COINS OF THE INDO-SCYTHIANS, SAKAS & KUSHANS

About the Book:-The author reveals that on three sides India is protected from invasion; by the Himalaya Mountains on the north, and on the east and west by the sea. But on the north-west side, along the line of the Indus, i.e., is open to attack. On this side she was successfully invaded in ancient times by the Persians, the Greeks, and the Indo-Scythians. On this side also, in modern times, she was successfully assailed by the Turks under Mahmud Ghaznavi and Muhammad Ghori, and by the Mongols under Babar. The flourishing period of Indo-Scythian rule also lasted for all out three centuries, or from B.C. 26 down to the end of the third century A.D. when it came into contact with the rapidly growing power of the Gupta dynasty of N. India. In the present account the author proposes to treat at some length of the three centuries of the more flourishing period of Indo-Scythian rule previous to the rise of the Gupta Empire. For this period we possess not only a profusion of coins but also a considerable number of inscriptions. For the later period of almost four centuries, from about A.D. 300 down to the advent of the Muhammadans, the materials are comparatively scanty. The coins indeed are numerous, but they are unfortunately of uncertain dates, and their inscriptions, even when expressed in Indian characters, are either limited to single letters or to general titles which give but little useful information. In the following account he has aimed at giving a description of all the known coins of the Indo-Scythians together with such historical notices as he has been able to gather from various sources.