884 Lieut, Cunningham on Bactrian coins. [No. 105. 



like a badly formed M, surmounted by a large dot, under which, on 

 Captain Hay's coin, is the letter P, a; and on Dr. Chapman's coin a 

 different Bactrian character inflected, but which is too indistinct to be 

 readily deciphered. 



The name of Abalgases has an evident aflEinity to the Parthian 

 B0A0rAI2H2 or BOAAFASHE, the Vologases, and Balases 

 of Roman history, of which the original Parthian name was most pro- 

 bably Balagasa or Balgasa ; for the Pehlevi inscription on a Sassanian 

 gem was read by Ouseley as " Balgezi Yezdani" Vologases, the divine ; 

 the Balash or Balatsha of Persian historians. I have therefore little 

 hesitation in recording my belief that Abalgases, Bologaises, and Bal- 

 gezi are but different spellings of one original name — Balgasa or 

 Abalgasa. 



This naturally leads me to the consideration of whether this prince 

 was one of the Parthian kings of that name, or another independent 

 prince of the same age and nation ; which latter appears to be much 

 the more probable. In my remarks upon the coins of Azas, I have 

 already shown that there was an independent dynasty of princes reign- 

 ing near Kabul, cotemporary with Mayas, and his successors in the 

 Punjab ; and this position, which I deduced from an examination of 

 the coins, seems to be pretty clearly established by the following extract 

 from Professor Lassen's article on the Bactrian language ; who, quot- 

 ing Ptolemy, says, " the western half (of Kabulistan) belonged to that 

 nation, whose separate tribes are comprehended under the general 

 name of the Paropamisades ; the eastern is numbered with the Indians; 

 but the plain at the lower part of the river is now under the power of 

 the Indo- Scythians.'' By now, Ptolemy must of course refer to his 

 own times ; but this passage sufficiently proves that the part of the 

 country spoken of had originally belonged to the Indians ; most pro- 

 bably under Mayas, Azas, and Azilisas. Now the fair execution of the 

 coins of these princes proves them to have flourished soon after Menan- 

 der, or about the same time as Hermaeus at Beghram near Kabul, 

 that is B. c. 100. Vonones would appear also to have been cotemporary 

 with Azas, from the style and type of his coins, which are similar to 

 those of Azas, who flourished probably in b. c. 80. Again on two of 

 Dr. Chapman's coins, which will soon be published, we have on the 

 Grecian side a name which I read as Spalyrisas, while the reverse has 



