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				coins & antiquities of pakistan from the ancient, medieval, and classical periods
	INTRODUCTION The majority of the pieces presented here were found in Pakistan, and hail from both local kingdoms, and empires which spanned central and southern Asia, encompassing what is today Iran, Afghanistan, India, Uzbekistan, western China, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. Taxila, located less than an hour from Islamabad, was the birthplace of one the earliest systems of coinage in the world, developed independently of Lydia and China- according to historical sources, commencing circa 600 BC, and according to the early texts which often referred to them as ‘puranas’, as early as 1000 BC. These are now known as the septa radiate punch-marked bent bars of the Achaemenid Satrapy of Gandhara. The purpose of this website is to publish rare and historically significant coins and antiquities with the aim of making them available to academics and collectors alike. The bent bars of Gandhara Celebration of a shared heritage In our modern world of borders and passports we struggle to fabricate identities to separate ourselves from our neighbors. The antiquities and artifacts of the southern and central Asian region and the Middle East, however, bear testimony to the fact that throughout history, nations and tribes, their beliefs, and their cultures blended into one another, where it was impossible to distinguish where one ended and the other began. In this vast area connected by politics and trade, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Greek Pantheism, Sikhism, the cults of Mithra, Nanai, and Ardoksho, Animism, and sun worship, plus a host of other religions have flourished, collectively giving each city, village, and tribe its particular flavor. The Kashmir Smast Project This website focuses on a series of coins (and artifacts), the rare bronzes of the Kashmir Smast network of caves in the heartland of Gandhara in northern Pakistan. A few hoards from the Smast have been uncovered and dispersed throughout the world, unfortunately with no records. The goal of this project is to catalogue, identify, and analyze available varieties of Kashmir Smast bronzes and related artifacts, from public as well as private collections. The find is of extreme historical importance, and it is only from the analysis of multiple specimens that we will be able to gain a clear picture of this long forgotten kingdom. If any collector has Kashmir Smast bronzes in their possession, please contact me at wziad@aya.yale.edu. I will post the scans and comments on the site with full acknowledgments. Please also contact me with comments and suggestions in regards to the presentation and analysis, and additional primary and secondary source material. My research focuses on the numismatics and archaeology of following periods, in particular the Hunnic empires. Ancient Indus Valley and Fertile Crescent (terracotta and stone) Bactrian and Indo-Greek Gandharan, Magadhan, and Mauryan Punchmarks Parthian and Indo-Parthian Kushan and KushanoSasanian Early Medeival Hunnic (Kidara, Alxon, Nazek, Western Turk) Sogdian Classical Turkic (from Karakhanids to the Ilkhanids) Imperial Mughal The coins of Sindh

© Copyright Waleed Ziad 2009

Member, Oriental Numismatic Society, Pakistan Numismatic Society