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| 0259 |
Ancient Khotan : vol.1 |
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coins which were obtained by me from other sites, either in the course of my own explorations
or through 'treasure-seekers', this negative fact acquires significance. We may, perhaps, conclude
from it that this local currency of Khotan could have had but a limited circulation outside the
capital, and further that its issues could not have extended over a very long period. Is it possible
to assume that its reduced convenience for transport as compared with the square-holed purely
Chinese pieces had something to do with this?
The form of the Kharoṣṭhī script as presented by these coins agrees closely with that Period of
which prevailed in India under Kuṣana or Yüeh-chih rule, and this circumstance has led Sino-Kharo-
Dr. Hoernle to assume that the Sino-Kharoṣṭhī coins could not be placed later than the end ṣṭhī coinage.
of the second century A.D. The Kharoṣṭhī documents on wood and leather discovered by me
at the Niya Site have, however, since proved that the use of the Kharoṣṭhī script in this particular
form continued in the Khotan region up to the second half of the third century of our era.
Similarly, the finds of Chinese records at the same site, including one dated in 269 A.D., clearly
demonstrate that Chinese influence in Khotan did not cease with the close of the Later Han
Dynasty (220 A.D.). Hence the question as to the terminal date of the period to which the
Sino-Kharoṣṭhī coin issues belong must be kept open for the present.
Of coins representing types which in their original issues were probably earlier than this Indo-Scy-
local currency of Khotan my Yōtkan purchases contain an interesting variety. The oldest thian coins.
approximately datable one is a copper piece of Kujula-Kara-Kadphises (reproduced in Plate
LXXXIX, 1), one of the earliest Kuṣana rulers, whose reign probably falls close to the beginning
of our era²⁰. Kaniṣka, the greatest of the Kuṣana kings, is represented by five pieces in copper,
all much worn, but one still showing the figure and legend of the moon-god MAO. It is
noteworthy that Dr. Hoernle's collection also contains a relatively large number of Kaniṣka coins
obtained from Khotan²¹.
Among the Chinese coins from Yōtkan are three well-preserved square-holed pieces without Early
any legend, and, perhaps, more of the same kind among those classified for the present as Chinese
'illegible'. Of Chinese round coins, those bearing no legend belong to the earliest type. But coins.
as the type appears to have been current under both the Former and the Later Han dynasties
our specimens afford no safe chronological evidence²². The one coin of the usurper Wang
Mang bearing the legend Hou Ch'üan (see Plate LXXXIX, 11) belongs to an issue dating from
14–19 A.D. But here, too, it must be remembered that the type appears to have been current
during the period of the Later Hans as well. The same remark applies to the wu-chu currency
represented by three specimens.
The well-preserved Chinese coin, bearing two characters on the obverse and apparently of
iron, shown in Plate LXXXIX, 5, presents special interest, as it seems to be unique, and
has struck Dr. Bushell as the most ancient of the whole series of Chinese coins secured by me.
The distinguished Sinologist has favoured me with the following note on it: 'From style,
material, and script I would attribute it to the Former Han dynasty. The first character is
certainly 于 yü, which I take to stand for Yu-t'ien (Khotan). The second appears to be an
archaic form of 方 fang, meaning "territory, quarter", &c. This with some reserve—at first
I thought it might be a form of 兒 hsien, which used to be written 兒, but the middle trans-
verse stroke is wanting. The coin is unknown to Chinese numismatists, and must be of local
mintage, like the interesting wu chu piece figured in Mission Dutreuil de Rhins, iii, p. 132.'
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724
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