narasiṁhagupta of the seal, has been identified with the Nara(gupta) Bālāditya of the coins (Hoernle, JBA. 1889, p. 93; Smith, JRAS. 1889, Pl. III, 11; id. 1893, p. 128); and further with Bālāditya the conqueror of the Hūṇa Mihirakula (v. inf. § 107; Hoernle, JBA. 1889, p. 93; C. CMI. p. 11. This identification has been doubted: Smith, JRAS. 1889, p. 115). There appears to be no doubt as to the identification of Kumāragupta II of the seal with Kumāragupta Kramāditya of the coins (Hoernle, JBA. 1889, p. 94; Rapson, NChr. 1891, p. 50; Smith, JRAS. 1889, Pl. II, 12; id. 1893, p. 129). All certain knowledge of the order of succession in this branch of the Gupta dynasty ends here; but it is possible that a Viṣṇugupta Candrāditya, whose coins bear a great resemblance to those of Nara(gupta) Bālāditya and Kumāragupta II Kramāditya, succeeded the last-mentioned (C. CMI. pp. 12. 19, Pl. II, 4). The last of this line was probably Śaśāṅka (**Plate IV, 15**), c. 600 A.D., the king of Kirṇa Suvarṇa, who seems also to have borne the name of Narendragupta (C. CMI. p. 12; Smith, JBA. 1894, p. 172).
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Coin bearing the name Śaśāṅka, C. CMI. p. 12, Pl. II, 5; Smith, JRAS. 1893, p. 147. SCoins bearing the name Narendra, JBA. 1852, p. 402, Pl. XII, 11; Smith, JRAS. 1893, p. 146; and JBA. 1894, p. 189. Kirṇa Suvarṇa = Rangamaṭṭi in the Murshidābād Dist.: Layard, JBA. 1853, p. 281; Beveridge, JBA. 1893, p. 315; Smith, JBA. 1894, p. 172.
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§ 94. Guptas of E. Mālwa. — This branch, which may perhaps descend in direct line through Skandagupta himself (C. CMI. p. 10), comes to an end, c. 510 A.D., or shortly after, when Mālwa was conquered by the Hūṇa Tora-māṇa. Its last princes are *Budhagupta* (inscr. dated 165 = A.D. 484, and silver coins dated 174 = A.D. 493) and *Bhānugupta* (inscr. 191 = A.D. 510). The only coins known are silver hemidrachms of Budhagupta, and these, as might naturally be expected, are of the flat central Gupta fabric (§ 91).
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§ 95. Later Guptas of E. Magadha. — It is doubtful whether any
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Smith, JRAS. 1889, pp. 8. 53. 134; C. ASR. IX, p. 25, Pl. V, 13; C. NChr. 1894, p. 252.
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known coins can be ascribed to this dynasty. The coins of much debased gold which were formerly thus attributed (SMITH, JRAS. 1889, p. 11) probably belong to the Northern Branch (v. sup. § 93).
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For dynastic lists: C.CMI. p. 14; CII. III, p. 200; CASR. III, p. 137; id. XV, p. 166.
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§ 96. Unattributed Gupta Coins. — No satisfactory attribution has hitherto been suggested for the following:—(1) gold coins bearing the name *Vīra(? sena or siṃha) Kramāditya*; date, probably 6th cent. A.D.; they weigh between 160 and 170 grains, or 10,36 and 11,01 grammes, and it is doubtful whether they should be referred to the Persian standard — didrachm = 172,9 grains, or 11,2 grammes, or to an Indian standard — 100 ratis = 182,5 grains or 11,82 grammes (SMITH, JRAS. 1889, p. 118, Pl. III, 12; id. 1893, p. 130); (2) gold coins of *Jaya(gupta)* (C.CMI. p. 19, Pl. II, 3); (3) silver coins, dated apparently 166 = A.D. 485, and having an inscr. containing *Śrī Harikānta* (SMITH, JBA. 1894, p. 195, Pl. VI, 15); (4) copper coins reading *(Śrī) Mahārājño (Ha)riguptasya* (C.CMI. p. 19, Pl. II, 6).
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§ 97. Maukharis of W. Magadha. — These are known from inscrr. as the contemporaries and rivals of the Later Guptas of E. Magadha. Silver coins imitated from the central Gupta coinage, and bearing the names of two members of this dynasty are known — *Īśānavarman* (**Plate IV, 13**; a contemporary of Kumāragupta III of Magadha) dated 54, and 55 (SMITH, JBA. 1894, p. 193; C.CMI. Pl. II, 12; SMITH, JRAS. 1889, p. 136); and his son *Śarvavarman*, dated 58 (SMITH, JBA. 1894, p. 193). [also 234, 23X.
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There is some doubt as to the reading of these dates: FLEET, Ind. Ant. 1885, p. 68; and the era to which they should be referred is altogether doubtful, v. inf. § 105. Cp. also CASR. IX, p. 27, Pl. V, 20—22; and XVI, p. 79; CII. III, p. 200. in 449A.D.
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§ 98. Valabhī. — To the kings of Valabhī (**Plate IV, 12**) have been attributed certain silver coins bearing a trident on the *rev.* and inscrr. in debased characters which have not yet been thoroughly deciphered, but which seem to include the title *Bhaṭṭārakasa*. They are imitated from the western type of Gupta silver coins (§ 91). For earlier coins probably struck in Valabhī before the date of its independence, and while still tributary to the Guptas, v. sup. § 91.
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CASR. IX, p. 28, Pl. V, 23. 24, reads the inscrr. as containing the names and titles of the founder of the dynasty Senāpati Bhaṭṭāraka (*recte* Bhaṭārka) and his eldest son Dharasena, but these readings are extremely doubtful. Cp. also C.CMI. p. 8, Pl. I, 16; HOERNLE, Proc. BA. 1890, p. 171, Pl. VII, 4a and b; Th. JBA. 1855, p. 509; id. JRAS. 1850, p. 63, Pl. II, 35—38; id. PE. II, p. 100; PRINSEP, JBA. IV, p. 687; NEWTON, JBRA. VII, p. 14; JBRA. VI, p. xxxix.
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§ 99. Bhīmasena (**Plate IV, 14**). — In fabric and form of inscription these coins are, like those of Budhagupta, of central Gupta style (v. sup. § 94). They bear dates, which have not been certainly read, but which are presumably of the same era as those on the similar coins of Toramāṇa (§ 105).
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§ 100. Kṛṣṇarāja (**Plate IV, 17**). — These coins of western Gupta fabric (§ 91) are found in the Nāsik Dist., Bombay, and have been attributed to a Rāṣṭrakūṭa king of this name, c. A.D. 375—400. This attribution is, however, certainly incorrect, as this date is too early for the style of the coins, which are imitated from the latest Gupta coins current in this locality. For the same reason it is impossible to place them so late as the time of the better known Kṛṣṇarāja Rāṣṭrakūṭa c. 756 A.D. Their attribution must therefore remain for the present undecided.
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CASR. IX, 26, Pl. V, 16; SMITH, JRAS. 1889, p. 135. For an inscr. of Bhīmasena: CASR. IX, p. 119, Pl. XXX.
§ 101. The Nine Nāgas of Narwar
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In the Purāṇas the Nāgas of Padmāvatī (= Narwar, C.JBA. 1865, p. 115; C.CMI. p. 21) and the Guptas of Magadha are coupled together, and the fact of their being contemporary is proved by the mention of Gaṇapati Nāga (**Plate V, 2**) among the tributary Rajas in the Allahabad Pillar Inscr. of Samudragupta (CII. III, p. 1 ff.). Names of six members of this dynasty occur in full on the coins, while portions only of two other names can be read.
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Closely connected with these are certain coins having the inscr. *Acyu*, which must without doubt be attributed to the Acyuta mentioned in the Allahabad inscr. It is possible that this Acyuta may have been one of the Nāga princes.
§ 102. ? Pārivrājaka Mahārājas
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These tributaries of the Guptas are "said to have governed Dabhāla, perh. = Dahāla, and the country including the eighteen forest kingdoms" (CII. III, p. 93 ff.). It is possible that certain coins bearing the name *Raṇa Hasti* may have been struck by the Mahārāja Hastin, whose inscrr. bear dates from 156 to 191 = A.D. 475—510. This attribution is, however, extremely doubtful.
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Closely connected in size and fabric with these are certain small coins on which the name Vigraha has been read (RAPSON). Specimens were found by Ventura in the Manikyala Tope together with coins of the 7^th and 8^th centuries A.D.
§ 103. Hūṇas
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The Hūṇa invaders of India (called in Sk. lit. and inscrr. also Sita-, Sveta-, or Hāra-Hūṇas, v. SMITH, JBA. 1894, p. 186) whose attacks, beginning during the reign of Skandagupta, c. 452—480 A.D., led to the dismemberment of the Gupta empire, were an offshoot from the Ephthalites or White Huns, a people of Tartar origin who settled in the Oxus territories. c. 420 A.D., and, from this date until the destruction of their power by the Turks in 556 A.D., waged almost incessant war¹ on the Sassanian monarchy.
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¹ DROUIN, Les Huns Ephthalites dans leurs rapports avec les rois perses sassanides, Muséon, 1895.
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The extension of this power to India followed the defeats inflicted on the Sassanians during the reigns of Yezdegerd II, 438—457, A.D., and Fīrūz, 457—484 A.D., in consequence of which the Sassanian provinces which bordered on India passed into the hands of the Ephthalites (C.NChr. 1894, p. 245). The leader of this invasion who conquered the kingdom of Gandhāra from the Kidāra Kuṣaṇas (v. sup. § 76) and established his capital at Sākala, probably c. 465—470 A.D., is known from Chinese sources as *Lae-lih* and has been conjecturally identified with the *Rāja Lakhana Udayāditya* of the coins²
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² C.NChr. 1894, pp. 247. 251. 279, Pl. IX, 12. The name read as *Lamata* by TH.PE. I, p. 411 (no. 4), and *Latona* or *Lanona* by DROUIN, JA. 1893, (I), p. 548.
§ 104. Hūṇa coinage
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The most striking characteristic of the Hūṇa coins is their want of originality: they are, almost without exception, either adaptations or imitations of Sassanian, Kuṣana, or Gupta coins. They, therefore, afford valuable evidence of the progress and extent of the Hūṇa conquests. Those of the thin Sassanian fabric are, naturally, the earliest in date; and of these the class which bears inscrn. in the same modified form of the Greek alphabet as is found on the Scytho-Sassanian coins (v. sup. § 75) is no doubt older than the class which has Nāgarī inscrn., and may probably, in part at least, belong to the Ephthalites before their invasion of India (C.NChr. 1894, p. 262). Of these early Hūṇa coins, many specimens seem to be merely Sassanian pieces with the head of the Hūṇa leader restruck in *repoussé* (**Plate IV, 18**: Shāhi Javūvlaḥ) so that the reverse type — the Sassanian fire-altar — is almost obliterated. The species of coin thus produced was no doubt the pattern from which later coins struck in the ordinary manner were copied.
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C. op. cit. p. 262; and cp. Pl. IX, 10—15, with 11. X, 3. 4. These *repoussé* coins have been attributed to Kashmir, but this attribution depends on the identification of the Ṣāhi Khiṅgila (id. Pl. IX, 11) with Khiṅkhila Narendrāditya who is mentioned in the Rājataraṅgiṇī as a successor of Mihirakula (id. p. 265). This identification is however not certain, and the coins of Khiṅgila would seem to be older than those of Mihirakula. The Ṣāhi Jabuvlaḥ or Jabula of the *repoussé* coins is identified by C. with Toramāṇa (id. p. 253) on the evidence of the Kura inscr. of Mahārāja Toramāṇa Ṣāha Jauvla; but this designation may be simply a tribal name applicable to any member of the dynasty v. BÜHLER, EI. I, p. 239; and SMITH, JBA. 1894, p. 189.
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§ 105. Hūṇa coinage. — Other specimens are copies of the current Sassanian coins, and, in particular, of those issued during the latter part of the reign, i. e. 471—486 A.D., of Fīrūz (**Plate V, 3**). The first imitations, which most resemble their prototypes, have been found in great numbers in Mārwār, and have been assigned with much plausibility to the great Hūṇa conqueror, *Toramāṇa*, the son of Lae-lih, c. 490—515 A.D. (HOERNLE, Proc. BA. 1889, p. 228; JBA. 1890, p. 168, Pl. V). In any case they almost certainly testify to the Hūṇa conquest of the Lower Indus country and W. Rajputana. The Sassanian type thus introduced into India became predominant in the coinages of Gujarat, Rajputana, and in the Gangetic doab during, probably, the following three or four hundred years (v. inf. § 122). Evidence of the Hūṇa conquest of the later Gupta kingdom of E. Mālwa (v. sup. § 94) is afforded by the silver hemidrachms of Toramāṇa (**Plate IV, 16**), which are minutely imitated from those of Budhagupta except that the king’s head on the *obv.* is turned in the opposite direction. These coins are dated 52, but the era to which this date refers has not been satisfactorily determined (SMITH, JRAS. 1889, p. 136; C.ASR. IX, Pl. V, 18. 19; C.CMI. p. 20, Pl. II, 11).
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The following suggestions as to the era in which Toramāṇa’s hemidrachms are dated have been made: — (1) FLEET, Ind. Ant. 1889, p. 228 supposes the date 52 to denote years of Toramāṇa’s reign. This explanation is rendered less probable by the fact that the Maukharis Īśānavarman and Śarvavarman (v. sup. § 97) and also Bhīmasena (v. sup. § 99), apparently date in years of the same era (SMITH, JBA. 1894, p. 194); (2) DROUIN, JA. 1890 (XVI), p. 368, suggests a Hūṇa era beginning c. A.D. 448, and perhaps marking the date of the first invasion of India; (3) C.NChr. 1894, p. 252, supposes either that the date is Śaka with omitted hundreds, i. e. 52 = 452; or (4) l. c. that it may refer to a Hūṇa era beginning c. 456 A.D. the date of the great victory over the Sassanians. For the dates of the known princes of the later Gupta dynasty of E. Malwa, v. sup. § 94.
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§ 106. Hūṇa coinage. — The silver coins of *Mihirakula* (**Plate IV, 20**) c. 515—544 A.D., the son and successor of Toramāṇa, are of the Sassanian fabric only (C.NChr. 1894, pp. 256. 280, Pl. X, 3. 4; PE. I, p. 411). Copper coins of both Toramāṇa (**Plate IV, 19**) and Mihirakula (**Plate IV, 21**) are found which show at the same time the influence of both Sassanian and Gupta prototypes (C.NChr. 1894, pp. 265. 280, Pl. IX, 16. 17, and X, 1. 2; SMITH, JBA. 1894, pp. 195. 203). These are found chiefly in the Eastern Panjab and Rajputana, and, in some instances, the types and inscrn. of Mihirakula have been
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struck over those of Toramāṇa (FLEET, Ind. Ant. 1886, p. 245). This is the only class of copper coins which can be attributed to the Hūṇa Toramāṇa, but of Mihirakula other classes also are known. One of these bears the usual Kuṣana types (v. sup. § 74 (2); C.NChr. 1894, pp. 256. 281, Pl. X, 5. 6; SMITH, JBA. 1894, p. 203); while the types of another class (e. g. C. op. cit. Pl. X, 7) are of less certain derivation.
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It is doubtful whether the copper coins of Mihirakula bearing Kuṣana types are not to be attributed solely to Kashmir, which the Kidāra Kuṣanas probably continued to hold after they were driven out of Gandhāra (v. sup. § 76) and which may, perhaps, have been conquered by the Hūṇas for the first time during the reign of Mihirakula. Against the suggested identification of the Hūṇa Toramāṇa with Toramāṇa of Kashmir: C.NChr. 1894, p. 256. For other Hūṇa coins doubtfully attributed to Kashmir, v. supra sub § 104.
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§ 107. Hūṇa coinage. — Hūṇa coins of all types are found bearing names or fragments of names which are at present unknown from any other source. It is possible that there may have been more than one Hūṇa dynasty reigning at the same time; or these coins may have been struck by viceroys ruling over different provinces of the empire. The limit of date for Hūṇa coinage is probably 544 A.D., when, in the reign of Mihirakula, the Hūṇa power was broken up by a confederation of Hindu princes under Yaśodharman, Viṣṇuvardhana of Malwa, and Narasiṃhagupta Bālāditya of Magadha (C.NChr. 1894, p. 258). Fragments of this power may, however, have survived till a later date.
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§ 108. Uncertain, Hūṇa or Persian. — There are some well-known classes of coins the nationality of which cannot at present be exactly determined. They show signs of their Sassanian origin by their thin fabric and by the fire-altar which constantly appears as their *rev.* type. They have, therefore, characteristics which belong both to some of the Hūṇa coins and also to the coins of the Persian kings of the Panjab and Sind. The best known of these doubtful series is that which bears the name of *Napki Malka*.
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§ 109. Persian Kings in the Panjab and Sind. — There are found in N.W. India coins of Sassanian type and fabric bearing inscrr. in Nāgarī, Sassanian Pahlavi, and an alphabet, hitherto unread, which is probably a development of the modified form of the Greek alphabet used by the Scytho-Sassanians (v. sup. § 75). These have been sometimes attributed to the later Hūṇas (C.NChr. 1894, pp. 267. 289), but apparently without sufficient reason. They were almost certainly struck by some Sassanian dynasty or dynasties — as is shown by the style of the coins and by the use of Sassanian Pahlavi — ruling over Sind and Multan, which the earliest Arab geographers include in the kingdom of Sind (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., sub Multan). It may be noticed that this region had at other periods been in the hands of Persian conquerors (v. § 61, and cp. § 30). For one of these issues, which has the name *Śrī Vāsudeva* only in Nāgarī characters and all the remaining portion of its legends in Sassanian Pahlavi, an approximate date is fixed by its very near resemblance to a coinage issued by Khusru II Parviz in the 37th year of his reign = 627 A.D. (cp. LONGPÉRIER, Médailles des rois perses, Pl. XI, 3, with C.NChr. 1894, Pl. XII, 10 or Ar. Ant. Pl. XVII, 9). In the Pahlavi inscrr. on these coins Vāsudeva is called king of Bahman (= Bahmanvasi or Brahmanabad the capital of Sind), Multan, Tukān (= Panjab), Zabulistan,
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C NChr. 1894, p. 267, Pl. XII, 2; Ar. Ant. Pl. XVII, 5, 7, 10, 17; DROUIN, Rev. Num. 1891, p. 221.
Linked texts (4)
- Rājataraṅgiṇī — Kalhaṇa, Sanskrit
- Pāṭaliputra
- Ayodhyā (Sāketa)
- Bhitari Seal of Kumaragupta II — Sanskrit