XII. NEW VARIETIES OF BACTRIAN COINS, ENGRAVED AS Pl. XXVIII., FROM MASSON'S DRAWINGS AND OTHER SOURCES.

(SEPTEMBER, 1836.)

Instead of pursuing Masson's recapitulation of all the coins hitherto found by himself at Beghrám, we have preferred selecting those only which were new in name or type, for illustration; on the present occasion confining ourselves to those bearing Greek inscriptions of the earlier class, and leaving the Mithraic, of which our author produces some highly interesting novelties, for a subsequent plate.

Fig. 1. A silver coin of Archelius, similar in character to the coins of Menander and Apollodotus.'

OBVERSE.-Bust of king; head bound with fillet or diadem; legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ (δικα) ΙΟΥ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ ΑΡΧΕΛΙΟΥ. [ΑΡΧΕΒΙΟΥ.]

REVERSE. Jupiter Tonans, seated, holding sceptre in left hand. Compound monogram: legend in the Bactro-Pehlví character. The name is faint in the drawing, but is read with confidence by Masson from the coin itself. It may be read A'lakiyo (or jo); but if the second and third letters can be made kali, the word will represent very tolerably the pronunciation of the Greek name, A'kaliyo. The equivalent for Nikпpopov is an old acquaintance, Ajalado; but the middle letter is altered in form. The remaining epitheth, which I have supposed to be represented in the Greek by dikatov, is, in fact, found standing for this title, the just,' [Dhamikasa] in a coin of

1 Col. Stacy writes, while we are correcting this proof, that he has just added another name to this group, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΝΙΚΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΑΜΥΝΤ . . . . but of this we are promised casts in a day or two: it is too late for the present plate.

the Ventura collection, figured as No. 9, of pl. xxi. [xv.] vol. iv. A more perfect and legible specimen will be noticed below in Masson's series (fig. 6), in which thes econd syllabic letter, mi, decides the identity; but the initial is more like n; and the penultimate is 9 a, instead of ħk; but as the vowel a, according to our former observation, never occurs in the middle of a word, it should probably be read d, and we should thus have additional evidence of being the same letter affected with some vowel-mark.

Masson remarks on this coin: This silver drachma is an unique specimen found at Beghrám in 1835. It is evident that king Archelius must stand high in the list, but there is difficulty in locating his empire: if it be extended to Beghrám, why do we not meet with his copper coins?'

The same epithet, as Masson points out, may be observed on one of the Azos group of coins having the 'horseman' obverse (fig. 22) of pl. xvii. In our coin the legend was indistinct at the top, but in his drawing it is

In this the thirteenth letter should probably be P, unless by some rule of orthography the epithet 'just' is combined by a permutation of its final, and duplicated with the commencing consonant of the following word, which may be recognised without difficulty as the representative of μeyahou, 'the great.' We are indebted to Masson for the restoration of the inscription, which we have introduced in this place, because no other opportunity may occur of noticing this Azos coin.

Fig. 2. A silver drachma of Antilakides, discovered by Masson in 1835.

OBV.-Head of the monarch, with the peculiar hat or helmet common on coins of Eucratides, Philoxenus, Menander, etc., but rather flatter: mustachios on the upper lip (?); legend-as in the copper coins of the same prince—ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ ΑΝΤΙΛΑΚΙΔΟΥ.

REV.-Jupiter seated, holding a small Victory' in his right hand: in his left a sceptre or trident: monogram compounded of the Greek letters P and K: native legend-.... 7474. 2. ... PY. LU—as on the copper coins.

Dr. Swiney possesses in the collection lately purchased by him from Karámat 'Alí a duplicate of this coin, which shews the completed Pehlví legend to agree with that given in my former notice. The device on the reverse of the square copper pieces of this prince-two beehives and palm branches, denoting, as Masson conjectures, Plenty and Peace-has been met with on a similar coin of Eucratides; in whose near association, therefore, it is probable the unknown Antilakides should be classed.

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Fig. 3. An unique coin of Diomedes, found by Masson in 1834, and described by him in vol. v., Jour. As. Soc. Beng.', p. 24. In the memoir now before us he applies our system to the reading of the native name, which he makes out Pu ajamido, and argues thence that the Sanskrit equivalent for Diomed may be Aja-medha, a prince of the lunar race, who reigned at Kanyá-kubja. This remark,' he writes, 'is elicited from an observation in Mill's historical note on the Allahábád pillar ('Jour. As. Soc. Beng.', July, 1834), that the Chronicles of Marwar represent Nayana Pál as having conquered Kanauj in the year 470 A.D. from king Aji-pála, a descendant of Aja-medha. We here find a dynasty bearing the common name of Aja (identical with the Greek Azos), and suspected by Tod to have been of Scythic origin.'

We may remark, however, in opposition to this ingenious conjecture, that the Sanskrit name Aja is but a corruption of Ajaya, 'the unconquered,' and therefore might more appropriately represent the Greek avintos than Azos, which latter I have, indeed, elsewhere conjectured might be found in the Yavana-aso of Hindú tradition. Moreover, the first letter of the present legend

1 In the Kashmir list of the Rája-taranginí,' there is a prince named Ara (transcribed Aj in the Persian of the 'Ayin-i Akbari'), whose date by Wilson is 100 B.C.,