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Tetradrachm - Azes II Taxila Sirsukh mint
| Issuer | Indo-Scythian Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 35 BC - 12 BC |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | King Azes II depicted on horseback in right profile, clad in military attire with a billowing chlamys; the rider holds a spear or sceptre in the right hand while controlling the mount. The horse is shown at a walking pace, rendered in the Hellenistic artistic tradition adapted to Indo-Scythian coinage. The surrounding field is enclosed by a border of large dots. The Greek legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΑΖΟΥ, meaning 'of the Great King of Kings Azes', runs around the periphery of the coin. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Azes II almost certainly didn't exist as a separate king. The dominant scholarly position, argued at length by Nicholas Sims-Williams and Joe Cribb following their re-reading of the Azes Era inscriptions, is that "Azes II" is a ghost ruler — a modern construct born from misattributed coins that actually belong to the long reign of Azes I or to transitional issues of the Azes Era used by subsequent Indo-Parthian rulers. The Sirsukh site at Taxila places this squarely in the administrative and commercial heart of the Punjab, where silver currency circulated heavily along trade routes connecting the Iranian plateau to the Gangetic plain.