Kirada

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Kirada
King of the Kidarites
HUNNIC TRIBES, Kidarites Kirada Circa 340-345.jpg
Kirada monogram.jpg
A "Gadahara" (Gandhara) coin of Kirada (left) and its Kirada monogram (right) appearing under the arm of the ruler.
Obverse: Several names appears on the obverse, vertically

Right field: The name Gupta ashoka g.svg Gupta girnar dd.svg Gupta ashoka h.svg Gupta ashoka r.svg Ga-ḍa-ha-ra appears vertically in the right field as a monogram ( Gadahara monogram.jpg ).
Middle field: This issue has the name Kirada ( Gupta ashoka ki.jpg Gupta allahabad r.svg Gupta allahabad d.svg Ki-ra-da), vertically as a monogram ( Kirada monogram.jpg ) under the arm of the standing ruler. [1]

Left field: Gupta allahabad k.svg Gupta ashoka p.svg Gupta ashoka nn.svg Ka-pa-ṇa appears in the left field, meaning unknown. [2] [3] [4]
Reverse: Goddess Ardoxsho seated.
Kidarites
Reign335-345 CE [5]
Predecessor Kipunada
Successor Peroz

Kirada (Brahmi: Gupta ashoka ki.jpg Gupta allahabad r.svg Gupta allahabad d.svg Ki-ra-da, ruled 335-345 CE), [5] is considered by modern scholarship as the first known ruler of the Kidarite Huns in the area of Gandhara in northwestern India, [6] possibly at the same time as another Kidarite ruler named Yosada. [5]

The name of Kirada name appears on numerous coins at the end of the Kushan Empire and the beginning of the rule of the Kidarite Huns in the area of Central and Western Punjab in India, in the period circa 340-345 CE. [4] [7]

The name Gupta ashoka g.svg Gupta girnar dd.svg Gupta ashoka h.svg Gupta ashoka r.svg Ga-ḍa-ha-ra (for the region of Gandhara) [8] appears vertically as a monogram ( Gadahara monogram.jpg ) in the right field of the coins of Kirada, as on some slightly earlier coins signed Samudragupta, or subsequent coins of other early Kidarite rulers named Yasada, Peroz and Kidara. [9] The appearance of the name Samudragupta may suggest some kind of suzerainty at a time in relation with the Gupta Empire. [9] [10] [4]

Coin in the name of Kushano-Sasanian ruler Varahran I, struck under Kidarite kings Yasada and Kirada, circa CE 340-345. Kidarite tamga () to the right. Balkh mint. Kushano-Sasanian ruler Vahram (Bahram) I Balkh mint Struck under Kidarite kings Yasada and Kirada, circa CE 340-345.jpg
Coin in the name of Kushano-Sasanian ruler Varahran I, struck under Kidarite kings Yasada and Kirada, circa CE 340-345. Kidarite tamga ( Kidarite Tamga.png ) to the right. Balkh mint.

The coins of Kirada would have followed those in the name of Samudragupta in Gandhara, and it is thought that Kirada was succeeded as Kidarite ruler by another Kidarite Peroz and then the famous Kidara. [11] [12] Altogether they form the first coin issues after the reign of the last Kushan ruler Kipunada. [2]

Kirada also struck in Balkh coins in the name of the last Kushano-Sasanian ruler Varahran I Kushanshah circa CE 340-345, incorporating the Kidarite tamga ( Kidarite Tamga.png ) which replaced the nandipada which had been in use before the rise of the Kidarites. [13]

Preceded by Kidarite ruler
335-345 CE [5]
Succeeded by

Related Research Articles

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The Kushan Empire was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of modern-day territory of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India, at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath near Varanasi (Benares), where inscriptions have been found dating to the era of the Kushan Emperor Kanishka the Great.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom</span> Branch of Sasanian Persians ruling Bactria (c. 230–365)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kipunada</span> Kushan Ruler

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kidara I</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Varahran Kushanshah</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peroz II Kushanshah</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peroz (Kidarite)</span>

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References

  1. Tandon, Pankaj (2009). "The Western Kshatrapa Dāmazāda". The Numismatic Chronicle. 169: 177. JSTOR   42678610.
  2. 1 2 Cribb, Joe. "The Kidarites, the numismatic evidence.pdf". Coins, Art and Chronology II, Edited by M. Alram et Al.: 101.
  3. A Comprehensive History of India. Orient Longmans. 1957. p. 253.
  4. 1 2 3 Tandon, Pankaj (2009). "An Important New Copper Coin of Gadahara". Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society (200): 19.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Cribb, Joe; Donovan, Peter. Kushan, Kushano-Sasanian, and Kidarite Coins A Catalogue of Coins From the American Numismatic Society by David Jongeward and Joe Cribb with Peter Donovan. p. 4.
  6. "The first Kidarite king Kirada" in The Classical Art Research Centre, University of Oxford (2018). Problems of Chronology in Gandhāran Art: Proceedings of the First International Workshop of the Gandhāra Connections Project, University of Oxford, 23rd-24th March, 2017. Archaeopress. p.  23.
  7. Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Litvinsky, B. A. (1996). History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750. UNESCO. pp. 165–166. ISBN   9789231032110.
  8. Cribb, Joe. "The Kidarites, the numismatic evidence.pdf". Coins, Art and Chronology II, Edited by M. Alram et Al.: 110.
  9. 1 2 Agrawal, Ashvini (1989). Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 128. ISBN   9788120805927.
  10. "Gadahara. The last branch, in course of time, yielded to Samudragupta, as is borne out by certain coins of this branch having the name Samudra. There is a good deal of similarity between the coins of the Gadaharas and the Kidara Kushanas." in Bajpai, K. D. (2004). Indian Numismatic Studies. Abhinav Publications. p. 112. ISBN   9788170170358.
  11. Khodadad Rezakhani affirms it as a settled fact now: "Kidara and a certain Peroz (previously called Peroz 3; Cribb 1990"), the first Kidarite authorities" in Rezakhani, Khodadad (2017). ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh University Press. p. 85. ISBN   9781474400305.
  12. "In the Punjab the stylistic progression of the gold series from Kushan to Kidarite is clear: imitation staters were issued first in the name of Samudragupta, then by Kirada, 'Peroz' and finally Kidara" in Errington, Elizabeth; Curtis, Vesta Sarkhosh (2007). From Persepolis to the Punjab: Exploring Ancient Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. British Museum Press. p. 88. ISBN   9780714111650.
  13. Cribb, Joe (2018). Problems of Chronology in Gandhāran Art: Proceedings of the First International Workshop of the Gandhāra Connections Project, University of Oxford, 23rd-24th March, 2017. Archaeopress. p. 23. ISBN   9781784918552.