Kujula Kadphises - Coinage

Coinage

Most of Kujula's coins were Hellenic or Roman in inspiration. Some coins used the portrait, name and title of the Indo-Greek king Hermaeus on the obverse, indicating Kujula's wish to relate himself to the Indo-Greek king. Since the Kushans and their predecessors the Yuezhi were conversant with the Greek language and Greek coinage, the adoption of Hermaeus cannot have been accidental: it either expressed a filiation of Kujula Kadphises to Hermaeus by alliance (possibly through Sapadbizes or Heraios), or simply a wish to show himself as heir to the Indo-Greek tradition and prestige, possibly to accommodate Greek populations. These coins bear the name of Kujula Kadphises in Kharoṣṭhī, with representations of the Greek demi-god Heracles on the back, and titles ("Yavugasa") presenting Kujula as a "ruler" (not actual king), and a probable Buddhist ("Dharmathidasa", follower of the Dharma). Later coins, possibly posthumous, did describe Kujula as "Maharajasa", or "Great King".