Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
 
Since ancient times the region has been invaded and ruled by numerous groups and created Empires: Afghans, Persians, Greeks, Maurya, Scythians,  Kushans, Huns, Arabs, Turks, Mongols, Mughals, Sikhs, and the British. Between 2000 and 1500 BC, the Aryans split off into an Iranian branch, represented by the Pakhtuns who came to dominate most of the region, and various Dardic peoples who came to populate much of the north. Earlier pre-Aryan inhabitants include the Burusho. Following the Mauryan conquest of the region, Buddhism became a major faith, at least in urban centers, as attested by recent archaeological and hermeneutic evidence. Kanishka, a prominent Kushan ruler was one of the prominent Buddhist kings.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province. Capital: Peshawar, was home to the Kingdom of Gandhara from around the 6th century BC and later became the capital of the Kushan Empire by Kanisha I. The region was visited by such notable historical figures as Darius II, Alexander the Great, Hiuen Tsang, Fa Hien, Marco Polo, Mountstuart Elphinstone, and Winston Churchill, among others. Peshawar's Qissah Kahani (Street of the Stroytellers) has been a market and meeting place for foreign merchants and trades for more than 1000 years.
 
  • Macedon..................................................329 - 312 BCE
  • The Mauryan Empire (India)...............................312 - 171
  • EUCRATID BACTRIA
  • A small Hellenic state known as Indo-Greek formed when Bactria was sundered by the Sakae. A Hindu-Kush territory of Paropamisadae [Bactria and Sogdiana]. Capital: Alexandria of the Caucasus, now Chârikâr capital of Parvan, 45km east of Kabul. Begram is also known to be the capital of this state. The reigns of these rulers are very complex and even historians have conflicts among themselves. According to these historians there is no evidence of these rulers, ruling together, except Plato.
  • Eucratides I.............................................170 - 145 with...
  • Eucratides I (or Eukratides I) was one of the most important Greco-Bactrian kings. He uprooted the Euthydemid dynasty of Greco-Bactrian kings and replaced it with his own lineage. He fought against the Indo-Greek kings, the easternmost Hellenistic rulers in northwestern India, temporarily holding territory as far as the Indus, until he was finally defeated and pushed back to Bactria. He was known to rule Bactria, Paropamisadae, Arachosia and Gandhara.
  • Plato (co-regent)........................................170 - 165 ?
  • Eucratides II............................................145 - 140
  • Heliocles I..............................................145 - 130
  • Heliocles, the last Greek king of Bactria, was invaded by the nomadic tribes of the Yuezhi from the North. Descendants of Eucratides may have ruled on in the Indo-Greek kingdom.
  • Antialcidas Nikephoros...................................130 - 120
  • He was an Indo-Greek king, who reigned from his capital at Taxila. Antialcidas may have been a relative of the Bactrian king Heliocles I, but ruled after the fall of the Bactrian kingdom. Several later kings may have been related to Antialcidas: Heliokles II, Amyntas, Diomedes and Hermaeus all struck coins with similar features.
  • Heliocles II Dikaios......................................95 - 80
  • Amyntas Nikator...........................................95 - 90
  • His coins have been found both in eastern Punjab and Afghanistan, indicating that he ruled a considerable territory.
  • Diomedes..................................................95 - 85
  • Telephos..................................................95 - 80
  • Archebios [Archebius Dikaios Nikephoros]..................90 - 80
  • He was probably one of the last Indo-Greek kings before the Saka king Maues conquered Taxila, and a contemporary of Hermaeus in the west. He may have been a relative of Heliokles II.
  • Hermaios [Hermaeus Soter].................................90 - 70
  • He was one of the later Western Indo-Greek kings, who ruled in the Hindu-Kush territory of the Paropamisadae, with his capital in Alexandria of the Caucasus, near today's Kabul in Afghanistan. Hermaeus seems to have been successor of Philoxenus or Diomedes. Judging from his coins, Hermaeus' rule was long and prosperous, but came to an end when the Yue-Zhi, coming from neighboring Bactria overtook most of his Greek kingdom in the Paropamisadae around 70 BCE. Historians have not yet connected Philoxenus Aniketos [100 - 95 BCE, also has issued coins] with any dynasty, but he could have been the father of the princess Kalliope, who was married to the King Hermaeus.
 
  • The Yuezhi.........................................c. 20 BCE - 1 BCE
  • KUSHANID EMPIRE
  • The Kushan Empire (Ancient Greek: Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; Bactrian: Κυϸανο, Kushano; Sanskrit: Ku-shā-ṇa (Late Brahmi script), Kuṣāṇa Sāmrājya; BHS: Guṣāṇa-vaṃśa; Chinese: 貴霜; Parthian: Kušan-xšaθr) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of Afghanistan, and then the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath near Varanasi (Benares), where inscriptions have been found dating to the era of the Kushan Emperor Kanishka the Great. Emperor Kanishka was a great patron of Buddhism. He played an important role in the establishment of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent and its spread to Central Asia and China. Kushan evolved from one of the five major clans of the Yue-Zhi who occupied the region in the 1st century BCE. In its time it was considered a major state, along with China, Parthia, and Rome, and contributed much to the establishment of Buddhism in the region. Information on its rulers is fragmentary, and the dates given are especially susceptible to interpretation. The state that at its cultural zenith, circa 105–250 CE, extended from what is now Tajikistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and down into the Ganges river valley in northern India. Capitals: Bagram (Kapisi), Peshawar (Purusapura), Taxila (Taksasila) and Mathura (Mathura). Common languages: Greek (official until ca. 127), Bactrian (official from ca. 127) and later Sanskrit. Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism.
  • Heraios............................................... c. 01 - c. 30 CE
  • Kujula Kadphises.......................................c. 30 - c. 80
  • Wemla Taktu [or Vima Takto]............................c. 80 - c. 103
  • Wemla Kadphises [or Vima Kadphises]...................c. 103 - c. 127
  • Vima Kadphises added to the Kushan territory by his conquests in Afghanistan and north-west India.
  • Kanishka I............................................c. 127 - C. 147
  • His territory was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (now Peshawar in northern Pakistan) and Mathura, in northern India. Regional capitals were Balkh and Taxila in Pakistan, Begram in Afghanistan, Mathura and Saketa in India.
  • Vasishka..............................................c. 151 - c. 155
  • Huvishka I............................................c. 155 - c. 187
  • Vasudeva I............................................c. 191 - c. 225
  • After Vasudeva, Kushan empire was divided into western and eastern halves. Around 224–240, the Sassanids invaded Bactria and Northern India, where they are known as the Indo-Sassanids.
  • Kanishka II...........................................c. 226 - c. 240
  • Vasishka II...........................................c. 240 - c. 250
  • Kanishka III..........................................c. 255 - c. 275
  • Around 270, the Kushans lost their territories on the Gangetic plain, where the Gupta Empire was established around 320 and to the Sassanids during Shapur II's reign, notably the area that comprises Afghanistan.
  • Vasudeva II...........................................c. 290 - c. 310
  • Vasudeva III
  • reported son of Vasudeva II as a King but uncertain.
  • Chhu..................................................c. 310 - C. 325
  • Shaka.................................................c. 325 - c. 345
  • Kipanada..............................................c. 350 - c. 375
  • The last of the Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian kingdoms were eventually overwhelmed by invaders from the north, known as the Kidarites, and then the Hepthalites.
 

AE Tetradrachm. Dated: 30 - 80 CE. Weight: 8.92g. Metal: Copper. Alignment: Medal. Ruler: Kujula Kadphises [(Κοζουλου Καδφιζου, also Κοζολα Καδαφες) Kozola Kadaphes Koshanou Zaoou].

AE Tetradrachm. Dated: 80 - 103 CE. Mint: Taxila. Weight: 8.29g. Metal: Copper. Alignment: Medal. Ruler: Wemla Taktu [Basileos Basileon Soter Megas (King of Kings Great Suviour)].

Gold starter Weight: 7.92g. [Goddess Miiro (MIIPO) - Indo-Iranian solar deity]. Dated: 103-127 CE. Alignment: Medal. Obverse: King standing facing, sacrificing at altar at left, holding sceptre in left hand, elephant goad in right, Bactrian legend around: ŞAONANOŞAO KA ... NhŞKI KOŞANO (King of kings, Kanishka the Kushan).
Reverse: Sun god Miiro standing facing, turned to left, with sun rays on shoulders. Right hand raised in a gesture of blessing. Tamgha at left side. Bactrian legend at right: MIIPO. Ruler: Kanishka I [Shaonanoshao Kanishki Koshano].
 
 
KASHMIR SMAST
The Kashmir Smast (Urdu: کشمیر سمست‎) caves, also called Kashmir Smats (کشمیر سمتس), are a series of natural limestone caves, artificially expanded from the Kushan to the Shahi periods, situated in the Pirsai Sakrah mountains in the Sudam Valley Mardan in Northern Pakistan. According to recent scholarship based on a rare series of bronze coins and artifacts found in the region, the caves and their adjacent valley probably comprised a sovereign kingdom in Gandhara which maintained at least partial independence for almost 500 years, from c. 4th century CE to the 9th century CE. For most of its history, it was ruled by White Hun (or Hephthalite) governors or princes. The current research investigations at the site that have been carrying out by Professor Meritorious Dr. M. Nasim Khan (TI), a re-known historian and archaeologist, has shown that the site remained the earliest Hindu university or learning institution in South Asia. According to Dr. M. Nasim Khan, this area may have hosted and fed thousands of students and gurus at least from the 2nd century BCE to 10th century CE. He claims that Kashmir Smast area remained an independent entity with its own monetary system and cultural and religious environment.
Scholars contend that the bronze currency found in the region were issued by local semi-independent governors, or Tegins, in the Kashmir Smast valley, paying allegiance to the greater Hunnic Tegins of Gandhara and Bactria. The feudal and tribal nature of the ancient Central Asian' states allowed for substantial independence to be exercised by local governors.
It is worth noting that all the new varieties found in this area are small bronze pieces, varying in weight between 0.5 and 1.1 g. (referred to as the Kashmir Smast standard). They are occasionally small versions of more common drachms circulating in the region, or feature entirely new portraits/images with some or no resemblance to commonly circulating coins of the period.
Given the fact that these pieces have not been found elsewhere in Hunnic domains, we can infer that they were not considered acceptable currency outside of the Kashmir Smast region. However, imitating the coins of the contemporary rulers of Gandhara, and employing certain of their dynastic symbols and portraits, alongside a totally new set of portraits, names / titles, and symbols, may indicate that while they were issued independently for use in the local kingdom, the local rulers must have paid homage to and acknowledged their Hunnic overlords. The fact that they were allowed to use some of their own tamghas and titles and that the greater chiefs gave them the privilege of minting their own currency strengthens this argument. The minting of coins was a prerogative of the rulers, and carried with it a certain degree of governing authority. Numismatically speaking, this can be likened to the period of Hephthalite and Turk Shahi sovereignty over Sogdiana, during which civic bronze coinage circulated alongside silver drachms referencing a Hunnic or Turkic overlord (the Bukharkhoda). The fact that such independent issues continued throughout five separate dynasties, until the Hindu Shahi period, means that to a degree this principality maintained its status for perhaps as long as three to four hundred years.
Given the fact that exact find data is not available for the coins of the Kashmir Smast, and that numerous symbols, legends, and images on the coins have come to light which have never before been encountered in 150 years of Hunnic numismatic study, the attribution and dating of these specimens becomes an arduous task. In the varieties of coins found in the Kashmir Smast, it becomes apparent that during the period of the Kidara, the Alxon, the Nazek, the Turk Shahis, and the Hindu Shahis, a minor kingdom based in this region maintained some level of autonomy from the greater Hunnic hordes which ruled Gandhara. This is evidenced by the use of hithertofore unrecorded images, stylistic peculiarities, and tamghas (royal symbols).
The bronze coins found in cave and its adjacent valley can be divided into seven groups:

1) Kushano-Sassanian. The hoard includes numerous Kushano-Sassanian bronzes of the dumpy fabric, including mostly known varieties in addition to unpublished fractionals, and a number of anonymous Hunnic imitations minted in the dumpy Kushano-Sassanian fabric.
2) Kidara. Kidarite coins in the hoard comprise the majority of unpublished specimens. The obverse of some varieties closely resemble, or are crudely rendered versions of, known Kidarite drachms. The busts portrayed on these coins are depicted wearing headdresses associated with particular Kidara princes, often in turn borrowed from contemporary Sassanian / Kushano-Sassanian monarchs. This group also includes thin AE units featuring bearded busts occasionally with Brahmi legends. As they are notably different from other recorded Kushano-Sassanian bronzes, they may be attributed to Kidarite governors or princes under Kushano-Sassanian or Sassanian sovereignty.
3) Alxon (or Alchon) Huns. The hoard includes a number of coins which are stylistically similar to the Alxon Hunnic series. Some feature the royal Hunnic tamgha, or royal symbol, most often associated with the first of the Alxon Hunnic kings in Gandhara, Khingila and his immediate successors.
4) Nezak. Common published Nazek bronzes abound in the hoard. In addition to these, a number of unpublished varieties with stylistic similarities to Nezak bronzes have also been discovered, notably featuring a trident tamgha.
5) Turk Shahi. These include small AE units imitating larger silver Turk Shahi drachms. They are either anepigraphic or feature Bactrian Greek legends.
6) The Shahi Kings of Kabul and Gandhara. This category includes coins stylistically similar to the coins of Samanta Deva and Spalapati Deva, characterized by linear stylized anthropomorphic or zoomorphic representations.
7) Anonymous coins which cannot be stylistically attributed to any particular Hunnic period or clan.
8) Bronze imitations of Bactrian drachms of Menander I and other dynasts.
 

Obol. Year: c. 2nd century BCE. Weight: 0.73g. Metal: Copper. Diameter: 13.00 mm x 12.00 mm. Mint: N/A. Edge: Plain. Alignment: Medal. Obverse: unknown images. Reverse: unknown images. Mintage: N/A. Minted Years: N/A. Ruler: N/A.

Alxon (or Alchon) Huns Type.

Obol. Year: c. 2nd century BCE. Weight: 0.70g. Metal: Copper. Diameter: 12.00 mm x 12.00 mm. Mint: N/A. Edge: Plain. Alignment: Medal. Obverse: Neck bow. Reverse: Kite. Mintage: N/A. Minted Years: N/A. Ruler: N/A.

Alxon (or Alchon) Huns Type.

Obol. Year: c. 1st century CE. Weight: 1.40g. Metal: Copper. Diameter: 12.00 mm. Mint: N/A. Edge: Plain. Alignment: Medal. Obverse: Stylized fire altar in the center. One attendant on each side of the fire altar. Reverse: King wearing crown facing right. Mintage: N/A. Minted Years: N/A. Ruler: N/A.
Note: This coin is imitation of Vima Takto (c. 90 – c. 113) alias Soter Megas (Great Saviour) of Kushan dynasty. The original coin can be seen at Zeno: https://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=134952

Obol. Year: c. 6th century CE. Weight: 0.85g. Metal: Copper. Diameter: 11.50 mm. Mint: N/A. Edge: Plain. Alignment: Rotated (3 o' clock). Obverse: Stylized fire altar in the center. One attendant on each side of the fire altar. Reverse: King wearing crown facing right. Mintage: N/A. Minted Years: N/A. Ruler: N/A.

Hephthalites Type.

Obol. Year: c. 800 - c. 1000. Weight: 0.92g. Metal: Copper. Diameter: 14.50 mm. Mint: N/A. Edge: Plain. Alignment: Coin. Obverse: Horseman riding caparisoned horse towards right.
Reverse: most part of Kalima written in three lines. Probably "Umar" written at the bottom. Mintage: N/A. Minted Years: N/A. Ruler: probably Umar.

The coin is stylistically similar to the coins of Samanta Deva and Spalapati Deva of Hindu Shahi of Kabul and Gandhara. The same coin is also listed in Zeno, commented by Stephen Album and Robert Tye: https://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=227806

Note: Kashmir Smast Or Kashmir Cave is located in the Swat Valley in Northern Pakistan in the heartland of what once was the flourishing ancient Gandhara. This cave has yielded thousands of coins buried between the 5th and 8th century AD, during the time when this area was ruled by Hepthalite principalities. Various interesting coins have been discovered imitating different dynasties that ruled this area. New discoveries are still being made and the plethora of varieties of small AE coins still mystifies numismatists world over.

Further Reading:

01. Images at Zeno: http://search.zeno.ru/
02. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_Smast
03. Waleed Ziad's "Treasure of Kashmir Smast": http://www.oocities.org/ziadnumis2/ksintro.htm

 
 

General sequence:
  • The Kushanshahs.....................................c. 300 ? - c. 410
  • The Hephthalites......................................c. 410 - c. 550
  • The Pratiharas........................................c. 550 - 988
  • Bokhara..................................................988 - 999
  • The Ghaznavid Empire.....................................999 - 1148
  • The Ghurid Empire.......................................1148 - 1213
  • Khwarazm................................................1213 - 1220
  • The Mongols.............................................1220 - 1332
  • Herat...................................................1332 - 1389
  • The Timurid Empire......................................1389 - 1506
  • The Mughal Empire.......................................1506 - 1740
  • Persia..................................................1740 - 1747
  • Afghanistan.............................................1747 - 1817
  • DURRANI
  • Ayyub Shah (in Kashmir and at Peshawar).................1817 - 1829
  • He is also known as a puppet of Dost Muhammad from 1817 to 1823 and ruled Kashmir from 1818 to 1829. Peshawar from 1818 briefly then again from 1818 to 1829.
  • BARAKZAI
  • Dost Muhammad Khan Mohammadzai..........................1829 - 1831
  • Sultan Muhammad Tilai Barakzai (at Peshawar)............1831 - 1834
  • Sikh Empire.............................................1833 - 1849
  • Great Britain...........................................1849 - 15 Aug 1947
  • Pakistan.........................................15 Aug 1947 - date
 

North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa) during the British India period contained five princely states and an important Jagir. Below are their details shown alphabetically:
 
 
North-West Frontier Province of British India
 
            1849            British capture area from Punjab.
            1901            North-West Frontier Province created. 
     15 Aug 1947            Became province of Pakistan.
     15 Apr 2010            Renamed as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
 
  • Chief commissioners
  • Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Arthur Deane............09 Nov 1901 - 07 Jul 1908
  • He was an administrator in British India. Served as the first Political Agent of the Malakand in 1895.
  • Sir George Olof Roos-Keppel (1st time)............07 Jul 1908 - 16 Nov 1909
  • William Rudolph Henry Merck (acting)..............16 Nov 1909 - 01 Nov 1910
  • Sir George Olof Roos-Keppel (2nd time)............01 Nov 1910 - 28 Aug 1913
  • Sir John Stuart Donald (acting)...................28 Aug 1913 - 28 Jan 1915
  • Sir George Olof Roos-Keppel (3rd time)............28 Jan 1915 - 10 Sep 1919
  • Sir Alfred Hamilton Grant.........................10 Sep 1919 - 08 Mar 1921
  • Sir John Loader Maffey............................08 Mar 1921 - Jul 1923
  • Horatio Norman Bolton (1st time).....................Jul 1923 - 03 Dec 1925
  • William John Keen (acting)........................03 Dec 1925 - Aug 1926
  • Horatio Norman Bolton (2nd time).....................Aug 1926 - 10 May 1930
  • Sir Stuart Edmond Pearks..........................10 May 1930 - 09 Sep 1931
  • Sir Ralph Edwin Hotchkin Griffith.................10 Sep 1931 - 18 Apr 1932
  • Governors
  • Sir Ralph Edwin Hotchkin Griffith (continued).....18 Sep 1932 - 02 Mar 1937
  • Sir George Cunningham (1st time)..................02 Mar 1937 - 11 Aug 1939
  • Sir Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons...............11 Aug 1939 - 10 Dec 1939
  • Sir George Cunningham (2nd time)..................10 Dec 1939 - 03 Mar 1946
  • Sir Olaf Kirkpatrick Kruuse Caroe.................03 Mar 1946 - 26 Jun 1947
  • Sir General Robert McGregor MacDonald Lockhart....26 Jun 1947 - 13 Aug 1947
  • Acting Chief commissioner of NWFP. He also served as Commander in Chief of the Indian Army in 1947 after Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck.
 
  • Chief Ministers
  • Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Khan...................01 Apr 1937 - 07 Sep 1937
  • Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan [Khan Sahib] (1st time)....07 Sep 1937 - 10 Nov 1939
  • Governor's rule...................................10 Nov 1939 - 25 May 1943
  • Sardar Aurangzeb Khan.............................25 May 1943 - 16 Mar 1945
  • Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan [Khan Sahib] (2nd time)....16 Mar 1945 - 22 Aug 1947
  • Governor Cunningham of NWFP dismissed the Chief Minister Dr. Khan Sahib and his cabinet as they refused to salute the Pakistan flag. Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (born 1882 - 09 May 1958) popularly known as Dr. Khan Sahib was a pioneer in the Indian Independence Movement and a Pakistan politician. He was born in the village of Utmanzai, near Charsadda in the North-West Frontier Province. His father, Bahram Khan was the chief of the Mohammedzais ("sons of Mohamed") tribe of the Pashtun (Pathan) people in the Hashtnagar area. He joined the Central Cabinet of Muhammad Ali Bogra as Minister for Communications in 1954. In October 1955, he became the first Chief Minister of West Pakistan following the amalgamation of the provinces and princely states under the One Unit scheme. After differences with the ruling Muslim League over the issue of Joint versus Separate Electorates, he created the Republican Party.
    He was jailed by Abdul Qayyum Khan's government. After Qayyum Khan's appointment to the Central government and the personal efforts of the Chief Minister of NWFP at the time Sardar Bahadur Khan he along with his brother and many other activists were released.
    He resigned in March 1957 after the provincial budget was rejected by the assembly. He was assassinated by a former revenue official in Lahore on May 12, 1958. After his death, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was elected to fill the vacancy arising in the National Assembly. He was the 1st Chief Minister of West Pakistan from 14 Oct 1955 to 16 Jul 1957.
    It is important to note that Dr. Khan Sahib's eight years old younger brother, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Badshah Khan) and his Red Shirt movement stayed away from the electoral politics. Ghaffar Khan actively opposed the One Unit and Dr. Khan Sahib's government. No major Red Shirt leader or worker ever joined the Republican Party, founded by Dr. Khan Sahib. The Red Shirts or Khudai Khidmatgar (servants of God) joined hands with nationalist and progressive workers and leaders from both the then East Pakistan and West Pakistan to form the National Awami Party (national Peoples Party) in 1957.
 
 
Pakistan or refer to Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province Governors and Chief Ministers.
Countries / Territories
 
Chiefa Coins