King Telephos

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thumb|350px|Coin_of_king_Telephos.
Obv: Zeus seated on a throne, scepter in left hand, forming a benediction gesture with the right hand, similar to the Buddhist vitarka mudra. Greek

Rev: Squatting man in tunic, with pointed cap, holding a spear on the left shoulder, right hand forward. Kharoshthi

Telephos Euergetes, "the Benefactor"," was a late Indo-Greek king who seem to have been one of the weak and brief successors of Maues. Bopearachchi dates Telephos between 75-70 BCE and places him in Gandhara, Senior to circa 60 BCE and suggests that he ruled in some parts of Pushkalavati or even further west.

Nothing is known about his dynastic connections. His few coins are rather singular and none of them bear his likeness, a rare occurrence in Indo-Greek coinage. Despite his Greek name, Telephos might therefore have been a ruler of Saka origin. His epithet was also unprecedented.

Coins of Telephos

Telephos silver coins were issued only as drachms, not as tetradrachms. On the Greek side is a serpent-footed monster, and on the Kharosthi side two deities which probably could be identified with Helios and Selene, the sun and moon. Both types were unique in the area, though the monster would later appear on bronzes of Hippostratos.

An example of one of his bronzes is seen above, The obverse is the common type of sitting Zeus making a benediction gesture, whereas on the reverse is the unique type of a squatting man holding what on some specimens looks like a spear, on others a palm branch.

Telephos used only two monograms, which he inherited from Maues.

Overstrikes

Telephos overstruck the earlier king Archebius.

ee also

* Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
* Seleucid Empire
* Greco-Buddhism
* Indo-Scythians
* Indo-Parthian Kingdom
* Kushan Empire

References

* "The Greeks in Bactria and India", W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.
* "The Coin types of the Indo-Greek Kings 256-54 BCE", A.K. Narain