1840.] Lieut. Cunningham on Bactrian coins, 877 



Obverse. The king mounted upon a two humped Bactrian camel, 

 walking to the right, with a bow at his back, and extending in his right 

 hand a cross over the head of the camel. Inscription in four lines as 

 in the preceding. 



Reverse. The humped Indian bull, walking to the right, the upper 

 part of the legs very thick, as if covered with long shaggy hair. Inscrip- 

 tion on three sides Ta9 "P^Tu T>iL^U^ Til'nTu, Maharajasa rajara- 

 jasa mahatasa Ayasa; *' (coin) of the great king, the king of kings, 

 the mighty Aja." 



A specimen of this type has already appeared in the London Numis- 

 matic Journal ; on that coin, however, there is a monogram composed of 

 the letters c and x> while this coin has no monogram of any kind. 



The Bactrian camel is figured on this piece in a much better 

 style than on the round copper coins of this prince. These pieces 

 would seem to form part of a series of coins struck by Azas, or 

 Aja, to show the extent of his kingdom by the exhibition of animals 

 characteristic of the different countries under his rule ; the elephant 

 and humped bull of India, the double-humped camel of Bactria, and 

 perhaps the shaggy long haired bull of Tibet. The total absence of 

 his coins at Beghram, proves that his rule did not embrace the country 

 around Kabul, while the abundance of his coins found at Bajawur, in 

 the Punjab, and in the lower hills south of Kashmeer, taken in conjunc- 

 tion with the various animals displayed upon these coins, clearly show 

 that his authority extended over the ancient Pencelaotis, and over the 

 kingdoms of Taxiles and of Porus, embracing the whole country from 

 the Jellalabad river to the country beyond the Hypanis, bounded to 

 the north by the Indus, and to the south by the Ocean. 



That his reign was a long one, is evinced by the variety and abun- 

 dance of his coins, which form the most numerous and most complete, 

 as well as the most interesting series of Bactrian coins yet discovered. 

 His name, as it is written in the Bactrian Pali, is a genuine Hindoo 

 appellation, being either Ayu^ or more probably Aja, the y and^ being 

 permutable letters ; and I incline strongly to connect him with the 

 prince whose coins bear the legends of BASIAEQ2 MAYOY and of 

 BA2IAEQ2 BA2IAEQN MEFAAOY MAYOY ; for this name 

 is certainly not a Greek one, while, on the other hand, it is a classical 

 Hindoo name, as Maya (the son of Karryapa by Dana) which would be 



