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Bactria, Hermaeus Soter (35-12 BCE) Indo-Scythian AE Tetradrachm Coin. VG-F!

Mint Period: 35-12 BC Denomination: AE Tetradrachm  References: MACW # 2383-2385. Condition: PItted by corrosion, dark toning, otherwise VG-F! Diameter: 21mm  Material: Bronze Weight: 5.23gm 

Obverse: Humped bull standing right. Greek legend around. Legend: BAΣIΛEΩΣ BAΣIΛEΩN MEΓAΛOY / AZOY

Reverse:: Lion standing to right. Kharoshti legend around.

Indo-Scythians (also called Indo-Sakas) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples of Saka and Scythian origin who migrated southward into western and northern South Asia (Sogdiana, Bactria, Arachosia, Gandhara, Sindh, Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra) from the middle of the 2nd century BC to the 4th century AD.

Bactria (Bactrian: βαχλο, Bakhlo), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia. Bactria proper was north of the Hindu Kush mountain range and south of the Amu Darya river, covering the flat region that straddles modern-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. More broadly Bactria was the area north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Tian Shan, with the Amu Darya flowing west through the center.

Azes II (reigned c. 35–12 BCE) would have been the last Indo-Scythian king in Gandhara, western Pakistan. His existence has been questioned — would he not have existed, artefacts attributed to his reign, such as coins, would likely be those Azes I.

After the death of Azes II, the rule of the Indo-Scythians in northwestern India and Pakistan finally crumbled with the conquest of the Kushans, one of the five tribes of the Yuezhi who had lived in Bactria for more than a century, and who were then expanding into India to create a Kushan Empire. Soon after, the Parthians invaded from the west. Their leader Gondophares temporarily displaced the Kushans and founded the Parthian that was to last until the middle of the 1st century CE. The Kushans ultimately regained Mardan and ancient Taxila c. 75 CE, where they were to prosper for several centuries.

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