Paratarajas

Paratarajas
c.125 CE–c.300 CE[1]
Portrait of Paratarajas ruler Kozana circa 200-220 CE.
South-Asia 125 CE SAMATATAS SATAVAHANAS MAHAMEGHA- VAHANAS PANDYAS AY CHOLAS CHERAS CHUTUS KUSHAN EMPIRE NORTHERN SATRAPS HAN DYNASTY WESTERN SATRAPS MALAVAS YAUDHEYAS INDO- PARTHIANS MAPS -500 -150 125 350 500 600 800 1000 1175 1250 1400 1500 Core territory and possible maximum extent of Paradan,[2] and neighbouring polities in Southern Asia in the 2nd century CE.[3]
Historical era	Late Antiquity
• Established	c.125 CE
• Disestablished	c.300 CE[1]
Preceded by Succeeded by Indo-Parthian Kingdom Hind (Sasanian province) Kushano-Sasanians
Today part of	Pakistan

The Pāratarājas (Brahmi: Pāratarāja, Kharosthi: 𐨤𐨪𐨟𐨪𐨗 Pa-ra-ta-ra-ja, Parataraja, "Kings of Pārata") or Pāradarājas was a dynasty of Parthian kings in the territory of modern-day Baluchistan province of Pakistan from circa 125 CE to circa 300 CE.^[1] It appears to have been a tribal polity of Western Iranian heritage.^[4] Sometime between the 7th and 4th centuries BCE, they started their gradual eastward migration from what is now northern Iraq or Iran, and by the 1st century CE, they had reached modern-day Baluchistan.^[5]

The ancient history of Balochistan, western Pakistan, is scarcely documented.^[6] The Paratarajas polity is known through coinage, which has been primarily found in and around Loralai.^[1][a]

E. J. Rapson first studied the coinage in 1905; it was subjected to a comprehensive evaluation by B. N. Mukherjee in 1972; these studies have been since superseded by analyses by Pankaj Tandon and Harry Falk.

Coinage was issued in five denominations: didrachms, drachms, hemidrachms, quarter drachms, and obols; all rulers did not issue every denomination. The first six rulers minted stable denominations in silver that were devalued and then replaced by billon than copper.^[7] Tandon notes multiple similarities with Indo-Parthian coinage, especially in the metrological standards and shape, and the coinage of the Western Satraps, especially in materials.^[8][b]

The coins exhibit a bust on the obverse and a swastika—either right-facing or left-facing—on the reverse, circumscribed by a Prakrit legend in Brahmi script (usually silver coins) or Kharoshthi script (usually copper coins).^[1] This legend carried the name of the issuer followed by patronymic, and identification as the "King of Paratas".^[1] The die engraver often left the legend incomplete if he ran out of room, a quirk that is peculiar to the Paratarajas.

Four contemporaneous inscriptions refer to the polity — two of them are edicts by Sasanian Emperors that cursorily refer to the Paratarajas, one is a collection of potsherds that record Yola Mira's patronage of Buddhist monks, and the other is a stone inscription recording Datayola's commissioning of a new city.

The Paikuli inscription, which was erected by Narseh (r. 293-302) after his victory over Bahram III, notes an anonymous "Pāradānshah" (King of Pardan) to have been among his many congratulators.^[6]

Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht in Naqsh-i-Rustam, which is dated to 262, had "P'rtu"/"Pardan" as one of the many provinces of the Sasanian Empire:^[10]

And I [Shapur I] possess the lands: Fars Persis, Pahlav [Parthia] ... and all of Abarshahr [all the upper (eastern, Parthian) provinces], Kerman, Sakastan, Turgistan, Makuran, Pardan Paradene, Hind [Sind] and Kushanshahr all the way to Pashkibur [Peshawar?] and to the borders of Kashgaria, Sogdia and Chach [Tashkent] and of that sea-coast Mazonshahr [Oman].^[11]

In 1926 and 1927, Aurel Stein commanded an excavation at the ruins of a Buddhist site at Tor Dherai in Loralai and discovered potsherds carrying Prakrit inscriptions in Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts.^[12][c] Sten Konow, publishing the report about three years later, failed to understand the Brahmi legends but interpreted the Kharosthi legend as:^[12]

Of the Shahi Yola Mira, the master [owner^[d]] of the vihara, this water hall [is] the religious gift, in his own Yola-Mira-shahi-Vihara, to the order of the four quarters, in the acceptance of the Sarvastivadin teachers. And from this right donation may there be in future a share for [his] mother and father, in future a share for all beings and long life for the master of the law.^[12]

Yola Mira, a king whose existence was unknown at the time of the excavation, has since been determined form coin finds to be the earliest Parataraja king.^[13] For long, the potsherds remained the only non-numismatic evidence for any of the Parataraja rulers.^[7]

A stone-slab inscription found in ??, inscribed in both Brahmi and Kharosthi, commemorates the establishment of an eponymous city by Datayola in the sixteenth year of his reign.^[14] A right-facing Swastika is engraved on the inscription.^[14]

No mention of the dynasty is found in extant literature; however, classical literature in Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit make mention of tribal polities named "Parētakēnoí" (Πᾰρητᾰκηνοί), "Pareitakai/Pareitacae" (Παρειτάκαις), "Parsidai" (Παρ?óδòν > Παρσιδὦν (?)), "Paraetaceni", "Paradene" (Παραδηνή) and "Parada". Tandon accepts Mukherjee's theory all of these names refer to the same entity, who gave rise to the dynasty; he cites Datayola's coin-inscriptions in support.

Around 440 BCE, Herodotus described of the Parētakēnoí as one of the Median tribes that were collectively ruled by Deiokes.^[4] Arrian records Alexander to have encountered the Pareitakai in Sogdian province — in his account, that parallels those by Quintus Curtius Rufus, Strabo, and Plutarch, a siege was mounted but eventually their ruler offered submission and was rewarded with governorship of other provinces.^[4][15] Isidore of Charax (fl. 0 C.E - ?)^[e] noted Paraitakene was the geographical area beyond Sakastene.^[4] The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century CE) describes the territory of the Parsidai beyond the Ommanitic region on the coast of Balochistan.^[4] The contemporaneous text Natural History by Pliny records the Paraetaceni to be between Aria and Parthia.^[4] Ptolemy notes Paradene was a toponym for an interior region of Gedrosia.^[4]

Extant literature portrays the Paratarajas as a migrant tribal polity that had originated in the territory of modern-day north-western Iran or further east, and migrated over centuries to the eastern fringes of Parthian territory.^[8][16] There, it may have reached its peak as an independent polity.^[8][16] Neither the extant inscriptions nor the coinage map the extents of the Paratarajas to any geographic precision.^[17]

Nonetheless, most scholars have placed the polity in western Balochistan, west of Turan and east of Siestan, largely catering to individual biases.^[18] Tandon challenges this "implicit consensus" and hypothesizes Shapur I's inscription to have listed regions in a geographical order from west to east — thus, Pardan falls between the inexact provinces Makran and Hind.^[18] Deriving support from the abundant finds of Parataraja coins and potsherds in Loralai, he proposes the Paratarajas to have ruled the district and its surrounds, probably extending in the west to modern-day Quetta (or Kandahar) and in the north-east to modern-day Zhob.^[19]

There exists no conclusive evidence to date the establishment of Paratarajas in Balochistan.^[20] Tandon proposed a date of c. 125 CE using circumstantial evidence:^[21]

• The regnal title Shahi found in the potsherds and some of the coinage of Yolamira was revived by Kanishka (c. 127–150).^[21][22][23]
• The first-recorded use of patronymic legends in the subcontinent outside of the Paratarajas is in the coins of Chastana (c. 78–130 CE), at Western Kshatrapa.
• The obverse bust depicted on the coin of early Paratarajas is nearly identical to a rare copper coin type of Rudradaman (c. 130–150 CE; successor to Chastana).
• Paleographic analyses of Brahmi legends place the coins in the second century.

The disintegration of Paratarajas can be predicted with more confidence.^[24] Two overstrikes by Datayola— the last extant Parataraja ruler—on coins of the Kushano-Sasanian ruler Hormizd I provide a terminus post quem of c. 275 CE^[24] Accepting this schema allots about 15 years per ruler, which fits with the norms for ancient dynasties; additionally, Koziya can be assigned to about c. 230, whose incorporation of a bust adorning a curved hem on the coin obverse can be correlated to the contemporaneous Kanishka II.^[25]

A rough lineage of Paratarajas rulers can be reconstructed from numismatic evidence as follows:

Ruler	Coin	Filiation	Approx. dates[f]	Discussion
Yolamira[26]		Son of Bagareva	c. 125–150 CE	The name translates to "Warrior Mithra" in Bactrian. Coinage was issued in all five denominations — didrachms, drachms, hemidrachms, quarter drachms, and obols. Three distinct phases of minting—bearded bust (obv.) + right-facing swastika (rev.); clean-shaven bust + left-facing swastika; clean-shaven bust + right-facing swastika—have been observed. The didrachm was minted exclusively in the second phase. The coin legend ran in the Brahmi script: Yolamirasa Bagarevaputrasa Pāratarājasa "Of the king of the Paratas, Yolamira, son of Bagareva"
Bagamira[27]		Eldest son of Yolamira	c. 150 CE	The name translates to "Lord Mithra". Only two drachms, both of which used Yolamira's die from his third phase, are known. The coin legend—Bagamirasa Yolamiraputrasa Pāratarājasa—runs in the Brahmi script.
Arjuna[28]		Second son of Yolamira	c. 150–160 CE	The name was probably adopted from the eponymous character in Mahabharata, a Hindu epic; Tandon hypothesizes that he might have been the son of an Indian wife. In his first phase, Arjuna used Bagamira's die with a right-facing swastika on the reverse to issue drachms and hemidrachms. A new obverse die was then coupled with a left-facing swastika to mint the same denominations. In another (probably succeeding) phase, the same die was coupled with a right-facing swastika to mint drachms. The coin legend—Arjunasa Yolamiraputrasa Pāratarājasa—runs in the Brahmi script.
Hvaramira[29]		a third son of Yolamira	c. 160–175 CE	The name translates to "Glorious Mithra"; hvara > khwarrah. In his first phase, Hvaramira used Arjuna's die from the last phase with a right-facing swastika on the reverse to mint drachms. Then, a new die was used with a right-facing swastika to mint drachms and didrachms. Finally, this die was coupled with a left-facing swastika to mint drachms. The coin legend—Hvaramirasa Yolamiraputrasa Pāratarājasa—runs in the Brahmi script; some coins use a variant spelling of Yodamiraputrasa.
Mirahvara[30]		son of Hvaramira	c. 175–185 CE	The name translates to "Glorious Mithra". In his first phase, Mirahvara used Hvaramira's die from the last phase to mint drachms; Arjuna's hemidrachm die from the second phase to mint quarter drachms; and Yolamira's die from the third phase to mint hemidrachms. All had a right-facing Swastika on the reverse. In the next phase, Hvaramira's dies from the second and third phases were coupled with a left-facing swastika to respectively mint didrachms and drachms. In the third phase, a new die and Yolamira's die from the third phase were coupled with a right-facing swastika to respectively mint drachms and hemidrachms. The coin legend—Mirahvarasa Hvaramiraputrasa Pāratarājasa—runs in the Brahmi script.
Miratakhma[31]		another son of Hvaramira	c. 185–200 CE	The name translates to "Heroic Mithra." Drachm and hemidrachm issues have been found: Tandon suspects didrachms were likely, given the abundance of his coins. Phases are not very coherent. Used Mirahvara's die from the third phase and a new die to mint drachms; both right-facing and left-facing Swastika is found on the reverse. The hemidrachm used Arjuna's die from the second phase with a right-facing swastika. The coin legend—Mirahvarasa Hvaramiraputrasa Pāratarājasa—runs in the Brahmi script. Is the only king to feature a Sanskrit legend—Miratakhmasya Hvaramiraputrasya Pāratarāja(sya)—on some drachms.
Kozana[32]		son of Bagavharna (and perhaps grandson of Bagamira?)	c. 200–220 CE	The meaning of the name cannot be conclusively deciphered; Harry Falk speculates a connection with the homonymous founder of the Kushana empire. Kozana was the first Pāratarāja king to issue coins with the legends in Kharoshthi, which upcoming rulers adopted. Significant devaluation is observed for the first time. All of his mints used Miratakhma's dies. In the first phase, he minted hemidrachms (and prob. even drachms) with a Brahmi legend. In the second phase, drachms were minted but with a Kharoshthi legend. In the third phase, he minted drachms, didrachms, and hemidrachms on a reduced weight base. All coinage had a right-facing Swastika on the reverse. The Brahmi legend ran, Kozanasa putra Pāratarāja. The Kharoshthi legend ran, Kozanasa Bagavharnaputrasa Pāratarājasa.
Bhimarjuna[33]		son of Yolatakhma (and perhaps grandson of Arjuna?)	c. 220–235 CE	Apart from Arjuna, the only King to adopt an Indian name, which was formed out of a portmanteau of two characters in the Mahabharata. Last King to issue silver mints; only drachms have been found. Used a new die—that did not match any previous ruler's but was stylistically similar to Kozana's (i.e. Miratakhma's)—with a right-facing Swastika on the reverse. There is a drastic devaluation from silver to billon to copper. The coin legend—Bhimarjunasa Yolatakhmaputrasa Pāratarājasa—runs in the Kharoshthi script.
Koziya[34]		son of Kozana	c. 235–265 CE	The meaning of the name remains unknown. Had the most abundant and complex coinage among all Paratarajas with several innovations—from inscribing names of Kings on the obverse to replacing the bust image with that of a turbanned standing King with a spectre—which would become the mainstay of upcoming rulers. The coin legend—Koziyasa Kozanaputra Pāratarāja—runs in the Kharoshthi script.
Datarvharna[35]		son of a Datayola (and perhaps grandson of Bhimarjuna?)	c. 265–280 CE	The meaning of the name cannot be conclusively deciphered; Harry Falk translates to "Glory of the Creator". Only a few didrachms have been found, which Tandon suspects reflects a short regime and extreme inflation reducing the need for lower denomination coins. The dies were stylistically similar to Koziya's, featuring a right-facing Swastika on the reverse. The coin legend—Datarvharnasa Datayolaputrasa Pāratarāja—runs in the Kharoshthi script. The nominative Datarvharna is inscribed on the obverse.
Datayola[36]		son of Datarvharna	c. 280–300 CE	The meaning of the name cannot be conclusively deciphered; Harry Falk translates to "Fighter for the Law." Coins are cruder, and large denomination tetradrachms were introduced, pointing to a weak economy and inflation. Datayola used dies stylistically similar to Datarvharna's (or rather, Koziya's) with both right-facing and left-facing Swastika on the reverse. A couple of overstrikes on coins of the Kushano-Sasanian ruler Hormizd I (ruled c. 275 to 300) have been observed, providing a terminus post quem of circa 275 and potentially challenging Shapur I's inscription, in which Shapur claims to be ruling Paradan as of 262 CE. The coin legend—Datayolasa Datarvharnaputrasa Pāratarāja—runs in the Kharoshthi script; some issues make pioneering use of Pāradarāja in place of Pāratarāja, suggesting the identity of the two names Pārata and Pārada. The nominative Datayola is inscribed on the obverse.

The frequent referencing of Mithra, a Zoroastrian deity, in the names of the rulers lends credence to the origins of the Paratarajas lying in the Far West.^[8] The Paratarajas were Zoroastrian by faith but they likely patronized Buddhism as well.^[37] Tandon said the Paratarajas may have been Parthian vassals who declared independence, leveraging the weakening of imperial authority and a burgeoning trade with the Roman Empire.^[16]

The only significant information about their rule is that they flourished as an intermediary state between three major powers—the Kushanas to the north, the Western Satraps to the east, and the Sassanids to the west—for about two centuries.^[38]

Their fall can be correlated to the well-corroborated decline in Indo-Roman trade volume beginning in the mid-3rd century and then, Shapur II's devastating Eastern Campaign. Tandon rejects the idea that they were conquered by the Sasanians as early as 262—as attested in Shapur I's inscription—because Parata coins continued to be abundant without exhibiting any abrupt Sassanian influence as in the case of Bactria, and because the region was not claimed as a Sassanian territory in future inscriptions like Kartir's, at Naqsh-e Rajab.^[37][g]

Coins carrying an inscription of "śrī rājño sāhi vijayapotasya" ("Of the noble Lord, King Vijayapota") on the reverse have been found around Loralai; based on the presence of a crescent at the brow of the obverse bust, a terminus post quem of c. 400 corresponding to Sassanian shahanshah Yazdegerd I can be assigned.^[39] Despite a marked contrast in the legend and the long gap from Datayola, the common use of the swastika as the central motif on the reverse and a similarity in metrological standards led Tandon to hypothesize Vijayapotasya might have been either a Parataraja or a ruler from a successor dynasty that exercised nominal independence despite the strong presence of Sassanians in the region.^[40]

• Falk, Harry (2007). "The Names of the Pāratarājas Issuing Coins with Kharoṣṭhī Legends". The Numismatic Chronicle. 167: 171–178. ISSN 0078-2696. JSTOR 42666939.
• Falk, Harry (March 2022). "Revision of Kharoṣṭhī Inscriptions in the Light of New Material". Bulletin of the Asia Institute. 30: 113–142.
• Schindel, Nikolaus (2016). "The Coinages of Paradan and Sind in the Context of Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian Numismatics". In Curtis, Vesta Sarkhosh; Pendleton, Elizabeth J.; Alram, Michael; Daryaee, Touraj (eds.). The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires: Adaptation and Expansion. Oxbow Books. ISBN 9781785702082.
• Schopen, Gregory (30 June 1996). "The Lay Ownership of Monasteries and the Role of the Monk in Mūlasarvāstivādin Monasticism". Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies: 81–126. ISSN 0193-600X.
• Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226742210.
• Tandon, Pankaj (2006). "New Light on the Pāratarājas". The Numismatic Chronicle. 166: 173–209. ISSN 0078-2696. JSTOR 42666407.
• Tandon, Pankaj (2009). "Further Light on the Pāratarājas: an Absolute Chronology of the Brāhmī and Kharoṣṭhī Series". The Numismatic Chronicle. 169: 137–171. ISSN 0078-2696. JSTOR 42678609.
• Tandon, Pankaj (2012). "The Location and Kings of Pāradān". Studia Iranica. 41 (1): 25–56. doi:10.2143/SI.41.1.2170700. ISSN 1783-1784.
• Tandon, Pankaj (Summer 2020). "Tentative Reading of an unread Parataraja Coin". Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society (240): 5–7. hdl:2144/42399.
• Tandon, Pankaj (2021). "The Paratarajas" (PDF). In Piper, Wilfried (ed.). Ancient Indian Coins: A Comprehensive Catalogue. Nasik, India: IIRNS Publications. ISBN 9789392280016.
• Wiesehöfer, Josef (2001). Ancient Persia. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1860646751.

• Paratarajas coin gallery