JOURNAL 
OE THE 
ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL 
Part I—HISTORY, LITERATURE, &e. 
Nos. Ill & IV.—1881. 
Belies from Ancient Persia in Gold , Silver , and Copper.—By Major 
General A. Cunningham, c. s. i., c. i. e., Director General Archaeolo¬ 
gical Survey. 
(With nine Plates.) 
In the year 1877, on the north bank of the Oxus, near the town of 
Takht-i-Kuwat, opposite Khulm and two days’ journey from Kunduz, there 
was found a large treasure of gold and silver figures, ornaments and coins, 
most of which have been brought to India for sale. The site is also called 
Kawat and Kawadian, and I have no doubt that it is the Kobadian. The 
finders quarrelled about the division of the spoil, and several of the larger 
objects were cut to pieces for the sake of a ready settlement of accounts on 
the spot. Two of the most interesting objects, a horseman and a chariot, 
both of gold, were presented to Lord Lytton by Sir Louis Cavagnari. Most, 
if not all, of the remaining objects of the first find have come into my 
possession. The coins have been scattered. Several have gone to the 
British Museum, and many have passed into the hands of various collectors ; 
but a large number have come to Mr. A. Grant and myself. I believe that 
I have seen most of them, as both dealers and owners have sent to me either 
the coins themselves or impressions of them for identification. The coins, 
so far as I have seen of them, range over a period of about three hundred 
years, from the time of Darius to that of Antiochus the Great and Euthy- 
demus of Bactria. The gold and silver figures seem also to belong to 
different ages, as some are decidedly very archaic ; more particularly the 
small statuette of a king in silver, which I think may be as old as the time 
of Darius. 
T 
