The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c24.s1.1

v1.c24.s1.1

Whatever were the actual limits of Persian power in India, it is certain that within these limits the money of the Persian kings must have been current. At the same time it is not easy to support the general statement by definite facts. Properly authenticated records of finds are virtually unknown. Nor can over-much reliance be placed on deductions drawn from the occurrence of individual specimens in collections that have been formed in North-western India. Before the construction of the Russian railways in Central Asia the waifs and strays of commerce, like gold and silver coins from Bukhāra and Khorāsān, naturally drifted over the mountain-passes of Afghānistān into the Punjab as the nearest profitable market. Once they had arrived there, however, the dealers into whose hands they came were free to assign to them the *provenance* that seemed most likely to enhance their price, a circumstance that renders it difficult to appraise the value of the scanty evidence available. For reasons that will presently appear, the two precious metals can best be considered separately.