King Maues - The first Indo-Scythian king
King Maues was the first Shaka or Indo-Scythian ruler in India. He is also mentioned as Moga in the Taxila copper plate and as Mevaki Miyika in the Mathura lion capital inscription. He invaded India and established the Shaka rule by conquering the Indo-Greek territories.
BACKGROUND
King Maues was the first Indo-Scythian king who ruled between 98/85 BCE to 60/57 BCE. After the decline of the Mauryan Empire, northwest India was constantly under attack from various invaders from Central and West Asia. The Indo-Greek rule lasted from about 180 BCE to about 55 BCE. The Scythians or Shakas were a group of Iranian nomadic pastoral tribes. In the second century BCE, central Asian nomadic people known as ‘Yueh-Chi’ forced the Shakas to invade India from the northern frontier of modern day China. The Shakas earlier conquered Parthia and Bactria and the Parthian king Phraates II was defeated. This prompted them to expand their operations in India. Exactly when and under what circumstances Maues arrived in India is uncertain. He probably used the route from the Pamirs into the Gilgit valley.
After the successful establishment of their rule, king Maues ascended the throne. He is first mentioned in the Moga inscription:
“In the seventy eighth, 78, year the Great King, the Great Moga, on the fifth, 5, day of the month Panemos, on this first, of the Kshaharata and Kshatrapa of Chukhsa- Liaka Kasuluka by name- his son Patika- in the town of Takshasila…”
Maues is probably mentioned in the Maira inscription in the Salt Range in Pakistan as ‘Maosa’.
CONQUESTS AND INVASIONS
Maues conquered a number of cities along the Indus and vastly expanded his empire .Taxila in Punjab and Gandhara capital city Pushkalvati was seized from the Indo- Greeks and added to his empire. He was able to establish Shaka dominion over the Gandhara area, which includes modern day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Maues established his capital at Sirkap. The Shaka empire expanded up to Mathura during his reign.
COINS
Maues issued a large number of copper coins and a few silver coins. He overstruck coins belonging to Archebius as well as Apollodotus II in Taxila. He issued joint coins mentioning a queen Machene who was probably a daughter of one of the Indo-Greek houses. Some of his coins depict a cross-legged king. This may either represent Maues himself or one of his divinities. This might also be one of the first representations of the Buddha on a coin as this was the area where Buddhism was flourishing at that time. However the seated person seems to hold a sword horizontally which supports the possibility of the depiction of king Maues himself. A few of his coins are square shaped which was the Indian tradition of minting coins at that time.
Maues also struck some coins depicting Buddhist symbols such as the lion which had been the symbol of Buddhism since the time of the Mauryan king Ashoka. The symbolism of the lion was also adopted by the Buddhist Indo-Greek king Menander II. Maues perhaps supported Buddhism although it is not clear if he adopt it sincerely or for political reasons. According to some sources he assumed the title of “maharaja mahatma” and his coins include a variety of other religious symbols such as the bull which is the symbol of Shiva. This indicates his wide religious tolerance. He used Greek and Kharosthi in coin inscriptions.
Maues and his successors were able to conquer large areas of Gandhara but they were unsuccessful against the Indo-Greek kings remaining behind the Jhelum river in Eastern Punjab. Azes I, his son, acquired the remaining Indo-Greek territories by defeating Hippostratos after a long resistance. He founded the Azes Era in 58 BCE which coincides with the Vikram Era in India.
