View source for Indo-Parthian kingdom

{{Short description|19–226 CE kingdom in northwestern South Asia}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = 
| conventional_long_name = Indo-Parthian kingdom
| common_name            = Indo-Parthian kingdom
| era                    = [[ancient history|Antiquity]]
| status                 = 
| event_start            = [[Gondophares|Gondophares I]]
| year_start             = 19 CE
| date_start             = 
| event1                 = 
| date_event1            = 
| event_end              = 
| year_end               = 226 CE
| date_end               = 
| p1                     = Parthian Empire
| p3                     = Indo-Scythians
| p2                     = Indo-Greek Kingdom
| p4                     = Northern Satraps
| s1                     = Paratarajas
| s2                     = Kushan Empire
| s3                     = Sasanian Empire
| image_flag             = 
| flag_type              = 
| image_coat             = 
| image_map              = {{Location map+
|South Asia
|overlay_image=Map of the Indo-Parthians.png
| width=290  <!--  DO NOT CHANGE MAP SIZE (290) AS THIS WILL DISPLACE THE LABELS  -->
| float = center
| border  =none
| nodiv   = 1
| mini    = 1
| relief  = yes
| places  =
{{Annotation|text-align=center|230|5|[[40CE|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF">South-Asia<br>40 CE</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=10|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|105|155|[[Satavahana Empire|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF">SATAVAHANAS</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|125|220|[[Pandyan dynasty|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF">PANDYAS</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|125|230|[[Ay dynasty|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF">AY</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|125|205|[[Chola dynasty|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF">CHOLAS</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|105|195|[[Chera dynasty|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF">CHERAS</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|115|185|[[Chutu dynasty|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF">CHUTUS</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|20|15|[[Yuezhi|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#006400FF">YUEZHI</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|75|115|[[Western Satraps|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#006400FF">WESTERN<br>SATRAPS</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|160|105|[[Mitra dynasty (Kosambi)|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF">MITRAS</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|95|102|[[Malavas|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF">MALAVAS</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=6|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|85|85|[[Yaudheya|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF">YAUDHEYAS</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=6|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|150|135|[[Mahameghavahana dynasty|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF">MAHAMEGA-<br>VAHANA</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|200|120|[[Samatata|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF">SAMATATAS</span>]]|text-align=center|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=6|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|257|245|[[Template:South Asia in 150 BCE|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF"> ◁  </span>]] [[Template:South Asia in 350 CE|<span class="mw-no-invert" span style="color:#4F311CFF"> ▷ </span>]]|text-align=center|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=12|color=#000000}}
|caption=
}}
| image_map_alt          = Map of the Indo-Parthians.
| map_width              = 290
| image_map_caption      = {{center|Indo-Parthian kingdom at its maximum extent, circa 40 CE, and neighbouring South Asian polities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |pages=21, 145, map XIV.1 (f)|isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/reference/schwartzberg/query.py?object=182&display_type=image_display#gsc.tab=0}}</ref>}}
| capital                = [[Taxila]]<br />[[Kabul]]
| common_languages       = [[Old Aramaic|Aramaic]]<br />[[Koine Greek|Greek]]<br />[[Pali]] ([[Kharoṣṭhī|Kharoshthi]] script)<br /> [[Sanskrit]], [[Prakrit]] ([[Brāhmī script|Brahmi]] script), [[Parthian language|Parthian]]
| religion               = [[Buddhism]]<br>[[Hinduism]]<br>[[Zoroastrianism]]
| government_type        = Monarchy
| leader1                = [[Gondophares|Gondophares I]] <small>(first)</small>
| year_leader1           = 19–46
| leader2                = [[Farn-Sasan]] <small>(last)</small>
| year_leader2           = ?–226
| title_leader           = [[Indo-Greek Kingdom#Indo-Greek kings: their coins, territories and chronology|King]]
| legislature            = 
}}
The '''Indo-Parthian kingdom''' was a [[Parthia]]n kingdom founded by [[Gondophares]], and active from 19 CE to c. 226 CE. At their zenith, they ruled an area covering parts of eastern [[Iran]], various parts of [[Afghanistan]] and the northwest regions of the [[Indian subcontinent]] (most of modern [[Pakistan]] and parts of northwestern [[India]]). The rulers may have been members of the  [[House of Suren]], and the kingdom has even been called the "Suren Kingdom" by some authors.{{sfn|Gazerani|2015|p=26}}

The kingdom was founded in 19/20 when the governor of [[Drangiana]] ([[Sistan|Sakastan]]) [[Gondophares]]<ref>{{Citation |last=Ghosh |first=Suchandra |title=Indo-Parthian Kingdom |date=2016-01-11 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe038 |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Empire |pages=1–2 |editor-last=Dalziel |editor-first=Nigel |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe038 |isbn=978-1-118-45507-4 |access-date=2023-01-28 |editor2-last=MacKenzie |editor2-first=John M|url-access=subscription }}</ref> declared independence from the [[Parthian Empire]]. He would later make expeditions to the east, conquering territory from the [[Indo-Scythians]] and [[Indo-Greeks]], thus transforming his kingdom into an empire.{{efn|"As a result, the Indo-Greek kingdom emerged to the south, but it did not exist long and was soon replaced by the Indo-Parthian kingdom."{{sfn|Ellerbrock|2021|p=117}}}}{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=35}} The domains of the Indo-Parthians were greatly reduced following the invasions of the [[Kushan Empire|Kushans]] in the second half of the 1st. century. They managed to retain control of [[Sakastan]], until its conquest by the [[Sasanian Empire]] in c. 224/5.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2016|p=25}} In [[Baluchistan]], the [[Paratarajas]], a local Indo-Parthian dynasty, fell into the orbit of the [[Sasanian Empire]] circa 262 CE.<ref name="PA29">"New light on the Paratarajas" Pankaj Tandon [http://people.bu.edu/ptandon/Paratarajas.pdf p.29-35]</ref>

The Indo-Parthians are noted for the construction of the [[Buddhist]] [[monastery]] [[Takht-i-Bahi]] ([[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]) in Mardan, Pakistan.

==Gondophares I and his successors==
[[File:GondopharesCoin.JPG|thumb|150px|left|Portrait of [[Gondophares]], founder of the Indo-Parthian kingdom. He wears a headband, earrings, a necklace, and a cross-over jacket with round decorations.]]
[[Gondophares|Gondophares I]] originally seems to have been a ruler of [[Seistan]] in what is today eastern Iran, probably a vassal or relative of the [[Apracarajas]]. He may have replaced previous Parthian governors of Seistan, such as [[Cheiroukes]] or [[Tanlismaidates]].{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=56}} These Parthian satraps had been ruling the region of [[Sakastan]] since the time when [[Mithridates II of Parthia|Mithridates II]] (124–88 BC) had vanquished the Sakas of the region.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=32|loc="The coinage of a series of authorities whose names are given as Tanlis, Tanlis Mardates, and probably a queen named Rangodeme are quite likely to be the last series issued by these ‘satraps’ before the establishment of the dynasty of Gondophares in Sistan and Arachosia. The early rulers of Sakistan/Sistan can thus be characterised as Arsacid governors, possibly of Saka origin, who are appointed following the defeat of the Sakas in the region by Mithridates II"}}

Around 20–10 BC,<ref>The chronology of the Gondopharid kings has long been uncertain, predominantly based on coins. This reconstruction is based on "Indo-Scythian Coins and History IV" by Robert Senior, CNG 2006, as the four volumes of Senior's work provide an almost complete catalogue of the coinage of the period. Senior's chronology is based on the existence of only one king Azes, a theory that was vindicated when it was shown that a coin of the so-called Azes II was overstruck with a type attributed to Azes I (see Senior, "The final nail in the coffin of Azes II", Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society 197, 2008).</ref> he made conquests in the former [[Indo-Scythian]] kingdom, perhaps after the death of the important ruler [[Azes]]. Gondophares became the ruler of areas comprising [[Arachosia]], [[Seistan]], [[Sindh]], [[Punjab (region)|Punjab]], and the [[Kabul]] valley, but it does not seem as though he held territory beyond eastern [[Punjab region|Punjab]].<ref>Rosenfield, p129</ref> Gondophares called himself "King of Kings", a [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] title that in his case correctly reflects that the Indo-Parthian empire was only a loose framework: a number of smaller dynasts certainly maintained their positions during the Indo-Parthian period, likely in exchange for their recognition of Gondophares and his successors. These smaller dynasts included the [[Apracarajas]] themselves, and Indo-Scythian [[satrap]]s such as [[Zeionises]] and [[Rajuvula]], as well as anonymous Scythians who struck imitations of [[Azes]] coins. The [[Ksaharata]]s also held sway in [[Gujarat]], perhaps just outside Gondophares' dominions.

[[File:Takht-e-bahi.jpg|thumb|Ancient [[Buddhist]] [[monastery]] [[Takht-i-Bahi]] (a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]) constructed by the Indo-Parthians in [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Pakistan]].]]
After the death of Gondophares I, the empire started to fragment. The name or title ''[[Gondophares]]'' was adapted by [[Sarpedones]], who become '''Gondophares II''' and was possibly son of the first Gondophares. Even though he claimed to be the main ruler, Sarpedones’ rule was shaky and he issued a fragmented coinage in Sind, eastern Punjab and Arachosia in southern Afghanistan. The most important successor was [[Abdagases]], Gondophares’ nephew, who ruled in Punjab and possibly in the homeland of Seistan. After a short reign, Sarpedones seems to have been succeeded by [[Orthagnes]], who became '''Gondophares III Gadana'''. Orthagnes ruled mostly in Seistan and Arachosia, with Abdagases further east, during the first decades AD, and was briefly succeeded by his son Ubouzanes [https://web.archive.org/web/20051001231141/http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/par_rel/print/i_ubouzanes.jpg Coin]. After 20 AD, a king named [[Sases]], a nephew of the Apracaraja ruler Aspavarma, took over Abdagases’ territories and became '''Gondophares IV Sases'''{{citation needed|reason=What is the evidence equating the Apraca Sasan with the Indo-Parthian Sases?|date=March 2021}}. According to Senior, this is the Gondophares referred to in the [[Takht-i-Bahi]] inscription.<ref>A votive inscription of the 26th year of Guduvhara or Gondophares, is reported to have been found on a stone at [[Takht-i-Bahi]], northeast of [[Peshawar]] with a date in the year 103 of an unspecified era reckoning. This era is likely to have been the Malva or Vikrama era, founded in 57 BCE, this would give a date of 20 CE for this king's ascension (see [[Hindu calendar]]). The stone was formerly in the museum at [[Lahore]]. The point is especially important for those Christians who consider that a germ of history is embedded in the ''[[Acts of Thomas]].''</ref>

There were other minor kings: Sanabares was an ephemeral usurper in Seistan, who called himself Great King of Kings, and there was also a second Abdagases [https://web.archive.org/web/20040411002040/http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/par_rel/print/i_abdagases.jpg Coin], a ruler named Agata in Sind, another ruler called Satavastres [https://web.archive.org/web/20051001231145/http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/par_rel/print/i_satavastres.jpg Coin], and an anonymous prince who claimed to be brother of the king Arsaces, in that case an actual member of the ruling dynasty in [[Parthia]].

But the Indo-Parthians never regained the position of Gondophares I, and from the middle of the 1st century AD the [[Kushans]] under [[Kujula Kadphises]] began absorbing the northern Indian part of the kingdom.{{sfn|Gazerani|2015|pp=26-27}}

===Rulers of Turan and Sakastan (160-230 AD)===
[[File:KINGS of TURAN. Pahares I. Circa 160-230 AD. Bearded bust left, wearing Parthian-style tiara - Crude figure of Nike walking right.jpg|thumb|Coinage of [[Pahares I]], Indo-Parthian king of [[Turan]] (Circa 160-230 CE). Bearded bust left, wearing Parthian-style tiara. Crude figure of Nike walking right.]]
The Indo-Parthians managed to retain control of [[Turan (Sasanian province)|Turan]] and [[Sistan|Sakastan]], which they ruled until the fall of the [[Parthian Empire]] at the hands of the [[Sasanian Empire]] circa 230 CE.{{sfn|Gazerani|2015|pp=26-27}} [[Pahares I]] (160-230 AD) was a ruler of [[Turan (Sasanian province)|Turan]] following the partition of the remains of the Indo-Parthian kingdom.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mitchiner |first1=Michael |title=Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian Coinage |date=1975 |publisher=Hawkins Publications |isbn=978-0-904173-12-3 |page=779 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a4EaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA779 |language=en}}</ref> The kingdom of Sakastan was ruled by a second king with the name [[Sanabares II]] (160-175 AD).<ref name="ACW">{{cite book |last1=Mitchiner |first1=Michael |title=The Ancient & Classical World, 600 B.C.-A.D. 650 |date=1978 |publisher=Hawkins Publications |isbn=978-0-904173-16-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zuQLAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA348 |language=en|quote="Pakores was succeeded in the office of Great King by Sanabares (c. AD 135-160). The much reduced Indo-Parthian realm then split into its two geographical constituents. These now became the Kingdom of Turan whose king was named Pahares and the Kingdom of Sakastan ruled by a second king bearing the name Sanabares (c. AD 160-175). These two kingdoms, Turan and Sakastan, were to persist until the first Sasanian Emperor, Ardeshir I, about AD 230. Both then became vassal kingdoms within the Sasanian Empire. Tabari recorded the submission made by the King of Turan which transpired when Ardeshir was at Gor: then envoys of the king of the Kushan, of the kings of Turan and Mokran came to him with declarations of their submission."}}</ref> The Kingdoms of Turan and Sakastan ended when they submitted to the Sasanian ruler [[Ardeshir I]] circa 230 CE.<ref name="ACW"/> These events were recorded by [[Al-Tabari]], describing the arrival of envoys to Ardeshir at [[Firuzabad, Fars|Gor]]:<ref name="ACW"/>

{{blockquote|“Then he [Ardashir] marched back from the Sawad to Istakhr, from there irst to Sagistan, then to Gurgan, then to Abrasahr, Merv, Balkh, and Khwarizm to the farthest boundaries of the provinces of Kohrasan, whereupon he returned to Merv. Ater he had killed many 
people and sent their heads to the Fire temple of Anahedh he returned from Merv to Pars and settled in Gor. Then envoys of the king of the Kushan, of the kings of Turan and [[Makran|Mokran]] came to him with declarations of their submission."|[[Al-Tabari]]<ref name="ACW"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bracey |first1=Robert |title=The Mint Cities of the Kushan Empire |journal=The City and the Coin in the Ancient and Early Medieval World |date=1 January 2012 |publisher=BAR International Series 2402 |page=124 |url=https://www.academia.edu/2078818}}</ref>}}

==Archaeology and sources==
[[File:A picture Texila by Usman Ghani.jpg|thumb|The Hellenistic temple with [[Ionic order|Ionic]] columns at [[Jandial]], [[Taxila]], [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Pakistan]]. It is usually interpreted as a Zoroastrian [[fire temple]] from the period of the Indo-Parthians.]]
The city of [[Taxila]] is thought to have been a capital of the Indo-Parthians. Large strata were excavated by Sir [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]] with a quantity of Parthian-style artifacts. The nearby temple of [[Jandial]] is usually interpreted as a Zoroastrian [[fire temple]] from the period of the Indo-Parthians.

Some ancient writings describe the presence of the Indo-Parthians in the area, such as the story of Saint [[Thomas the Apostle]], who was recruited as a carpenter to serve at the court of king "Gudnaphar" (thought to be Gondophares) in India. The [[Acts of Thomas]] describes in chapter 17 Thomas' visit to king Gudnaphar in northern India; chapters 2 and 3 depict him as embarking on a sea voyage to India, thus connecting Thomas to the west coast of India.

As Senior points out,<ref>see Senior, "The final nail in the coffin of Azes II".</ref> this Gudnaphar has usually been identified with the first Gondophares, who has thus been dated after the advent of Christianity, but there is no evidence for this assumption, and Senior's research shows that Gondophares I could be dated even before 1 AD. If the account is even historical, Saint Thomas may have encountered one of the later kings who bore the same title.

[[File:GondopharesFinePortrait.jpg|thumb|Portrait on Gondophares on one of his coins.]]
The Greek philosopher [[Apollonius of Tyana]] is related by [[Philostratus]] in ''[[Life of Apollonius Tyana]]'' to have visited India, and specifically the city of [[Taxila]] around 46 AD. He describes constructions of the Greek type,<ref>Description of the Hellenistic urbanism of Taxila:<br />
* "Taxila, they tell us, is about as big as Nineveh, and was fortified fairly well after the manner of Greek cities" [https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_2_16.html#§20 (Life of Apollonius Tyana, II 20)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310044312/https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_2_16.html#§20 |date=2016-03-10 }}
*"I have already described the way in which the city is walled, but they say that it was divided up into narrow streets in the same irregular manner as in Athens, and that the houses were built in such a way that if you look at them from outside they had only one story, while if you went into one of them, you at once found subterranean chambers extending as far below the level of the earth as did the chambers above." [https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_2_21.html#§23 (Life of Apollonius Tyana, II 23)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310023858/https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_2_21.html#§23 |date=2016-03-10 }}</ref>
probably referring to [[Sirkap]], and explains that the [[Indo-Parthian]] king of Taxila, named [[Phraotes]], received a Greek education at the court of his father and spoke Greek fluently:

:{{blockquote |"Tell me, O King, how you acquired such a command of the Greek tongue, and whence you derived all your philosophical attainments in this place?"<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_2_26.html#§29 |title=(Life of Apollonius Tyana, II 29) |access-date=2020-03-26 |archive-date=2016-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307154937/http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_2_26.html#§29 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}
:{{blockquote |[...]-"My father, after a Greek education, brought me to the sages at an age somewhat too early perhaps, for I was only twelve at the time, but they brought me up like their own son; for any that they admit knowing the Greek tongue they are especially fond of, because they consider that in virtue of the similarity of his disposition he already belongs to themselves."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_2_31.html#§31 |title=(Life of Apollonius Tyana, II 31) |access-date=2020-03-26 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172439/http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_2_31.html#§31 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

The [[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]] is a surviving 1st century guide to the routes commonly being used for navigating the Arabian Sea. It describes the presence of Parthian kings fighting with each other in the area of Sindh, a region traditionally known at that time as "Scythia" due to the previous rule of the Indo-Scythians there:

:"This river ([[Indus]]) has seven mouths, very shallow and marshy, so that they are not navigable, except the one in the middle; at which by the shore, is the market-town, Barbaricum. Before it there lies a small island, and inland behind it is the metropolis of Scythia, Minnagara; it is subject to Parthian princes who are constantly driving each other out." Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Chap 38<ref>[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/periplus.html Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Chap 38]</ref>

An inscription from [[Takht-i-Bahi]] bears two dates, one in the regnal year 26 of the Maharaja Guduvhara (again thought to be a Gondophares), and the year 103 of an unknown era.<ref>Rosenfield, p130.</ref>

===Religion of the Indo-Parthians===
[[File:FireAltarWorship.JPG|thumb|left|Devotees at [[Zoroastrian]] fire-altar.]]
We do not know the religion of the House of Suren although we know they were in religious conflict with the Zoroastrian [[Arsacid dynasty]].{{sfn|Gazerani|2015|p=111}} Unlike the Indo-Greeks or Indo-Scythians, there are no explicit records of Indo-Parthian rulers supporting Buddhism, such as religious dedications, inscriptions, or even legendary accounts. Also, although Indo-Parthian coins generally closely follow Greek numismatics, they never display the Buddhist [[triratna]] symbol (apart from the later [[Sases]]), nor do they ever use depictions of the elephant or the bull, possible religious symbols which were profusely used by their predecessors. They are thought to have retained [[Zoroastrianism]], being of Iranian extraction themselves. This [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] mythological system was inherited from them by the later [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]]s who ruled from the [[Peshawar]]-[[Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa]] region of [[Pakistan]].

Coins of the [[Hindu]] deity [[Shiva]] have also been found issued in the reign of Gondophares I.<ref>Gondophares I Indological researches in India: selected works of Prof. K.D. Bajpai [https://books.google.com/books?id=MOJtAAAAMAAJ&q=indo+parthian+shiva+coin]</ref><ref>Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, Volume 46 Pg. 274
[https://books.google.com/books?id=TPMXAQAAMAAJ&q=indo+parthian+shiva+coin]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/0001_0099/gondopharescoins/gondopharescoins.html|title=Gondopharescoins}}</ref>

===Representation of Indo-Parthian devotees===
[[File:IndoParthianKing.JPG|thumb|Indo-Parthian King.<ref>Alternatively "Scythian prince drinking" in {{cite journal |last1=Pons |first1=Jessie |title=The Figure with a Bow in Gandhāran Great Departure Scenes. Some New Readings. |journal=Entangled Religions |date=1 January 2014 |page=52 |url=https://www.academia.edu/38803912}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Betts |first1=Alison |last2=Vicziany |first2=Marika |last3=Jia |first3=Peter Weiming |last4=Castro |first4=Angelo Andrea Di |title=The Cultures of Ancient Xinjiang, Western China: Crossroads of the Silk Roads |date=19 December 2019 |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-78969-407-9 |page=104 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxUSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA104 |language=en}}</ref>]]
On their coins and in the art of Gandhara, Indo-Parthians are depicted with short crossover [[jacket]]s and large baggy trousers, possibly supplemented by [[chaps|chap]]-like over-trousers.<ref>Described in "Rome's enemies, Parthians and Sassanid Persians", {{ISBN|0-85045-688-6}}</ref> Their jackets are adorned with rows of decorative rings or medals. Their hair is usually bushy and contained with a headband, a practise largely adopted by the Parthians from the 1st century AD.<ref>"Parthians, from about the 1st century AD, seem to have preferred to show off their carefully tonsured hair, usually only wearing a fillet of thick ribbon; before then, the Scythian cap or [[bashlyk]] was worn more frequently". In "Parthians and Sassanid Parthians" Peter Willcox {{ISBN|0-85045-688-6}}, p12</ref>

Individuals in Indo-Parthian attire are sometimes shown as actors in Buddhist devotional scenes. It is usually considered that most of the excavations that were done at [[Sirkap]] near [[Taxila]] by [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]] relate to Indo-Parthian layers, although more recent scholarship sometimes relates them to the [[Indo-Greeks]] instead.<ref>Pierfrancesco Gallieri, in "Crossroads of Asia": "The parallels are so striking that it is not excluded that the objects discovered in Taxila and dated to between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE were in reality produced earlier, maybe by artisans who had followed the Greeks kings during their retreat from Bactria to India" p211 (in French in the original)</ref> These archaeological researches provided a quantity of Hellenistic artifacts combined with elements of Buddhist worship ([[stupa]]s). Some other temples, such as nearby [[Jandial]] may have been used as a Zoroastrian [[fire temple]].

===Buddhist sculptures===
The statues found at Sirkap in the late Scythian to Parthian level (level 2, 1–60 AD) suggest an already developed state of Gandharan art at the time or even before Parthian rule. A multiplicity of statues, ranging from Hellenistic gods, to various Gandharan lay devotees, are combined with what are thought as some of the early representations of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. Today, it is still unclear when the [[Greco-Buddhist art]] of [[Gandhara]] exactly emerged, but the findings in Sirkap do indicate that this art was already highly developed before the advent of the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]]s.

===Stone palettes===
{{main|Stone palette}}
Numerous [[stone palette]]s found in Gandhara are considered as good representatives of Indo-Parthian art. These palettes combine Greek and Persian influences, together with a frontality in representations which is considered as characteristic of Parthian art. Such palettes have only been found in archaeological layers corresponding to Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian rule, and are essentially unknown the preceding [[Mauryan Empire|Mauryan]] layers or the succeeding [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] layers.<ref>"Let us remind that in [[Sirkap]], stone palettes were found at all excavated levels. On the contrary, neither Bhir-Mound, the [[Maurya]] city preceding Sirkap on the [[Taxila]] site, nor Sirsukh, the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] city succeeding her, did deliver any stone palettes during their excavations", in "Les palettes du Gandhara", p89. "The terminal point after which such palettes are not manufactured anymore is probably located during the Kushan period. In effect, neither [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathura]] nor Taxila (although the Sirsukh had only been little excavated), nor [[Begram]], nor [[Surkh Kotal]], neither the great Kushan archaeological sites of Soviet [[Central Asia]] or [[Afghanistan]] have yielded such objects. Only four palettes have been found in Kushan-period archaeological sites. They come from secondary sites, such as Garav Kala and Ajvadz in Soviet Tajikistan and Jhukar, in the Indus Valley, and Dalverzin Tepe. They are rather roughly made." In "Les Palettes du Gandhara", Henri-Paul Francfort, p91. (in French in the original)</ref>

Very often these palettes represent people in Greek dress in mythological scenes, but a few of them represent people in Parthian dress (head-bands over bushy hair, crossed-over jacket on a bare chest, jewelry, belt, baggy trousers). A palette from the [[Naprstek Museum]] in [[Prague]] shows an Indo-Parthian king seated crossed-legged on a large sofa, surrounded by two attendants also in Parthian dress. They are shown drinking and serving wine.
<gallery>
File:IndoParthianHunting.JPG|Indo-Parthian man hunting.
File:IndoParthianReveling.JPG|Indo-Parthian revelers.
File:IndoParthianCouple.JPG|Indo-Parthian couple.
</gallery>

==Silk Road transmission of Buddhism==
{{main|Silk Road transmission of Buddhism}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2021}}
[[File:BuddhistReliquaryWithContent1stCenturyCE.jpg|thumb|[[Gandhara]] Buddhist reliquary with content, including Indo-Parthian coins. 1st century AD.]]
Some pockets of Parthian rule remained in the East, even after the takeover by the [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanids]] in 226. From the 2nd century several Central-Asian Buddhist missionaries appeared in the Chinese capital cities of [[Luoyang]] and sometimes [[Nanjing]], where they particularly distinguished themselves by their translation work. The first known translators of Buddhist texts into Chinese are actually Parthian missionaries, distinguished in Chinese by their Parthian surname "An", for "Anshi", "country of the [[Arsacid dynasty of Parthia|Arsacids]]".
*[[An Shih Kao]], was a [[Parthia]]n prince, who made the first known translations of [[Hinayana]] Buddhist texts into Chinese (148–170).
*[[安玄 (Ān Xuán)|An Hsuan]], was a Parthian merchant who became a monk in China 181 AD.
*[[Tan-ti]] (c. 254), a Parthian monk.
*[[An Fajin]] (281–306), a monk of Parthian origins.

==Main Indo-Parthian rulers==
[[File:AbdagasesOnHorse.jpg|thumb|Coins of the Indo-Parthian king Abdagases, in which his clothing is clearly apparent. He wears baggy trousers, rather typical of Parthian clothing.]]
[[File:AbdagasesOnHorseFacing.jpg|thumb|Coins of the Indo-Parthian king Abdagases, in which his clothing is clearly apparent. He wears baggy trousers and a crossover jacket.]]
{{HistoryOfSouthAsia}}
* [[Gondophares|Gondophares I]] (c. 19 – 46) [https://web.archive.org/web/20051001231146/http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/par_rel/print/i_gondopharesI.jpg Coin]
* [[Sarpedones|Gondophares II Sarpedones]] (first years AD – c. 20 AD) [https://web.archive.org/web/20051001231140/http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/par_rel/print/i_sarpedones.jpg Coin]
* [[Abdagases I]] (first years AD – mid-1st century AD) [https://web.archive.org/web/20051001231147/http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/indoparthian/i_ipr_abdagases_o.jpg Coin]
* [[Gadana|Gondophares III Gudana]], previously [[Orthagnes]] (c. 20 AD – 30 AD)
* [[Sases|Gondophares IV Sases]], (mid-1st century AD)
* [[Ubouzanes]], (late-1st century AD)
* [[Pacores]] (late 1st century AD) [https://web.archive.org/web/20051001231149/http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/indoparthian/i_ipr_pakores_o5.jpg Coin]
* [[Farn-Sasan]] (r. 210–226) 

== See also ==
* [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]]
* [[Indo-Sasanians]]
* [[Indo-Scythians]]
* [[Kushan Empire]]
* [[Yuezhi]]
* [[Pahlavas]]
* [[Kambojas]]
* [[Gandapur]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = Sīstān | first = Clifford Edmund | last = Bosworth | encyclopedia = The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume IX: San–Sze | location=Leiden, and New York | publisher=BRILL | year=1997 | isbn=9789004082656 | pages = 681–685 | url =http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-1/sistan-SIM_5452?s.num=247&s.rows=100&s.start=180 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = DRANGIANA | last = Schmitt | first = R. | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/drangiana | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 5 | pages = 534–537 | year = 1995 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Parthians: The Forgotten Empire |first=Uwe |last=Ellerbrock |publisher=Routledge |year=2021   }}
* {{cite book | title = The History of Ancient Iran | year = 1984 | publisher = C.H.Beck | last = Frye | first = Richard Nelson | author-link = Richard Nelson Frye | pages = [https://archive.org/details/historyofancient0000frye/page/n20 1]–411 | isbn = 9783406093975 | url = https://archive.org/details/historyofancient0000frye| url-access = registration | quote = The history of ancient iran. }}
* {{cite book | title = The Sistani Cycle of Epics and Iran's National History: On the Margins of Historiography | year = 2015 | publisher = BRILL | last = Gazerani| first = Saghi | pages = 1–250 | isbn = 9789004282964 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=92zsCgAAQBAJ&q=false}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = GONDOPHARES | last = Bivar | first = A. D. H. | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gondophares | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. XI, Fasc. 2 | pages = 135–136 | year = 2002 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Olbrycht |first1=Marek Jan|editor-last1=Curtis|editor-first1=Vesta Sarkhosh|editor-last2=Pendleton|editor-first2=Elizabeth J.|editor-last3=Alram|editor-first3=Michael|editor-last4=Daryaee|editor-first4=Touraj|title=The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires: Adaptation and Expansion |date=2016 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=9781785702082 |chapter=Dynastic Connections in the Arsacid Empire and the Origins of the House of Sāsān}}
* {{cite book | title = ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity | year = 2017 | publisher = Edinburgh University Press | last = Rezakhani| first = Khodadad | pages = 1–256 | isbn = 9781474400305 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&q=false}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Indo-Parthian}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050206140303/http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/indoparthian/indoparthian.html Coins of the Indo-Parthians]
* [http://sites.google.com/site/grecoindian/Home/history-of-greco-india History of Greco-India]

{{India topics}}
{{Middle kingdoms of India}}
{{Ancient India and Central Asia}}
{{Parthian Empire}}

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[[Category:Indo-Parthian kingdom| ]]
[[Category:10s establishments]]
[[Category:220s disestablishments]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 1st century BC]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 2nd century]]
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