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Drachm - Hunnic tribes Kidarites Sassanian style, Varhran /Bahram/ IV imitation, Taxila mint
| Issuer | Kidarite Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 388-399 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 3.53 g |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central Zoroastrian fire altar depicted in frontal view, with flames rising from the altar top, supported on a stepped or tiered pedestal base; two attendant figures flank the altar on either side, each facing inward toward the flame in the Sasanian priestly tradition. The composition closely follows the standard Sasanian reverse type of Bahram IV, rendered in a simplified and somewhat degraded provincial style characteristic of Kidarite imitative coinage. The entire design is enclosed within a beaded border. |
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| Mint | Taxila |
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| Additional information |
The Kidarites seized control of the eastern Kushano-Sassanian territories in the latter half of the 4th century, displacing the Kushano-Sassanian governors and filling the administrative vacuum with coinage that deliberately mimicked Sassanian royal prototypes. Imitating Bahram IV — who reigned in Persia proper from 388 to 399 — was a calculated political signal, projecting legitimacy through a recognizable idiom rather than asserting an entirely new visual authority.
Taxila, long established as a monetizing center under earlier Kushano-Sassanian administration, continued under Kidarite control. The Göbl and Schaaf references place this type among the earliest distinctly attributable Kidarite emissions, before the kingdom's coinage diverged more dramatically from its Sassanian models.