Object Number: VRM479

Dimensions: 2 x 2.2 cm

Material: Gold

Find Location: Mahasthangarh, Bogura District, Bangladesh

Date: 2nd-3rd Century CE

After the Mauryan Empire declined, small regional states emerged across South Asia and the Sungha dynasty monopolised the Ganga basin and Bengal Basin. To the west, the Kushan Empire rose to prominence as a trade conduit between the Roman Empire, Iran and the Han Dynasty. Rising from nomadic origins in Central Asia, the Kushans consolidated their power and became a third superpower on the Silk Road, dominating all those around them. This Kushan coin from Mahasthangarh is physical evidence of this contact between East and West.

The coin is made from gold, a deposit found in the Himalayas and the mountains of Central Asia. The Kushan Empire likely controlled and managed raw materials. The coin’s iconography highlights how the Kushans administered such a large expanse of different ethnic, religious and linguistic communities. They did not impose a single ideology but supported local cults and religions through a process of incorporation and adaptation.

Their coinage features Greek, Bactrian and Brahmi letters as well as Iranian, South Asian and Hellenistic deities. This coin’s obverse depicts King Vasudeva (r. 191–225 CE), who wears a mitre or crown and stands in armour with a trident next to a fire altar. The reverse depicts a deity named as Oesho in Greek, holding a trident next to a humped bull. This is believed to represent Shiva, one of the principal Brahmanical deities, alongside his vehicle nandi. He has also been identified as the Zoroastrian wind god Vayush, reinforcing the plurality of Kushan assimilation.

The discovery of this coin in Bangladesh illustrates the role of the Kushans as the main trading force across South and Central Asia and the importance of the flow of goods and materials along the Silk Roads. Even though Mahasthangarh was not within the Kushan Empire, its residents would have felt their influence.