Ancient ; Indo Scythian ; Maues ; Small Copper Unit ( Chalkous )

Description

Ancient ; Indo Scythian ; Maues ; Small Copper Unit ( Chalkous ) ;
Weight: 2.16 Grams ; Apollo standing facing, holding bow in left hand and arrow in right, traces of Greek legend around: BAΣI / ΛEΩΣ / MAYOY , Tripod monogram in left field, Kharoshthi legend around: mahara / jasa / moasa ; Reference: MIG 732, Senior 7.1
Historical Note : The Scythians or Sakas were originally a nomadic people from Central Asia who made their way into Bactria in the second century BCE. It is likely it is they who were responsible for the burning of Ai-Khanoum in what is now northern Afghanistan around 150 BCE. Maues was a king of this tribe who appears to have conquered territory in Kashmir and then acquired control of the area around Taxila in the Punjab. At this point, the Scythians were perhaps not as distinct from the Greeks as might be imagined, as considerable inter-marriage was probably taking place. There is a coin telling us that the so-called “Indo-Greek” king Artemidoros was the son of Maues. We also see this inter-mingling in the fact that most of Maues’s coin types follow Greek prototypes.
The date of Maues is still not entirely clear.The traditional dates are c. 90-60 BCE, but Artemidoros is dated to c. 85 BCE, which suggests Maues should be earlier.