Item: i101275

Authentic Ancient Coin of:

India –
Kushan Empire

Vima Kadphises – King circa 113-127 A.D.
Bronze Tetradrachm 25mm 
(16.50 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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are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided 
with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime 
Guarantee of Authenticity.

  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.