Azes II (reigned circa 35-12 BCE), may have been the last
Indo-Scythian king in northern Indian subcontinent (modern day Pakistan). After the death of Azes II, the rule of the Indo-Scythians in northwestern India and Pakistan finally crumbled with the conquest of the
Kushans, one of the five tribes of the
Yuezhi who had lived in Bactria for more than a century, and who were then expanding into India to create a Kushan Empire. Soon after, the
Parthians invaded from the west. Their leader
Gondophares temporarily displaced the
Kushans and founded the
Indo-Parthian Kingdom that was to last until the middle of the 1st century CE. The
Kushans ultimately regained northwestern India circa 75 CE, where they were to prosper for several centuries.
The Bimaran casket
Azes II is also connected to the
Bimaran casket, one of the earliest representations of the Buddha. The casket, probably Greek work, was used for the dedication of a
stupa in Bamiran, near
Jalalabad in
Afghanistan, and placed inside the stupa with several coins of Azes II. This event may have happened during the reign of Azes (35-12 BCE), or slightly later. The Indo-Scythians are otherwise connected with Buddhism (see
Mathura lion capital), and it is indeed possible they would have commendited the work.
Coinage
Coins attributed to Azes II use Greek and Kharoshti inscriptions, depict a Greek goddess as his protector, and thereby essentially follow the numismatic model of the Greek kings of the Indo-Greek kingdom,...
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