Wearing wings and a bull's head on your hat, and making it look good

One more coin from the Baltimore show of November 2019:

Hephthalites (Alchon or White Huns), Kabul Valley and Zabul. AR drachm (3.40 g, 26 mm). "Napki Malka" (c. 475-576 AD). Obverse: Bust of king right, wearing headdress with wings and a bull's head, legend before in Pahlavi script "Napki Malka" (King Napki). Reverse: Sassanian-Style fire altar with two attendants. Mitchiner ACW 1499. This coin: Purchased from Allen G. Berman at the Baltimore coin show, November 2019.

The Hephthalites, also known as the Alchon Huns or White Huns, originated in Bactria in Central Asia and were a tribal confederation, established around 350 AD. They fought against the Sasanian emperor Shapur II in 356-7 AD, but soon came to an agreement that recognized the Hephthalites as Sasanian vassals. The Hephthalites expanded into areas including the Kabul valley, the middle Ganges valley, and Malwa. Despite their official status as Sasanian vassals, the Hephthalites often came into conflict with their nominal masters. In 469, they captured the Sasanian emperor Peroz in battle, and only released him after receiving a huge ransom. Peroz was later killed by the Hephthalites at the Battle of Herat in 484. In 488, Hephthalite troops helped Kavadh I take the Sasanian throne. Around 560, the western portion of the Hephthalite realm was conquered by a Sasanian-Turk coalition, and in 576 Bactria, the Kabul valley, and Zabul fell to the Turks, leaving only some territories east of the Indus in Hephthalite hands, which were eventually conquered by the expanding Islamic caliphate in 705 AD.

Little is known of Hephthalite history except when they fought better-documented groups such as the Sasanians. The names of several kings are known, including Toramana (c. 475-515) and Mihiragula (c. 515-530), but they did not put their names on their coins. Most Hephthalite coinage is based on Sasanian prototypes, evident in both the designs and the thin fabric of the coins. Coins of the type shown here cite "King Napki", and were apparently issued over a long period. Sub-types exist, issued in different regions of the Hephthalite realm, with inscriptions in cursive Greek, Brahmi, or, like this specimen, Pahlavi script, which was used to write Persian during the Sasanian period. (The letter forms are slightly different from those used on Sasanian coins, but are definitely Pahlavi.) Interestingly, the Hephthalite nobility practiced infant head-binding, which gave them a somewhat conehead appearance that is apparent on their coin portraits. The reverse is weakly struck, which seems to be the case on all Hephthalite coins. I bought this coin mainly because of the portrait style, which is an interesting variant on its Sasanian prototype. Please post your Hephthalite coins, or whatever else is related.

 

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Great coin and write-up, @Parthicus. Very interesting and mysterious group (with excellent taste in hats). I agree that just about all of these have a weakly struck reverse...I presume that must be due to how these were struck, but interested to see if anyone has any insight on that.

Here is my example, which is one of my favorites, and came with a cool old collector’s tag from the Stoecklin collection.





HUNNIC TRIBES, Hephthalites. 470-565, AR Drachm (25 mm, 3.37 g), "Napki Malka" coinage. Royal male bust right wearing winged head-dress surmounted by bull's head./ Rev. Fire altar with attendants.
From the collection of W. F. Stoecklin

 

AE Unit, standing king/Lakshmi, "Mihiragula" in Brahmi script on two sides of the king.

 

I had assumed that these coins were also Hephthalites, but Ed Snible informed me that the countermarks identifies them as from the western Turks:






I know very little about these except that they are imitating coins of the Sassanian King Hormazd IV