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Drachm - Varahran
| Issuer | Indo-Sasanian Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 330-365 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Bust of king facing right, wearing a distinctive crown composed of three large palmettes surmounted by a fluted globe with prominent ribbon fillet. The effigy displays characteristically bushy hair, with the pointed beard drawn through a ring; personal adornments include an earring and necklace. The lower portion of the bust is stylistically formed by the pendant leaves of the palmettes, a feature associated with Hephthalite iconographic conventions. A Parsik (Middle Persian) legend accompanies the portrait in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A Sasanian-style fire altar occupies the center of the reverse field, depicted in the characteristic architectural form with stepped base and flaming summit. Flanking the altar to the left and right are two attendants rendered in distinctive local attire, each holding barsom (sacred bundle of twigs) wands in the prescribed ritual manner, facing inward toward the altar in a symmetrical devotional composition typical of late Sasanian and Indo-Sasanian coinage. |
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| Additional information |
The Indo-Sasanian issues attributed to Varahran represent the phase when Sasanian governors installed by Shapur II administered the former Kushano-Sasanian territories following the collapse of Kushano-Sasanian royal authority in the mid-fourth century. These are not royal Sasanian coins struck at an imperial mint — they are provincial imitations, produced in the subcontinent by a regional administration that was already beginning to drift from metropolitan prototypes. The die-cutting shows incremental debasement of the original Ardashir II and Shapur III reverse types, a degradation that accelerates markedly in successor issues.