Item: i99914

Authentic Ancient Coin of:

India. Kushan Empire
Vima Kadphises – King circa 113-127 A.D.
Bronze Tetradrachm 26mm (16.59 grams) Main mint in Begram. Struck circa 113-127 A.D.
Reference: MK 762; ANS Kushan 274-99; Donum Burns 87-105
Vima Kadphises standing facing, head to left, sacrificing over altar; trident to left, tamgha and club to right.
Siva standing facing, holding trident; behind, the bull Nandi standing to right; Buddhist triratana (“Three Jewels”) to left.

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  Shiva (/ˈʃɪvə/; Sanskrit: शिव, lit. ‘The Auspicious One’  IAST: Śiva), also known as Mahadeva (/ˈməhɑː dɛvə/; Sanskrit: महादेव:, lit. ‘The Great God’ is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism.

Shiva has pre-Vedic tribal roots, and the figure of Shiva as we know him today is an amalgamation of various older non-Vedic and Vedic deities, including the Rigvedic storm god Rudra who may also have non-Vedic origins, into a single major deity.

Shiva is known as “The Destroyer” within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma and Vishnu. In the Shaivite tradition, Shiva is the Supreme Lord who creates, protects and transforms the universe. In the Shakta tradition, the Goddess, or Devi, is described as one of the supreme, yet Shiva is revered along with Vishnu and Brahma. A goddess is stated to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Parvati (Sati) the equal complementary partner of Shiva. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism.

Shiva is the primal Atman (Self) of the universe. There are many both benevolent and fearsome depictions of Shiva. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash as well as a householder with wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya. In his fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also known as Adiyogi Shiva, regarded as the patron god of yoga, meditation and arts.

The iconographical attributes of Shiva are the serpent around his neck, the adorning crescent moon, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the third eye on his forehead, the trishula or trident, as his weapon, and the damaru drum. He is usually worshipped in the aniconic form of lingam. Shiva is a pan-Hindu deity, revered widely by Hindus, in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

  Nandi (Sanskrit: नन्दि, Tamil: நந்தி, Kannada: ನಂದಿ, Telugu: నంది, Bengali: নন্দী, Odia: ନନ୍ଦି, Malayalam: നന്ദി) is the guardian deity of Kailash, the home of Lord Shiva in the Hindu religion. He is usually depicted as a bull. The decorated bull Gangi Reddu is the tradition of ancient South India. ^]

According to Saivite siddhantic tradition, he is considered as the chief guru of eight disciples of Nandinatha Sampradaya, namely, Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana, Sanatkumara, Tirumular, Vyagrapada, Patanjali, and Sivayoga Muni, who were sent in eight different directions, to spread the wisdom. The Cham Hindus of Vietnam believes that when they die, the Nandi will come and take their soul to the holy land of India from Vietnam.

The Sanskrit word nandi (Sanskrit: नन्दि) has the meaning of happy, joy, and satisfaction, the properties of divine guardian of Shiva- Nandi. Almost all Shiva temples display stone-images of a seated Nandi, generally facing the main shrine.

It is recently documented, that the application of the name Nandi to the bull (Sanskrit: Vṛṣabha), is in fact a development of recent syncretism of different regional beliefs within Saivism. The name Nandi was widely used instead for an anthropomorphic door-keeper of Kailasha, rather than his mount, in the oldest Saivite texts in Sanskrit, Tamil, and other Indian languages. Siddhantic texts clearly distinct Nandi from Vṛṣabha. According to them, Devi, Chandesha, Mahakala, Vṛṣabha, Nandi, Ganesha, Bhringi, and Murugan, are the eight Ganeshwaras (commanders) of Shiva.

Vima Kadphises was a Kushan emperor from  approximately 113 to 127 CE. According to the  Rabatak inscription, he was the son of Vima  Takto and the father of Kanishka.

The connection of Vima Kadphises with other  Kushan rulers is described in the Rabatak  inscription, which Kanishka wrote. Kanishka  makes the list of the kings who ruled up to his  time: Kujula Kadphises as his great-grandfather,  Vima Taktu as his grandfather, Vima Kadphises as  his father, and himself Kanishka:

“… for King Kujula Kadphises (his) great  grandfather, and for King Vima Taktu (his)  grandfather, and for King Vima Kadphises (his)  father, and *also for himself, King Kanishka” (Cribb  and Sims-Williams 1995/6: 80) Emperor Vima  Kadphises expanded the Kushan territory in  Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he may have  replaced the Indo-Scythian ruler Sodasa in  Mathura.

The Kushan Empire was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of modern-day territory of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and northern India, at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath near Varanasi (Benares), where inscriptions have been found dating to the era of the Kushan Emperor Kanishka the Great.  

The Kushans were most probably one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, an Indo-European nomadic people of possible Tocharian origin, who migrated from northwestern China (Xinjiang and Gansu) and settled in ancient Bactria. The founder of the dynasty, Kujula Kadphises, followed Greek religious ideas and iconography after the Greco-Bactrian tradition, and also followed traditions of Hinduism, being a devotee of the Hindu God Shiva. The Kushans in general were also great patrons of Buddhism, and, starting with Emperor Kanishka, they also employed elements of Zoroastrianism in their pantheon. They played an important role in the spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and China.

The Kushans possibly used the Greek language initially for administrative purposes, but soon began to use the Bactrian language.  Kanishka sent his armies north of the Karakoram mountains. A direct road from Gandhara to China remained under Kushan control for more than a century, encouraging travel across the Karakoram and facilitating the spread of Mahayana Buddhism to China. The Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sasanian Persia, the Aksumite Empire and the Han dynasty of China. The Kushan Empire was at the center of trade relations between the Roman Empire and China: according to Alain Daniélou, “for a time, the Kushana Empire was the centerpoint of the major civilizations”. While much philosophy, art, and science was created within its borders, the only textual record of the empire’s history today comes from inscriptions and accounts in other languages, particularly Chinese.

The Kushan Empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, which fell to the Sasanians invading from the west, establishing the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom in the areas of Sogdiana, Bactria and Gandhara. In the 4th century, the Guptas, an Indian dynasty also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian kingdoms were eventually overwhelmed by invaders from the north, known as the Kidarites, and then the Hephthalites.