page_title: Peroz I Kushanshah
section_title: Kushan-style coinage
hierarchical_section_title: Peroz I Kushanshah / Reign / Kushan-style coinage
caption_attribution_description: English: Coin of Peroz I Kushanshah.
context_page_description: Peroz I Kushanshah was Kushanshah of the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom from 245 to 275. He was the successor of Ardashir I Kushanshah. He was an energetic ruler, who minted coins in Balkh, Herat, and Gandhara. Under him, the Kushano-Sasanians further expanded their domains into the west, pushing the weakened Kushan Empire to Mathura in North India.
  Peroz I Kushanshah was succeeded by Hormizd I Kushanshah in 275.
context_section_description: Peroz's reign marked a shift in Kushano-Sasanian coinage, which came to closely resemble the coinage of the Kushan emperors. He was the first Kushano-Sasanian ruler to issue coins on the Kushan model. The gold coins of Peroz tended to be scyphate and to imitate the design of Kushan ruler Vasudeva I. They were often minted at Balkh, in Bactria, north of the Hindu-Kush.
  The visual aspect of this new coin type was almost identical to those of the Kushans, albeit with specific adjustments. The front of Peroz's coins portrays him standing in Kushan armour making an offering at an altar, at the same time holding a spear in his right hand (the armour style is rather described as Sasanian-style clothing by Rezakhani). Several symbols are included in the coin: a trident over the altar, what is often described as a Nandipada symbol behind the king, and a swastika between the legs. A Brahmi letter  Pi has also been introduced to the right of the ruler, near the ground. The obverse has a legend in Bactrian script all around (starting 14:00 o'clock): Πιρωςο οοςορκο Κοϸανο ϸαηο "Peroz the Great Kushan King" In this, like his predecessor Ardashir I Kushanshah, Peroz called himself the "Great Kushan King".
  The reverse has a Kushan-style representation of the Kushan god Oesho (in Bactrian Οηϸο on the corresponding Kushan coins), which uses the attributes of the Indian God Shiva, stading in front of the bull Nandi, and holding a trident and a diadem. This new reverse deity replaced the previous depictions of the Zoroastrian deities Mithra or Anahita in Kushano-Sasanian coinage. In the Kushan-style coinage of Peroz, although the depiction of the deity is visually similar to that on the Kushan coins, the legend is not the Kushan word Oesho (Οηϸο) anymore, but has been replaced by the Bactrian legend οορςοανδο ιαςοδο or BΟPZAΟANΔΟ IAZAΔΟ "The exalted God".
  Apart from minting coins in the Kushano-Sasanian main base of Tukharistan, Peroz also had coins minted in Gandhara and Begram, and most likely in Peshawar as well. It was around this time that the Kushano-Sasanians began to expel the Kushans from Gandhara, pushing them to Mathura in North India, where their power was diminished from that of kings to local princes. Peroz was thus the first Kushano-Sasanian ruler to issue coins south of the Hindu-Kush, and he is known for several overstrikes over coins of the Kushan ruler Kanishka II.
caption: Coinage of Peroz I Kushanshah, imitating Kushan coins, minted at Balkh.[12]
  Obverse: King in armour making an offering at an altar. Nandipada symbol, swastika between the legs, Brahmi letter Gupta ashoka pi.jpg Pi to the right. Bactrian legend around "Peroz the Great Kushan King"[12]
  Reverse: Kushan god Oesho, Bactrian legend "The exalted God".[12]
exif: {}