The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c30.s3.35

v1.c30.s3.35

The coins which bear the name of Hermaeus must, if we may judge from their style and fabric, extend over a long period; and those which were mechanically copied by Kujūla Kadphises to supply his first issues in the Kābul valley are themselves barbarous. They are of copper and very far removed from the silver coins which were their prototypes (Pl. VII, 37 and *Summary*, p. 591). The earliest coins are of good style and of good metal; and they belong to the period before any of the squared Greek letters had been introduced. Later issues are of coarser workmanship; the silver is alloyed, and the square ☐ appears in the Greek legend. So far, the deterioration of art and the debasement of the coinage are such as might well be expected to have taken place during the reign of a king who was menaced by enemies on every side. But further stages of degradation can only be explained as the result of a complete change in the character of the civilisation of this region. The alloyed coins are succeeded by barbarous issues which are undisguisedly of copper, and finally by others in which the word ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ, 'the saviour,' in the king's title appears as ΣΤΗΡΟΣΣΥ and is rendered in the corresponding Kharoṣṭhī legend by the word *mahatasa* (*mahantassa*), 'great'³. It is clear that the Greek language was no longer properly understood by the die-engravers. These last are the coins which are imitated by Kujūla Kadphises (Pl. VII, 28 and *Summary*, p. 589), whose date can scarcely be earlier than 50 A.D., since, according to Sir John Marshall’s observations, the evidence of the discoveries at Takshaçilā shows that he was rather later than Gondopharnes, who is known to have reigned during the period from 19 A.D. to 45 A.D.¹