Kidarite 'Shiva and bull' vertical lines

The Kidarites, a branch of the Chionite peoples, swept into Bactria and the Gandharan regions during the fourth century, filling the vacuum left by the collapsing Kushano-Sasanian administration. Their copper small-denomination issues absorbed local Kushan iconographic conventions wholesale — a deliberate legitimizing strategy rather than cultural assimilation. The vertical line series is thought to represent a transitional phase in their coinage, before the dynasty consolidated enough to impose more standardized types across their minting centers.