CHAPPIDI ABHIRATH REDDY
C/O COL GKS REDDY
Secunderabad - 500 015.
Ancient Indian Coins
Kushan Empire, Western Kshatrapas, Indo Sassanian Kingdom and
Chalukyas of Gujarat & Saurashtra
Kushan Empire.
The Kushan Empire (Bactrian: κοϸανο; Sanskrit: कुषाण राजवंश Kuṣāṇ Rājavaṃśa; BHS: Guṣāṇa-vaṃśa; Parthian: Kušan-xšaθr was an empire originally formed in the early 1st century CE under Kujula Kadphises in the territories of the formerGreco-Bactrian Kingdom around the Oxus River (Amu Darya), and later based near Kabul, Afghanistan.[6] The Kushans spread from the Kabul River Valley to also encompass much of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, from which they took their first official language (Greek),[2] Bactrian alphabet, Greco-Buddhist religion, coinage system, and art. They absorbed the Central Asian tribes that had previously conquered parts of the northern central Iranian Plateau once ruled by the Parthians,[citation needed] and reached their peak under the Buddhist emperor Kanishka (127–151), whose realm stretched from Turfan in the Tarim Basin to Pataliputra on the Gangetic Plain.
The Kushans were one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, a possibly Iranian or Tocharian, Indo-European nomadic people who had migrated from the Tarim Basin and settled in ancient Bactria Their official language, theIndo-European Bactrian language, is closely related to the modern Afghan languages.
During the 1st and early 2nd centuries CE, the Kushans expanded across the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath near Varanasi (Benares), where inscriptions have been found dating to the era of the Kushan emperorKanishka, which began about 127 CE Around 152 AD, Kanishka sent his armies north of the Karakoram mountains. They captured territories as far as Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkant, in the Tarim Basin of modern-day Xinjiang, China. A direct road from Gandhara to China was opened which remained under Kushan control for more than 100 years. The security offered by the Kushans encouraged travel across the Khunjerab Pass and facilitated the spread of Mahayana Buddhism to China.
The Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sassanid Persia, Aksumite Empire and Han China. While much philosophy, art, and science was created within its borders, the only textual record we have of the empire's history today comes from inscriptions and accounts in other languages, particularly Chinese. The Kushan control fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, which fell to the Sassanians who targeted from the west. In the fourth century, theGuptas, an Indian dynasty also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Sassanian kingdoms were eventually overwhelmed by the Hepthalites, another Indo-European people from the north.
My Collection of Kushan Coins.
Western Kshatrapas.
The Western Satraps, Western Kshatrapas, or Kshaharatas (35–405) were Saka rulers of the western and central part of India(Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh states).
They were contemporaneous with the Kushans who ruled the northern part of the Indian subcontinent and were possibly their overlords, and the Satavahana (Andhra) who ruled in Central India. They are called "Western" in contrast to the "Northern" Indo-Scythian satraps who ruled in the area of Mathura, such as Rajuvula, and his successors under the Kushans, the "Great Satrap" Kharapallana and the "Satrap" Vanaspara. Although they called themselves "Satraps" on their coins, leading to their modern designation of "Western Satraps", Ptolemy in his 2nd century "Geographia" still called them "Indo-Scythians".The power of the Saka rulers started to decline in the 2nd century CE after the Saka rulers were defeated by the south Indian EmperorGautamiputra Satakarni of the Satavahana dynasty. Later the Saka kingdom was completely destroyed by Chandragupta II of the Gupta Empire in the 4th century CE.
Altogether, there were 27 independent Western Satrap rulers during a period of about 350 years. The word Kshatrapa stands forsatrap, itself descended from Old Persian and which means viceroy or governor of a province.
My Collection of Western Kshatrapas Coins.
Indo Sassanid Kingdom.
The Indo-Sassanids, Kushano-Sassanids or Kushanshas (also Indo-Sassanians) were a branch of the Sassanid Persians who established their rule in the northwestern Indian subcontinent during the third and fourth centuries at the expense of the decliningKushans. They were in turn displaced in 410 by the invasions of the Huna people. They were able to re-establish some authority after the Sassanids destroyed the Hephthalites in 565, but their rule collapsed under Arab attacks in the mid 7th century.
My Collection of Indo Sassanian Coins.
Chalukyas of Gujarat and Saurashtra.
The Chalukyas of Gujarat ruled from 750 to 850 AD .History of Gujarat mentions that Raj and Beej, both brothers came from Kalyani. Most historians have mistakenly took this Kalyani as the famous Kalyani, capital of a strong Chalukyan Kingdom in Southern India. Researchers have shown that there exist a place Kalyankataka, mentioned inPrabandchintamani, Ratnamala and many other books, is believed to be in Vindya ranges in Central India. The bard of Roopnagar, the Jagir Solanki Rajputs in Mewar, traces lineage of his masters to the kings, who ruled near banks of Soram river, which is in central India.Inscriptions of Kaluchari Kings of Central India describes that this place was under the supremacy of Chalukyan Kings. Thus, the belief that Chalukya of Gujarat and Southern India, shares a common lineage and both were migrated from North-central India. Though they have got separated many years before, but shares their title.
The Chalukya brothers from Kalyankataka, migrated to Gujarat and established a dynasty, which was one of the most powerful and famous dynasty of Indian history. This dynasty had changed the future of Gujarat and its surrounding areas.
In the western India, people pronounces "Cha" as "Sa". When the Chalukya Kings migrated to Gujarat, the name Chalukya was pronounced in local language "Salukya, Saluki", and later got changed to Solanki. There are many maratha families in Maharasthra which still have their title as "Saluki or Salunke". In the inscription, which were written in Sanskrit, it was spelled correct "Chalukya", but in local language it got variations and now got a common pronounciation "Solanki". From the period, when the history was started to be written in local languages and the name was written as it was spelled "Solanki".
My Collection of Chalukyas of Gujarat Coins.
Note:- The information about the Dynasties has been Extracted from Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia and other connected sites.
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