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India – ‘Pushkalavati’ Civic Coinage (circa 220-165 B.C.)
Under the
Late Mauryan Empire and the Indo-Greeks
Bronze 13mm x 19mm (8.70
grams) Struck circa 185-165 B.C.
Reference: HGC 12, 771 var. (lion
right.)
Elephant advancing right; arched hill above.
Lion standing
left; Swas tika above and arched hill to left.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of
Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
 Pushkalavati
(Sanskrit: पुष्कलावती; Urdu: پُشْكَلآوَتي; IAST:
Puṣkalāvatī, Greek: Peukelaotis), and later Shaikhan Dheri,
was the capital of the Gandhara region in northern Pakistan. Its ruins are
located on the outskirts of the modern city of Charsadda, in Charsadda District,
in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 28 kilometres (17 miles) northeast of Peshawar. Its
ruins are located on the banks of Swat River, near its junction with Kabul
River, with the earliest archaeological remains from 1400 to 800 BCE in Bala
Hisar mound.an Achaemenid regional capital around 600 BCE, and it remained an
important city until the 2nd century CE.
Pushkalavati (Sanskrit: पुष्कलावती, IAST:
Puṣkalāvatī) means Lotus City in Sanskrit. According to Hindu
mythology as per the Ramayana, it was named Pushkalavati because it
was founded by Pushkala, the son of Bharat.
 The
region around ancient Pushkulavati was recorded in the Zoroastrian Zend
Avesta as Vaēkərəta, or the seventh most beautiful place on earth
created by Ahura Mazda. It was known as the “crown jewel” of Bactria, and held
sway over nearby ancient Taxila’.
The ruins of Pushkalavati consist of many stupas and the sites of two ancient
cities.
Bala Hisar
Bala Hisar site (34.168°N 71.736°E) in this area was first inhabited in the
2nd-millennium BCE. The C14 dating of early deposits in Bala Hisar, bearing
“Soapy red”/red burnished ware, is 1420-1160 BCE, and this early phase lasted
from 1400 to 800 BCE, the second phase took place until around 500 BCE featuring
bowls in typical “grooved” red burnished ware.
In later 6th century BCE, Pushkalavati became the capital of the Achaemenid
Gandhara satrapy following the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley. The
location was first excavated in 1902 by the archaeologist John Marshall. Sir
Mortimer Wheeler conducted some excavations there in 1962, and identified an
occupation from the Achaemenid period and various Achaemenid remains.
According to Arrian, the city then surrendered in 327/326 BCE to Alexander
the Great, who established a garrison in it.
Later in the regions historical chronology, King Ashoka built a stupa there
which was described by Xuanzang when he visited in 630 CE, which to this day
remains unidentified and undiscovered.
The Bactrian Greeks built a new city (Peucela (Greek:
Πευκέλα) or Peucelaitis (Greek: Πευκελαώτις) at the mound
currently known as Shaikhan Dheri (34.178°N 71.743°E), which lies one kilometre
north from Bala Hissar on the other side of Sambor River, the branch of River
Jinde. This city was established in the second century BCE until the second
century CE, occupied by Parthian, Sakas and Kushans.
Two early Buddhist manuscripts recently found in the region, known as
avadanas, written in Gandhari language around 1st century CE (now
in the British Library Collection of Gandharan Scrolls) mention the name of the
city as Pokhaladi.
In the 2nd century CE, river changed its course and city was flooded. The
town moved to the site of the modern village of Rajjar. The last reference to
Pushkalavati as Po-shi-ki-lo-fa-ti was recorded in the account
of the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang in 7th century C.E., and subsequently, after
the region was conquered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1001 AD, the name Gandhara was
not used anymore, and in all probability the following period is when
Pushkalavati became known as Shaikhan Dheri, as Dheri means
mound/hill in Pashto, which is related to Persian language.
The former city’s ruins were partly excavated by Ahmad Hasan Dani in 1960s.
There are still many mounds at Mir Ziarat, at Rajar and Shahr-i-Napursan which
are still unexcavated.
The city of Pushkalavati was situated at the confluence of Swat and Kabul
rivers. Three different branches of Kabul river meet there. That specific place
is still called Prang and considered sacred. A grand graveyard is situated to
the north of Prang where the local people bring their dead for burial. This
graveyard is considered to be among the largest graveyards in the world.
In the concluding portion of the (Ramayana) Uttarakhanda or Supplemental
Book, the descendants of Rama and his brothers are described as the founders of
the great cities and kingdoms which flourished in Western India.
Bharata the brother of Rama had two sons, Taksha and Pushkala. The former
founded Taksha-sila or Taxila, to the east of the Indus, and known to Alexander
and the Greeks as Taxila. The latter founded Pushkala-vati or Pushkalavati, to
the west of the Indus, and known to Alexander and the Greeks as Peukelaotis.
Thus according to Hindu legend, the sons of Bharat founded kingdoms that
flourished on either side of the Indus river.
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