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Menander I

Eastern Greek coinage was produced by the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and the Indo-Greek Kingdom.

Themes and design[edit]

The first Indian coins of Apollodotus used Indian symbols. These coins associated the elephant with the Buddhist Chaitya or arched-hill symbol, sun symbols, six-armed symbol, and a river. The bull had a Nandipada in front. The symbol at the top of the bull is only a mint mark. These symbols disappeared soon after, and only the elephant and the bull remained.

In addition to their own Attic standard coins, Greek kings thus started to issue bilingual Greek-Prakrit coins in the Indian standard, often taking over numerous symbols of the Post-Mauryan Gandhara coins, such as the arched-hill symbol and the tree-in-railing or Goddess Lakshmi at the beginning, and depictions of the bull and elephant later.

Some of the coins of Menander I and Menander II incorporate the Buddhist symbol of the eight-spoked wheel, associated with the Greek symbols of victory, either the palm of victory, or the victory wreath handed over by the goddess Nike. According to the Milinda Pañha, at the end of his reign Menander I became a Buddhist arhat,[1] a fact also echoed by Plutarch, who explains that his relics were shared and enshrined.[2]

The coins of the Indo-Greek king Menander I (reigned 160–135 BC), found from Afghanistan to central India, bear the inscription "Saviour King Menander" in Greek on the front. Several Indo-Greek kings after Menander, such as Zoilos I, Strato I, Heliokles II, Theophilos, Peukolaos, Menander II and Archebius display on their coins the title "Maharajasa Dharmika" (lit. "King of the Dharma") in Prakrit written in Kharoshthi.

Greco-Bactrian coinage is minted in a remarkably realistic detail. They are comparable to Pontic coinage, a Hellenistic state ruled by a Iranian dynasty, that has very fine portraits of their kings. It was customary to have more realistic coin portraits in the east.[3][4][5][6]

Cupro-nickel coins[edit]

Cupro-nickel coins of king Pantaleon point to a Chinese origin of the metal.[7]

The Indo-Greek kings in Southern Asia issued the first known cupro-nickel coins, with Euthydemus II, dating from 180 to 170 BC, and his younger brothers Pantaleon and Agathocles around 170 BC. As only China was able to produce cupro-nickel at that time, and as the alloy ratios are exclusively similar, it has been suggested that the metal was the result of exchanges between China and Bactria.[7]

An indirect testimony by the Chinese explorer Zhang Qian, who visited Bactria around 128 BC, suggests that intense trade with Southern China was going through northern India. Zhang Qian explains that he found Chinese products in the Bactrian markets, and that they were transiting through northwestern India, which he incidentally describes as a civilization similar to that of Bactria.[8]

Monetary standards[edit]

See also: List of Hellenistic monetary standards

The Indo-Greeks, following their invasion of the Indian subcontinent circa 185 BCE, in turn started to mint their own coins in the Indian standard (Indian weight, square shape, and less often round shape) with bilingual inscriptions, from the reign of Agathocles (190-180 BCE).

The abundance of their coins would tend to suggest large mining operations, particularly in the mountainous area of the Hindu-Kush, and an important monetary economy. The Indo-Greek did strike bilingual coins both in the Greek "round" standard and in the Indian "square" standard,[9] suggesting that monetary circulation extended to all parts of society. The adoption of Indo-Greek monetary conventions by neighbouring kingdoms, such as the Kunindas to the east and the Satavahanas to the south,[10] would also suggest that Indo-Greek coins were used extensively for cross-border trade.

Mints[edit]

The symbol found on a brick in Ai-Khanoum.

Many Seleucid and Bactrian coins were found at Ai-Khanoum, as were ten blank planchets, indicating that there was a mint in the city.[11] Ai-Khanoum apparently had a city symbol (a triangle within a circle, with various variations), which was found imprinted on bricks coming from the oldest buildings of the city.

The same symbol was used on various Seleucid eastern coins, suggesting that they were probably minted in Ai-Khanoum. Numerous Seleucid coins were thus reattributed to the Ai-Khanoum mint rather recently, with the conclusion that Ai-Khanoum was probably a larger minting center than even Bactra.[12]

Successor states of the Macedonian Empire continued to mint coins with image of Alexander the Great. Such coins were widespread withing the Seleucid Empire, as all mints except the one in Bactra struck them.[13] As early as during Seleucid rule the Bactra mint was an exception to this almost universal rule as it did not strike coins with the image of Alexander the Great.[13] Seleucid regulations on coinage different from Achaemenid Persia on several aspects. Achaemenid rulers did not try to unify standards for the coinage, and they allowed local satraps to strike coins in their own name. While the Seleucids preserved the system of satraps, they banned local rulers from striking coins in their own name.[13]

The coins found in Ai-Khanoum start with those of Seleucus, but end abruptly with those of Eucratides, suggesting that the city was conquered at the end of his rule.

List[edit]

History[edit]

Greco-Bactria[edit]

Further information: Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

Some of the Greco-Bactrian coins, and those of their successors the Indo-Greeks, are considered the finest examples of Greek numismatic art with "a nice blend of realism and idealization", including the largest coins to be minted in the Hellenistic world: the largest gold coin was minted by Eucratides (reigned 171–145 BC), the largest silver coin by the Indo-Greek king Amyntas Nikator (reigned c. 95–90 BC). The portraits "show a degree of individuality never matched by the often bland depictions of their royal contemporaries further West".[6]

Indo-Greeks[edit]

Further information: Indo-Greek Kingdom, Post-Mauryan coinage of Gandhara, and Post-Mauryan coinage

Very little is known about the economy of the Indo-Greeks, although it seems to have been rather vibrant.[16][17]

It would also seem that some of the coins emitted by the Indo-Greek kings, particularly those in the monolingual Attic standard, may have been used to pay some form of tribute to the Yuezhi tribes north of the Hindu-Kush.[18] This is indicated by the coins finds of the Qunduz hoard in northern Afghanistan, which have yielded quantities of Indo-Greek coins in the Hellenistic standard (Greek weights, Greek language), although none of the kings represented in the hoard are known to have ruled so far north.[19] Conversely, none of these coins have ever been found south of the Hindu-Kush.[20]

Legacy[edit]

Main article: Coinage of India

Indo-Greek coinage is rich and varied, and contains some of the best coins of antiquity. Its influence on Indian coinage was far-reaching.[21] The Greek script became used extensively on coins for many centuries, as was the habit of depicting a ruler on the obverse, often in profile, and deities on the reverse. The Western Satrap, a western dynasty of foreign origin adopted Indo-Greek designs. The Kushans (1st to 4th century CE) used the Greek script and Greek deities on their coinage. Even as late as the Gupta Empire (4th-6th centuries CE), Kumaragupta I issued coins with an imitation of Greek script.[21]

  • Coin of the Audumbaras influenced by Indo-Greek coin styles. 2nd century BCE
    Coin of the Audumbaras influenced by Indo-Greek coin styles. 2nd century BCE
  • Coin of the Kunindas influenced by Indo-Greek coin styles. 2nd century BCE
    Coin of the Kunindas influenced by Indo-Greek coin styles. 2nd century BCE
  • Coin of Gupta Chandragupta II with pseudo-Greek legend in the obverse. 4th century CE
    Coin of Gupta Chandragupta II with pseudo-Greek legend in the obverse. 4th century CE
  • Gold coin of Kanishka, with a depiction of the Buddha, with the legend "Boddo" in Greek script; Ahin Posh.
    Gold coin of Kanishka, with a depiction of the Buddha, with the legend "Boddo" in Greek script; Ahin Posh.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Extract of the Milinda Panha: "And afterwards, taking delight in the wisdom of the Elder, he handed over his kingdom to his son, and abandoning the household life for the houseless state, grew great in insight, and himself attained to Arahatship!" (The Questions of King Milinda, Translation by T. W. Rhys Davids, 1890)
  2. ^ Plutarch on Menander: "But when one Menander, who had reigned graciously over the Bactrians, died afterwards in the camp, the cities indeed by common consent celebrated his funerals; but coming to a contest about his relics, they were difficultly at last brought to this agreement, that his ashes being distributed, everyone should carry away an equal share, and they should all erect monuments to him." (Plutarch, "Political Precepts" Praec. reip. ger. 28, 6) p147–148 Full text
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference LawrenceUniversity was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mørkholm1991 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ohio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b (Roger Ling, "Greece and the Hellenistic World").
  7. ^ a b Science and civilisation in China: Chemistry and chemical technology by Joseph Needham, Gwei-Djen Lu p. 237ff
  8. ^ Sima Qian, "Records of the Great Historian", trans. Burton Watson, p. 236.
  9. ^ Bopearachchi, "Monnaies", p.27
  10. ^ Rapson, clxxxvi-
  11. ^ Brian Kritt: Seleucid Coins of Bactria, p. 22.
  12. ^ "Seleucid coins of Bactria", Brian Kritt
  13. ^ a b c d Christopher Howgego (11 September 2002). Ancient History from Coins. Routledge. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-1-134-87783-6.
  14. ^ Frank Lee Holt (1999). Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria. University of California Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-520-92009-5.
  15. ^ a b Daniel Ogden (30 April 2017). The Legend of Seleucus: Kingship, Narrative and Mythmaking in the Ancient World. Cambridge University Press. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-316-73844-3.
  16. ^ "Those tiny territories of the Indo-Greek kings must have been lively and commercially flourishing places", India: The ancient past, Burjor Avari, p.130
  17. ^ "No doubt the Greeks of Bactria and India presided over a flourishing economy. This is clearly indicated by their coinage and the monetary exchange they had established with other currencies." Narain, "The Indo-Greeks" 2003, p. 275.
  18. ^ "P.Bernard thinks that these emissions were destined to commercial exchanges with Bactria, then controlled by the Yuezhi, and were post-Greek coins remained faithful to Greco-Bactrian coinage. In a slightly different perspective (...) G. Le Rider considers that these emission were used to pay tribute to the nomads of the north, who were thus incentivized not to pursue their forays in the direction of the Indo-Greek realm", Bopearachchi, "Monnaies", p.76.
  19. ^ Bopearachchi, "Monnaies", p. 75.
  20. ^ Fussman, JA 1993, p. 127 and Bopearachchi, "Graeco-Bactrian issues of the later Indo-Greek kings", Num. Chron. 1990, pp. 79–104)
  21. ^ a b Foreign Influence on Ancient India, Krishna Chandra Sagar, Northern Book Centre, 1992 [1]
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