tetradrachm 5 BC Billon of Abdagses (c.5 BC-20 CE), Taxila, Indo-Parthians

King on horseback right, wearing Parthian dress and raising his right hand; Gondopharid tamgha to right, above Kharoshthi ji, blundered Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΟΝΤΟΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΑΒΔΑΓΑΣΟΥ (Basileuontos Basileōn Abdagasou), “Of Abdagases, King of Kings.” // Zeus Nikephoros standing left, holding sceptre and Nike in his outstretched right hand; monogram to left; B above Kharoshthi va to right. Kharoshthi legend: Maharajasa Rajatirajasa Gadapharabhrataputrasa Avadagashasa (“Of the Great King, King of Kings, Abdagases, son of the brother of Gondophares.”). 20mm, 9.77 grams. Taxila mint. Senior 231.21T.

Abdagases (c. 5 BCE–20 CE) was an Indo-Parthian ruler and close relative, probably nephew, of the dynasty’s founder Gondophares. He governed territories in Gandhāra and the northwestern Punjab, at times apparently as a subordinate or co-ruler of Gondophares. His extensive bilingual Greek-Kharoṣṭhī coinage includes distinctive horseman types and reflects the mixture of Parthian, Hellenistic and Indian traditions characteristic of the early Indo-Parthian kingdom.

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