MochenKitche at 06:37, 25 February 2026

2026-02-25T06:37:01Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Azes I
| title = [[Indo-Scythian]] king
| image = Coin of Azes I.jpg
| caption = Coin of Azes I. '''Obv:''' Azes I in military dress, on a horse, with couched spear. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΑΖΟΥ "of the Great King of Kings Azes". [[British Museum]].
| reign = ''c''. 48/47 – 25 BCE
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| predecessor = [[Spalirises]]
| successor = [[Azilises]]
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'''Azes I''' ([[Greek alphabet|Greek]]: {{lang|grc|[[wiktionary:Ἄζης|Ἄζης]]}} {{transliteration|grc|Azēs}}, epigraphically {{lang|grc|ΑΖΟΥ}} {{transliteration|grc|Azou}}; [[Kharosthi]]: '''{{lang|pgd|[[wiktionary:𐨀𐨩|𐨀𐨩]]}}''' {{transliteration|pgd|A-ya}}, {{transliteration|pgd|Aya}}<ref name="Gardner">{{cite book |last=Gardner |first=Percy |author-link=Percy Gardner |date=1929 |title=The Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of Bactria and India in the British Museum |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924022932382 |location=London |publisher=Gilbert & Rivington Ltd. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924022932382/page/n151/mode/2up 73]-[https://archive.org/details/cu31924022932382/page/n171/mode/2up 92] |isbn=978-0-900-83452-3 }}</ref>) was an [[Indo-Scythian]] ruler who ruled around c. 48/47 BCE – 25 BCE<ref>Falk and Bennett (2009), pp. 197–215.</ref> with a dynastic empire based in the [[Punjab]] and [[Indus River|Indus Valley]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mac Dowell |first=D. W. |date=30 December 2012 |title=D. W. Mac Dowell, "AZES," Encyclopaedia Iranica, III/3, p. 257 |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azes |website=iranicaonline.com}}</ref> completed the domination of the Scythians in the northwestern [[Indian subcontinent]].

==Name==
Azes's name is attested on his coins in the [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] form {{transliteration|grc|Azēs}} ({{lang|grc|[[wiktionary:Ἄζης|Ἄζης]]}}) and the [[Kharosthi]] form {{transliteration|pgd|Aya}} ({{lang|pgd|[[wiktionary:𐨀𐨩|𐨀𐨩]]}}),<ref name="Gardner"/> which are both derived from the [[Saka language|Saka]] name {{lang|xsc|*Aza}}, meaning "leader".<ref>{{cite book |last=Harmatta |first=János |author-link=János Harmatta |editor-last1=Harmatta |editor-first1=János |editor-link1=János Harmatta |editor-last2=Puri |editor-first2=B. N. |editor-link2=Baij Nath Puri |editor-last3=Etemadi |editor-first3=G. F. |date=1999 |chapter=Languages and scripts in Graeco-Bactria and the Saka Kingdoms |title=History of civilizations of Central Asia |volume=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DguGWP0vGY8C |location=Delhi |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass|Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House]] |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9U6RlVVjpakC&pg=PA409 409] |isbn=978-8-120-81408-0}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Whitehead Coins of the Punjab Museum Plate XI Azes Demeter and Hermes.jpg|thumb|Coin of Azes with Demeter and Hermes.]] [[Maues]] and his successors had conquered the areas of [[Gandhara]], as well as the area of [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathura]] from 85 BCE forming the [[Northern Satraps]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2022|reason=}}

==The Azes Era==
Azes's most lasting legacy was the foundation of the [[Azes era]]. It was widely believed that the era was begun by Azes's successors by simply continuing the counting of his regnal years. However, Prof. Harry Falk has recently presented an inscription at several conferences which dates to Azes's reign, and suggests that the era may have been begun by Azes himself. Most popular historians date the start of the Azes era to 58 BC and believe it is the same as the later era known as the [[Malwa]] or Vikrama era.<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard Salomon|title=Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-4RDAAAQBAJ |year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-509984-3|pages=182–183, 194–195}}</ref>

However, a recently discovered inscription, the [[Bajaur reliquary inscription]], dated in both the Azes and the Greek era suggests that actually this is not the case. The inscription gives the relationship Azes = Greek + 128. It is believed that the [[Yavana era|Greek era]] may have begun in 173 BCE, exactly 300 years before the first year of the Era of [[Kanishka]]. If that is the case then the Azes era would begin in about 45 BC.<ref>For discussions refer to Bracey, R. (2005) 'The Azes Era' (http://www.kushan.org/essays/chronology/azesvikrama.htm), Cribb, J (2005) 'The Greek Kingdom of Bactria, its coinage and collapse' in ''Afghanistan, Ancien Carrefour entre l'est et l'ouest'' (ed. Bopearachichi O & Boussac, M-F), Turnhout: 207–225, Falk, H. & C. J. Bennett 'Macedonian Intercalary Months and the Era of Azes' ''Acta Orientalia'' 70 (2009) 197–216</ref>

==Azes I and Azes II identical?==
According to Senior, Azes I may have been identical with [[Azes II]], due to the discovery of an overstrike of the former over the latter.<ref>[http://coinindia.com/galleries-azes1.html Coin India]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Yuezhi]]
*[[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]]
*[[Indo-Greek Kingdom]]
*[[Indo-Parthian Kingdom]]
*[[Kushan Empire]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite journal| author=Harry Falk and Chris Bennett |year=2009 |title=Macedonian Intercalary Months and the Era of Azes|url=https://www.academia.edu/349875 |journal=Acta Orientalia |issue=70 |pages=197–215 |issn=0001-6438 |access-date=11 April 2014}}
* {{cite book|title=The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies |author=McEvilley, Thomas |author-link=Thomas McEvilley |publisher=Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts |date=2002| isbn=978-1-58115-203-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vTfm8KHn900C |access-date=11 April 2014}}
* {{cite book| title=The Greeks in Bactria and India | author=W.W. Tarn |publisher=Cambridge University Press |author-link=William Woodthorpe Tarn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HeJS3nE9cAC |date=2010 |isbn=978-1-108-00941-6| access-date=11 April 2014}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110608082305/http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/indo_scythians/azes_I/t.html Coins of Azes I] (archived)
* [http://www.kushan.org/essays/chronology/azesvikrama.htm Discussion of the Azes and Greek Era]

{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Spalirises]] ([[Indo-Scythian]] king)}}
{{s-ttl|rows=3|title=[[Indo-Scythian|Indo-Scythian Ruler]]|years=57 – 35 BCE}}
{{s-aft|rows=3|after=[[Azilises]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[King Telephos|Telephos]] ([[Indo-Greek]] king in [[Arachosia]] and [[Gandhara]])}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Hippostratos]] ([[Indo-Greek]] king in [[Punjab region|Western Punjab]])}}
{{s-end}}

{{Indo-Scythians}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azes 01}}
[[Category:Indo-Scythian kings]]
[[Category:1st-century BC Iranian monarchs]]
[[Category:1st-century BC Iranian people]]

Azes I - Revision history

MochenKitche at 06:37, 25 February 2026