The Greeks in Bactria and India c10.s6.101

c10.s6.101

The naval symbolism on the coins of Hippostratus and Nicias, a new phenomenon among the Greeks of India, not only renders it impossible to separate them, but connects them both with one of the Punjab rivers. On some of Hippostratus’ coin-series, both silver and square bronze, there occurs the Fortune of a city—the sole appearance of this type on the coins of any of the eastern group of kings—and the city can only be Bucephala, the one polis known so far to the east; his ‘city’ coins must therefore have been minted there—doubtless it was his capital—and as one series of his ‘city’ coins shows as type Triton holding a dolphin and rudder,¹ the river with which he is connected can only be the Jhelum. All the ‘city’ coins are distinguished by a peculiar monogram, that of his mint-master in Bucephala, found again frequently on the money of his conqueror Azes but nowhere else, and as it does not occur on his other coins he had at least two mints; the other was presumably Sāgala. Most of his coins are said to come from Punch or Hazāra, and a hoard of his tetradrachms has been found in Punch.² It must be remembered that that part of his kingdom alone which lay between the Jhelum and the Chenab, with its extension into the hills, was considerably larger than that of Alexander’s powerful opponent Porus; and his realm may have been strengthened by Greek refugees from the lost eastern provinces.