Item: i102854

Authentic Ancient Coin of:

India – Kushan Empire 
Kanishka I – King circa 127-151 A.D.
Bronze 1/4 Unit (Drachm) 16mm (3.80 grams) Struck circa 127-151 A.D.
Reference: MACW 3185-7.
Crowned king standing facing, holding spear and sacrificing at altar at  left, Bactrian legend around.
Ithyphallic Oesho (Shiva) standing left,  holding trishul and kalash, with Bactrian legend OHPO at right.

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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.

Kanishka I or Kanishka the Great, an emperor of the Kushan dynasty in  the second century (c. 127-150 CE), is famous for his military, political,  and spiritual achievements. A descendant of Kujula Kadphises, founder of the  Kushan empire, Kanishka came to rule an empire in Gandhara extending to  Pataliputra on the Gangetic plain. The main capital of his empire was  located at Puruṣapura (Peshawar) in Gandhara, with another major capital at  Kapisa. Coins of Kanishka were found in Tripuri (present-day Jabalpur).

His conquests and patronage of Buddhism played an important role in the  development of the Silk Road, and in the transmission of Mahayana Buddhism  from Gandhara across the Karakoram range to China. Around 127 CE, he  replaced Greek by Bactrian as the official language of administration in the  empire.

Earlier scholars believed that Kanishka ascended the Kushan  throne in 78 CE, and that this date was used as the beginning of the Saka  calendar era. However, historians no longer regard this date as that of  Kanishka’s accession. Falk estimates that Kanishka came to the throne in 127  CE.

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.