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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.
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Maues |
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Maues, Silver tetradrachm (Indian standard)
Weight: 9.22 gm. Diameter: 27-28 mm Die axis: 11 o'clock
Zeus standing left, holding sceptre, Greek legend around:
BAΣIΛEΩΣ BAΣIΛEΩN MEΓAΛOY / MAYOY
Winged Nike standing right, holding wreath and palm, monogram at right,
Kharoshthi legend around: rajatirajasa mahatasa / moasa
Reference: MIG 699a, Sen 1.2T
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Senior lists this as the first coin in his Catalogue of Indo-Scythian coins.
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Maues, Silver drachm (Indian standard)
Weight: 2.27 gm. Diameter: 17-18 mm Die axis: 11 o'clock
Zeus standing left, holding sceptre, Greek legend around:
BAΣIΛEΩΣ BAΣIΛEΩN MEΓAΛOY / MAYOY
Winged Nike standing right, holding wreath and palm, monogram at right,
Kharoshthi legend around: rajatirajasa mahatasa / moasa
Reference: MIG 700a, Sen 1.2D
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The drachms of this series appear to be rarer than the tetradrachms.
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Maues, AE hemi-obol
Weight: 9.70 gm. Diameter: 27 mm Die axis: 12 o'clock
Elephant head right, with raised trunk, bell around neck,
bead and reel border around
Caduceus, Greek legend: at right: BAΣIΛEΩΣ at left: MAYOY,
monogram in left field
Reference: MIG 707, Senior 5.1
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This coin imitates the similar type of the Bactrian king Demetrios I.
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Maues, AE chalkous
Weight: 1.93 gm. Dimensions: 15 x 12 mm Die axis: 12 o'clock
Apollo standing facing, holding bow in left hand and arrow in right,
Greek legend around: BAΣI / ΛEΩΣ / MAYOY
Tripod within rectangular dotted border, monogram in left field,
Kharoshthi legend around: mahara / jasa / moasa
Reference: MIG 732, Senior 7.1
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An unusual coin in that the legend is short and elegant: King Maues. The tripod was sacred to Apollo; it is seen on many late Indo-Greek
coins.
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Maues, AE hemi-obol
Weight: 8.89 gm. Dimensions: 24 x 24 mm Die axis: 12 o'clock
Elephant walking right, with raised trunk, within rectangular dotted border,
Greek legend around: BAΣIΛEΩΣ BAΣIΛEΩN MEΓAΛOY MAYOY
Humped bull standing right, monogram at right,
Kharoshthi legend around: rajatirajasa mahatasa moasa
Reference: MIG 735, Sen 14.1
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Maues, AE hemi-obol
Weight: 8.38 gm. Dimensions: 22 x 18 mm Die axis: 12 o'clock
Elephant walking right, with raised trunk, within rectangular dotted border,
Greek legend around: BAΣIΛEΩΣ BAΣIΛEΩN MEΓAΛOY MAYOY
King seated cross-legged facing on couch, within rectangular border,
monogram above right, Kharoshthi legend around: rajatirajasa mahatasa moasa
Reference: MIG 734a, Sen 15.1
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