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Agathocles of Bactria
Indo-Greek king

Agathocles I Dicaeus was a Greco-Bactrian/Indo-Greek king, who reigned between around 190 and 180 BC. He was likely from the dynasty of Euthydemus I, but he is also known to have commemorated both Diodotus I and Antiochus Nicator.

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Accounts and discovery

There is a near-complete lack of written sources except an extensive coinage.123

Agathocles was first discovered by Johann Martin Honigberger in 1834, with hoards of coins being discovered at a rapid pace.4 No sooner had Desiré-Raoul Rochette held him to be the founder of the Bactrian dynasty than he was rejected by Christian Lassen, who felt that Agathocles was a contemporary of Demetrius and Eucratides I.5

Biography

Agathocles' father may have been Diodotus II, and he would therefore have been illegitimate.6 Agathocles ruled c. 185 BC7 and was probably the immediate successor of Pantaleon; he was a contemporaneous relative (maybe, son) of Demetrius I, who was busy expanding towards India.891011

He was challenged by Antimachus I.1213 Depending on the results, which is not accurately ascertainable, he was either immediately ousted by Antimachus I or a few years later, by an usurper Eucratides I.141516

Coinage

No gold mints have been found.17 Bronze and silver mints were commonplace. Copper mints having significant Nickel were discovered by Flight in 1868; François Widemann believes them to have had an intermediate value between bronze and silver.1819

Commemorative coinage

Agathocles issued a series of coins mentioning a variety of rulers.20

The first of these types was acquired by a Russian explorer Nicholai de Khanikoff from Bukhara and published by Jean-Jacques Barthélemy: on the obverse was the usual image of Diodotus but with an epithet of "ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ" (savior) instead of basileus and on the reverse was the usual image of Zeus but with an additional inscription that read "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΟΝΤΟΣ ΑΓΑΘΟ­ΚΛΕΟΥΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ" (Agathocles the Just, ruling as a King).21 This peculiar coinage led to significant debate among numismatists — Barthélemy had construed the coins to venerate a dead ancestor but Johann Gustav Droysen argued, to significant acclaim, that it meant Agathocles was ruling as a subordinate of Diodotus.2223

Precisely similar coins but commemorating other rulers were located in the following decades — Euthydemus (1858) and Antiochus (1868).24 A coin of the same kind commemorating Diodotus but struck by Antimachus was also chanced upon.25 Scholars increasingly accepted the reasoning of Droysen and Cunningham proposed that Agathocles (alongside Antimachus) first ruled under Diodotus26 and then under Euthydemus and Antiochus.27 The general understanding of Bactrian Kingdom around the middle nineteenth century hold all of these Kings to be contemporaneous co-rulers.28 Among the rare dissenting voices was Alfred von Sallet who asserted that these "ancestor coins" were struck for the purpose of commemoration and rejected that these rulers were contemporary, based on the design of coins.29

In 1880, a coin of the same kind struck by Agathocles but "commemorating" Alexander, Son of Philip was published by Percy Garnder of British Museum.30 That it was impossible for Agathocles to be a sub-king of someone who had ruled about two hundred years earlier, Droysen's explanation was summarily rejected in favor of Sallet.3132 Gardner proposed that these coins were struck to increase his public on the eve of an (eventually successful) challenge by Eucratides I.33 In the early-mid 1900, Hugh Rawinson and William Tarn would extrapolate Gardner's ideas to further their visions of a grand Hellenistic past where Agathocles had faked his pedigree and Eucratides I was carrying out the orders of Antiochus IV to reestablish the Seleucid control.3435 Other scholars generally avoided giving too much significance to these "ancestor coins".36

More varieties of these coins would be discovered later.37 These mention Diodotus II, Demetrius II and Demetrius.38394041 In the last few decades, such coins have been discovered in more numbers but the accuracy of these finds remain plagued by the fact that these did not came from controlled excavations but auction networks.42 They were evaluated by scholars only after they have traveled continents and passed through multiple hands.43

It has been since accepted that these coins indeed represented Agathocles' predecessors.44 The precise context of minting and significance is still not clear.45

Religious coinage

See also: Post-Mauryan coinage of Gandhara

Agathocles was unique in issuing bilingual coinage.4647 Meant for local circulation in Gandhara, they were typically of smaller denominations, square or rectangular in shape, and minted in bronze or silver.4849 The obverse had his portrait labelled in Greek while the reverse had imagery from the Buddhist as well as Hindu pantheon alongside inscriptions in Brahmi/Kharosthi.505152 Monolingual coinage (in Kharosthi) of similar kinds have been discovered.53

These finds have led scholars to conclude that Agathocles favored socio-religious tolerance.54 Osmund Bopearachchi hold him to have inaugurated the first Indo-Greek era; others have been skeptic.55

Buddhist

Buddhist symbols such as the stupa and the "tree in railing" have been located in his coins.5657 These coins sometimes use Brahmi, and sometimes Kharoshthi, whereas later Indo-Greek kings only used Kharoshthi. Lakshmi, goddess of abundance and fortune, appears in several of these coins.58

Hindu

On 3 October 1970, six Indian-standard silver drachmas were discovered at the administrative quarters of Ai-Khanoum from a pilgrim's water vessel by a team of French archaeologists.59 These coins are the first numismatic representations of Vedic deities and serve as key evidences about Bhagavatism being the first form of Vaishnavism in early India.6061

The coins display early Avatars of Vishnu: Balarama-Sankarshana with attributes of pestle and plow on reverse, and Vāsudeva-Krishna with attributes of Shankha and Sudarshana Chakra on obverse.626364 On the bases of the coins bearing characteristic trademarks of Indian sculpture — frontal pose as opposed to three-quarter, stiff and starched folds in drapes, absence of proportions, and sideways disposition of feet — Audoin and Bernard speculated that the engravings were by Indian artists.65 Bopearachchi disputes the conclusion and points out the mis-representational depictions of Vāsudeva-Krishna's chattra with a headdress and conch with a high-necked vase; he hypothesizes that a Greek artist had engraved the coin from a now-lost (or undiscovered) sculpture.66

A dancing girl, found on the obverse of some Bronze coins of Agathocles are believed to be representations of Subhadra.67

Nickel coins

Also, Agathocles and Pantaleon, along with their contemporary Euthydemus II, are unique in the ancient world, in that they were the first in the world to issue copper-nickel (75/25 ratio) coins, an alloy technology only known by the Chinese at the time (some weapons from the Warring States period were in copper-nickel alloy).686970 These coins used the symbolism of Dionysos with a thyrsus over his left shoulder and his panther, which were his type for smaller coinage.7172

It has long been suggested that the nickel contained in the coins of Agathocles was ultimately of Chinese origin (Chinese Baitong, 白铜, "white copper"), and that they were indicative of the existence of trade links with China around that time.7374 However, a recent archaeometallurgical study of trace elements has shown that nickel in these coins actually came from natural nickeliferous copper ore.75

Decipherment of the Brahmi script

From 1834, some attempts were made to decipher the Brahmi script, the main script used in old Indian inscriptions such as the Edicts of Ashoka, and which had become extinct since the 5th century CE. Some attempts by Rev. J. Stevenson were made to identify characters from the Karla Caves (c. 1st century CE) based on their similarities with the Gupta script of the Samudragupta inscription of the Allahabad pillar (4th century CE) which had just been deciphered, but this led to a mix of good (about 1/3) and bad guesses, which did not permit proper decipherment of the Brahmi.7677

The first successful attempts at deciphering the ancient Brahmi script of the 3rd-2nd centuries BCE were made in 1836 by Norwegian scholar Christian Lassen, who used the bilingual Greek-Brahmi coins of Indo-Greek kings Agathocles and Pantaleon to correctly and securely identify several Brahmi letters.78 The task was then completed by James Prinsep, an archaeologist, philologist, and official of the East India Company, who was able to identify the rest of the Brahmi characters, with the help of Major Cunningham.7980 In a series of results that he published in March 1838 Prinsep was able to translate the inscriptions on a large number of rock edicts found around India, and provide, according to Richard Salomon, a "virtually perfect" rendering of the full Brahmi alphabet.8182

See also

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Notes

References

  1. Widemann, François (2007). "Civil Wars and Alliances in Bactria and North-Western India after the Usurpation of King Eucratides". East and West. 57 (1/4): 9–28. ISSN 0012-8376. JSTOR 29757721. https://www.jstor.org/stable/29757721

  2. Holt, Frank Lee (1981). "The Euthydemid Coinage of Bactria: Further Hoard Evidence from Aï Khanoum". Revue Numismatique. 6 (23): 7–44. doi:10.3406/numi.1981.1811. https://www.persee.fr/doc/numi_0484-8942_1981_num_6_23_1811

  3. Stoneman, Richard (2019-02-05). "13. The Trojan Elephant: Two Hundred Years of Co-existence from the Death of Alexander to the Death of Menander, 323 to 135 BCE". The Greek Experience of India. Princeton University Press. pp. 375–404. doi:10.1515/9780691185385-017. ISBN 978-0-691-18538-5. S2CID 243646486. 978-0-691-18538-5

  4. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  5. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  6. Stoneman, Richard (2019-02-05). "13. The Trojan Elephant: Two Hundred Years of Co-existence from the Death of Alexander to the Death of Menander, 323 to 135 BCE". The Greek Experience of India. Princeton University Press. pp. 375–404. doi:10.1515/9780691185385-017. ISBN 978-0-691-18538-5. S2CID 243646486. 978-0-691-18538-5

  7. The precise spans of rule for these kings are uncertain. Bopearachchi (1991) dates Agathocles to 185-175 BC.

  8. Holt, Frank Lee (1981). "The Euthydemid Coinage of Bactria: Further Hoard Evidence from Aï Khanoum". Revue Numismatique. 6 (23): 7–44. doi:10.3406/numi.1981.1811. https://www.persee.fr/doc/numi_0484-8942_1981_num_6_23_1811

  9. Jakobsson, Jens (2009). "Who Founded the Indo-Greek Era of 186/5 B.C.E.?". The Classical Quarterly. 59 (2): 505–510. doi:10.1017/S0009838809990140. ISSN 0009-8388. JSTOR 20616702. S2CID 170794074. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20616702

  10. Stoneman, Richard (2019-02-05). "13. The Trojan Elephant: Two Hundred Years of Co-existence from the Death of Alexander to the Death of Menander, 323 to 135 BCE". The Greek Experience of India. Princeton University Press. pp. 375–404. doi:10.1515/9780691185385-017. ISBN 978-0-691-18538-5. S2CID 243646486. 978-0-691-18538-5

  11. The intricacies of Bactrian Kingship remain understudied.

  12. Holt, Frank Lee (1981). "The Euthydemid Coinage of Bactria: Further Hoard Evidence from Aï Khanoum". Revue Numismatique. 6 (23): 7–44. doi:10.3406/numi.1981.1811. https://www.persee.fr/doc/numi_0484-8942_1981_num_6_23_1811

  13. Jakobsson, Jens (2009). "Who Founded the Indo-Greek Era of 186/5 B.C.E.?". The Classical Quarterly. 59 (2): 505–510. doi:10.1017/S0009838809990140. ISSN 0009-8388. JSTOR 20616702. S2CID 170794074. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20616702

  14. Holt, Frank Lee (1981). "The Euthydemid Coinage of Bactria: Further Hoard Evidence from Aï Khanoum". Revue Numismatique. 6 (23): 7–44. doi:10.3406/numi.1981.1811. https://www.persee.fr/doc/numi_0484-8942_1981_num_6_23_1811

  15. Jakobsson, Jens (2009). "Who Founded the Indo-Greek Era of 186/5 B.C.E.?". The Classical Quarterly. 59 (2): 505–510. doi:10.1017/S0009838809990140. ISSN 0009-8388. JSTOR 20616702. S2CID 170794074. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20616702

  16. Stoneman, Richard (2019-02-05). "13. The Trojan Elephant: Two Hundred Years of Co-existence from the Death of Alexander to the Death of Menander, 323 to 135 BCE". The Greek Experience of India. Princeton University Press. pp. 375–404. doi:10.1515/9780691185385-017. ISBN 978-0-691-18538-5. S2CID 243646486. 978-0-691-18538-5

  17. Widemann, François (2000). "Scarcity of Precious Metals and Relative Chronology of Indo-Greek and Related Coinages (1st Century B.C.-1st Century A.D.)". East and West. 50 (1/4): 227–258. ISSN 0012-8376. JSTOR 29757455. https://www.jstor.org/stable/29757455

  18. Widemann, François (2000). "Scarcity of Precious Metals and Relative Chronology of Indo-Greek and Related Coinages (1st Century B.C.-1st Century A.D.)". East and West. 50 (1/4): 227–258. ISSN 0012-8376. JSTOR 29757455. https://www.jstor.org/stable/29757455

  19. Cheng, C. F.; Schwitter, C. M. (1957). "Nickel in Ancient Bronzes". American Journal of Archaeology. 61 (4): 351–365. doi:10.2307/500603. ISSN 0002-9114. JSTOR 500603. S2CID 191289195. https://www.jstor.org/stable/500603

  20. Holt, Frank Lee (1981). "The Euthydemid Coinage of Bactria: Further Hoard Evidence from Aï Khanoum". Revue Numismatique. 6 (23): 7–44. doi:10.3406/numi.1981.1811. https://www.persee.fr/doc/numi_0484-8942_1981_num_6_23_1811

  21. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  22. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  23. Droysen had construed the participle ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΟΝΤΟΣ to refer to a subordinate position. Barthélemy was not convinced and issued a line-by-line rebut.

  24. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  25. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  26. Diodotus I apparently had two daughters (and a son Diodotus II) who were married off to Agathocles and Antimachus. Thus, they served as "lieutenant kings".

  27. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  28. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  29. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  30. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  31. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  32. Frank L. Holt emphasizes how not only the discoveries but their chronological order dictated the scholarly opinion.[4]

  33. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "Conclusion: The Lost World of the Golden King". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 211–220. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-013. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226753981. 978-0-520-95374-1

  34. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "4. Telling Tales: Narrative Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 67–88. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-007. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226676419. 978-0-520-95374-1

  35. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "Conclusion: The Lost World of the Golden King". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 211–220. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-013. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226753981. 978-0-520-95374-1

  36. Holt, frank L. (January 1984). "The So-Called" Pedigree Coins" of the Bactrian Greeks". Ancient Coins of the Graeco-Roman World. The Nickle ... https://www.academia.edu/2242534

  37. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  38. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  39. Jakobsson, Jens (2009). "Who Founded the Indo-Greek Era of 186/5 B.C.E.?". The Classical Quarterly. 59 (2): 505–510. doi:10.1017/S0009838809990140. ISSN 0009-8388. JSTOR 20616702. S2CID 170794074. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20616702

  40. Holt, Frank L. (2020-09-30). "Illustrations". Thundering Zeus. University of California Press. pp. XI–XII. doi:10.1525/9780520920095-001. ISBN 978-0-520-92009-5. 978-0-520-92009-5

  41. Holt, frank L. (January 1984). "The So-Called" Pedigree Coins" of the Bactrian Greeks". Ancient Coins of the Graeco-Roman World. The Nickle ... https://www.academia.edu/2242534

  42. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  43. Holt, Frank L. (2012-10-18). "2. A Dangerous Game: Framework Numismatics". Lost World of the Golden King. University of California Press. pp. 27–49. doi:10.1525/9780520953741-005. ISBN 978-0-520-95374-1. S2CID 226727136. 978-0-520-95374-1

  44. Holt, Frank L. (2019-12-16). "Macedonians, Seleucids, Bactrians, Greeks: Histrionics as History on the Hellenistic Fringe". New Perspectives in Seleucid History, Archaeology and Numismatics. De Gruyter. p. 464. doi:10.1515/9783110283846-025. ISBN 978-3-11-028384-6. S2CID 213386163. 978-3-11-028384-6

  45. Jakobsson, Jens (2009). "Who Founded the Indo-Greek Era of 186/5 B.C.E.?". The Classical Quarterly. 59 (2): 505–510. doi:10.1017/S0009838809990140. ISSN 0009-8388. JSTOR 20616702. S2CID 170794074. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20616702

  46. Jakobsson, Jens (2009). "Who Founded the Indo-Greek Era of 186/5 B.C.E.?". The Classical Quarterly. 59 (2): 505–510. doi:10.1017/S0009838809990140. ISSN 0009-8388. JSTOR 20616702. S2CID 170794074. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20616702

  47. Stoneman, Richard (2019-02-05). "13. The Trojan Elephant: Two Hundred Years of Co-existence from the Death of Alexander to the Death of Menander, 323 to 135 BCE". The Greek Experience of India. Princeton University Press. pp. 375–404. doi:10.1515/9780691185385-017. ISBN 978-0-691-18538-5. S2CID 243646486. 978-0-691-18538-5

  48. Holt, Frank Lee (1988). Alexander the Great and Bactria: The Formation of a Greek Frontier in Central Asia. Brill Archive. p. 2. ISBN 9004086129. 9004086129

  49. Jakobsson, Jens (2009). "Who Founded the Indo-Greek Era of 186/5 B.C.E.?". The Classical Quarterly. 59 (2): 505–510. doi:10.1017/S0009838809990140. ISSN 0009-8388. JSTOR 20616702. S2CID 170794074. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20616702

  50. Holt, Frank Lee (1988). Alexander the Great and Bactria: The Formation of a Greek Frontier in Central Asia. Brill Archive. p. 2. ISBN 9004086129. 9004086129

  51. Stoneman, Richard (2019-02-05). "13. The Trojan Elephant: Two Hundred Years of Co-existence from the Death of Alexander to the Death of Menander, 323 to 135 BCE". The Greek Experience of India. Princeton University Press. pp. 375–404. doi:10.1515/9780691185385-017. ISBN 978-0-691-18538-5. S2CID 243646486. 978-0-691-18538-5

  52. These coins also served as Rosetta-stone equivalents for the deciphering of Brahmi script by colonial scholars.[21]

  53. Vassiliades, Demetrios Th. (2004). "Greeks and Buddhism: Historical Contacts in the Development of a Universal Religion". The Eastern Buddhist. 36 (1/2): 134–183. ISSN 0012-8708. JSTOR 44362383. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44362383

  54. Vassiliades, Demetrios Th. (2004). "Greeks and Buddhism: Historical Contacts in the Development of a Universal Religion". The Eastern Buddhist. 36 (1/2): 134–183. ISSN 0012-8708. JSTOR 44362383. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44362383

  55. Jakobsson, Jens (2009). "Who Founded the Indo-Greek Era of 186/5 B.C.E.?". The Classical Quarterly. 59 (2): 505–510. doi:10.1017/S0009838809990140. ISSN 0009-8388. JSTOR 20616702. S2CID 170794074. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20616702

  56. Stoneman, Richard (2019-02-05). "13. The Trojan Elephant: Two Hundred Years of Co-existence from the Death of Alexander to the Death of Menander, 323 to 135 BCE". The Greek Experience of India. Princeton University Press. pp. 375–404. doi:10.1515/9780691185385-017. ISBN 978-0-691-18538-5. S2CID 243646486. 978-0-691-18538-5

  57. Vassiliades, Demetrios Th. (2004). "Greeks and Buddhism: Historical Contacts in the Development of a Universal Religion". The Eastern Buddhist. 36 (1/2): 134–183. ISSN 0012-8708. JSTOR 44362383. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44362383

  58. Chakrabarty, Dilip K. (26 August 2009). India: An Archaeological History: Palaeolithic Beginnings to Early Historic Foundations. Oxford University Press. p. 404. ISBN 978-0-19-908814-0. 978-0-19-908814-0

  59. Audouin, Rémy; Bernard, Paul (1974). "Trésor de monnaies indiennes et indo-grecques d'Aï Khanoum (Afghanistan). [II. Les monnaies indo-grecques.]: II. Les monnaies indo-grecques". Revue numismatique (in French). 6 (16): 6–41. doi:10.3406/numi.1974.1062. ISSN 0484-8942. https://www.persee.fr/doc/numi_0484-8942_1974_num_6_16_1062

  60. Osmund Bopearachchi, 2016, Emergence of Viṣṇu and Śiva Images in India: Numismatic and Sculptural Evidence Archived 2017-11-23 at the Wayback Machine /wiki/Osmund_Bopearachchi

  61. Bopearachchi, Osmund (1993). "On the so-called earliest representation of Ganesa". Topoi. Orient-Occident. 3 (2): 425–453. doi:10.3406/topoi.1993.1479. https://www.persee.fr/doc/topoi_1161-9473_1993_num_3_2_1479

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