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Drachm - Gondophares - 12 BC-130 AD Province of Jammu
| Issuer | Indo-Parthian Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 30-55 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.43 g |
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| Obverse description | Diademed bust of a bearded king facing right, rendered in the Hellenistic tradition, with the diadem ribbons visible behind the head. The portrait is struck in low relief on an irregular planchet, characteristic of Indo-Parthian hammered coinage. A degraded Greek legend encircles the bust in the outer field, reading BASILEWS BASILEWN or a corrupt rendering thereof. The style reflects the hybrid Greco-Iranian artistic conventions prevalent in the northwest Indian subcontinent during the early first century AD. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ |
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Gondophares I ruled the Indo-Parthian kingdom from roughly the late 20s into the mid-first century AD, controlling territories across what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwestern India. He is the only ancient Indian ruler to appear by name in early Christian tradition — the Acts of Thomas, written in the third century, identifies him as the king who commissioned the apostle Thomas to build a palace, a story that generated enormous scholarly debate about whether any historical contact between the two is plausible.
Billon coinage of this type shows marked inconsistency in silver content across the series, reflecting the strain of holding frontier territories against Kushan pressure from the north.