Kirada
King of the Kidarites
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 Ga-ḍa-ha-ra appears vertically in the right field as a monogram ().
Middle field: This issue has the name Kirada ( Ki-ra-da), vertically as a monogram () under the arm of the standing ruler.[1]

Left field: Ka-pa-ṇa appears in the left field, meaning unknown.[2][3][4]
Reverse: Goddess Ardoxsho seated.
Kidarites
Reign335-345 CE[5]
PredecessorKipunada
SuccessorPeroz

Kirada (Brahmi: 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 Ga-ḍa-ha-ra (for the region of Gandhara)[8] appears vertically as a monogram () 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.

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 () which replaced the nandipada which had been in use before the rise of the Kidarites.[13]

Preceded byVarahran I(Kushano-Sasanians)Kipunada(Kushan Empire) Kidarite ruler 335-345 CE[5] Succeeded byPeroz

References

  1. ^ Tandon, Pankaj (2009). "The Western Kshatrapa Dāmazāda". The Numismatic Chronicle. 169: 177. JSTOR 42678610.
  2. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c Tandon, Pankaj (2009). "An Important New Copper Coin of Gadahara". Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society (200): 19.
  5. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b 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.
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