1837.] of Coins deciphered. 389 



The central symbol I have had to explain so often and with so many 

 modifications, that I really feel it becomes more of an enigma the 

 more is said of it ! It occurs on the Pantaleon Greek coins — on the 

 Indo-Scythic group — on the Behat Buddhist group — on similar coins 

 dug up in Ceylon — and here at the opposite extremity of India. It is 

 the Buddhist Chaitya, the Mithraic flame, — mount Meru, mount Aboo ! 

 — in fact, it is as yet unintelligible and the less said of it, the sooner 

 unsaid when the enigma shall be happily solved ! 



Legend of the obverse. 



Having satisfactorily made out the contents of the inscription on 

 the reverse of the Saurashtra coins, I might have hoped to be equally 

 successful with the obverse ; but here I must confess myself quite foiled. 

 From the obverse die being somewhat larger than the other, it seldom 

 happens that a perfect legend can be met with ; and by placing toge- 

 ther all the scraps from different samples, enough only can be restored 

 to shew: 1st, its general character; 2nd, to prove that it is not 

 Sanskrit ,* and 3rd, that it contains two distinct styles of letter on 

 the opposite sides of the head ; that on the right having a strong 

 resemblance to Greek, the other a fainter to Pehlevi; but both written 

 by an ignorant hand. The three or four Pehlevi letters are variable 

 and quite illegible ; but the others, by combining the two first 

 examples in the plate, (No. 5, from my coin ; 8, from Mr. Steuart,) 

 might be read vonones vasileus, allowing sufficient latitude for the 

 corruption of a century or two. Should my conjecture be admitted 

 even to the extent that the letters are Greek, we may safely attribute 

 their presence to the supremacy of the Arsacidan king of Persia, or, 

 looking farther back, to the offsets of the Bactrian kingdom in the 

 valley of the Indus, where the Greek characters were still retained, as 

 proved by the coins of Kodes and Nones, (or Vonones) Azes, &c. ; 

 and we may conclude that his portrait, and not that of the tributary 

 raja, was aliowed to grace the coinage of Saurashtra. 



The sway of Demetrius we know from Strabo to have extended over 

 the delta of the Indus, and the retrenchment of a single particle 

 from his text would make it include Saurashtra also. Speaking of 

 Menander's Indian possessions he says : 



"Eiye Kal rbv ''firaviv (Yiraaiv) cue/3?? irpbs ecu Kal (J-*XP l T0V Ica^tou ^lai/xivov) irpo 

 rj\9e. rouef yap avrbs, TctSe Ayjju/jT/jtos 'EvOvd-fifiov vios tov Bafcrpixv /3acrtA.e'a>s 

 ov (x6vov 8e X\arTa\r\vriv Kare<rxof, a\Aa KaiT-Tjs aWris irapaAias T$ii'TfTe<rffapi6oTOv 

 KaXovfievi)V Kal tt\v 2,tyepri5os fiaaiKeiav- 



On this important passage many have been the opinions expressed 

 by the learned. Bayer refers the third name (the first two being fixed 

 3 E 



