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Æ Stater - Alchon Huns Toramana II
| Issuer | Alchon Huns |
|---|---|
| Year | 530-570 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Brahmi |
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| Reverse description | The goddess Lakshmi is depicted seated cross-legged in frontal view, raising her right hand in a gesture of benediction (abhaya mudra) and holding a long-stemmed lotus flower in her left hand. The imagery draws directly from established Indian religious iconography, reflecting the Alchon Huns' adoption of Hindu cultic symbols on their coinage. A Brahmi legend reading 'Ja[ya]' ('Victory') is inscribed in the right field. The style is somewhat schematic, consistent with the provincial hammered coinage of the period. |
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| Additional information |
Toramana II ruled the Alchon Huns during a period of serious contraction, as Sasanian pressure and the rise of the Western Türk Khaganate steadily eroded Hunnic territorial control across Bactria and Gandhara. He is often confused with the earlier Toramana I, who campaigned deep into the Indian subcontinent in the late 5th century — the two are now distinguished primarily through numismatic evidence, this coinage among it.
Copper staters of this type circulated in regions where the monetary economy had already been badly disrupted by decades of conflict, and die workmanship deteriorated sharply across the series, with late strikes often nearly illegible.