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{{More citations needed|date=January 2010}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name =Azes II
| title =[[Indo-Scythian]] king
| image= AzesIIFineCoinObv.jpg
| caption =Azes II in armour, riding a horse, on one of his silver [[tetradrachm]]s, minted in [[Gandhara]]
| reign =[[Scythians]]: perhaps 35–12 BC
| coronation =
| full name =
| predecessor =[[Azilises]]
| successor =[[Zeionises]]/[[Kharahostes]]
| spouse =
| issue =
| royal house =
| dynasty =
| father =
| mother =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| date of burial =
| place of burial =
|}}
'''Azes II''' ([[Greek alphabet|Greek]]: {{lang|grc|[[wiktionary:Ἄζης|Ἄζης]]}} {{transl|grc|Azēs}}, epigraphically {{lang|grc|ΑΖΟΥ}} {{transl|grc|Azou}}; [[Kharosthi]]: '''{{lang|pgd|[[wiktionary:𐨀𐨩|𐨀𐨩]]}}''' {{transl|pgd|A-ya}}, {{transl|pgd|Aya}};<ref>{{cite journal |last=Zygman |first=Edmund |date=1957 |title=A Tetradrachm of Azes II struck at Sāngala-Euthydemia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43574181 |journal=Museum Notes (American Numismatic Society) |volume=7 |issue= |pages=51–56 |doi= |access-date=2 October 2021}}</ref> both from [[Saka language|Saka]] {{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#v=onepage&q&f=false 409] |isbn=978-8-120-81408-0}}</ref>), may have been the last [[Indo-Scythian]] king, speculated to have reigned circa 35–12 BCE, in the northern Indian subcontinent (modern day Pakistan). His existence has been questioned; if he did not exist, artefacts attributed to his reign, such as coins, are likely to be those of [[Azes I]].<ref name="Senior">{{cite journal |last=Senior |first=R. C. |date=2008 |title=The Final Nail in the Coffin of Azes II |url= |journal=Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society |volume=197 |issue= |pages=25–27 |doi= |access-date= }}</ref>

After the death of Azes II, the rule of the Indo-Scythians in northwestern India and Pakistan finally crumbled with the conquest of the [[Kushans]], one of the five tribes of the [[Yuezhi]] who had lived in Bactria for more than a century, and who were then expanding into India to create a Kushan Empire. Soon after, the [[Parthia]]ns invaded from the west. Their leader [[Gondophares]] temporarily displaced the [[Kushans]] and founded the [[Indo-Parthian Kingdom]] that was to last until the middle of the 1st century CE. The [[Kushans]] ultimately regained northwestern India circa 75 CE, where they were to prosper for several centuries.

==Buddhist dedications==
[[File:BimaranCasket2.JPG|left|thumb|The [[Bimaran casket]], representing the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] surrounded by [[Brahman]] (left) and [[Indra]] (right) was found inside a [[stupa]] with coins of Azes II inside. [[British Museum]].]]

===Bimaran casket===
{{main|Bimaran casket}}
[[Image:PilarImage4.jpg|thumb|The [[Indo-Corinthian capital]] from Butkara Stupa under which a coin of Azes II was found. Dated to 20 BCE or earlier ([[Turin City Museum of Ancient Art]]).]]
Azes II is also connected to the [[Bimaran casket]], one of the earliest representations of the Buddha. The casket was part of the deposit of Stupa 2 in Bimaran, near [[Jalalabad]] in [[Afghanistan]], and placed inside the stupa with several coins of Azes II. This event may have happened during the reign of Azes (35–12 BCE), or slightly later. The Indo-Scythians are otherwise connected with Buddhism (see [[Mathura lion capital]] and the multiple Buddhist dedications of the [[Apraca]]s), and it is indeed possible they would have commended the work. However it now thought that a later king, issuing coins in the name of Azes, such as [[Kharahostes]], made the dedication.

===Butkhara stupa===
{{main|Butkara stupa}}
A coin of Azes II was found under a pillar with an [[Indo-Corinthian capital]] and sculpture of a Buddhist devotee in the [[Butkara Stupa]], suggesting the involvement of Azes II in Buddhist dedications, and a datation for the sculpture corresponding to the reign of Azes II.<ref name="HB">[https://books.google.com/books?id=C9_vbgkzUSkC&pg=PA49 Handbuch der Orientalistik, Kurt A. Behrendt, BRILL, 2004, p.49 sig]</ref>

==Coinage==
Coins attributed to Azes II use Greek and Kharoshti inscriptions, depict a Greek goddess as his protector, and thereby essentially follow the numismatic model of the Greek kings of the Indo-Greek kingdom, suggesting a high willingness to accommodate Greek culture. A novel difference of the Indo-Scythians was to show the king on a horse, rather than his bust in profile as did the Greeks.

Other coins of Azes depict the [[Buddhist]] lion and the [[Brahman]]ic cow of [[Shiva]], suggesting religious tolerance towards his subjects. In the coin depicted to the left Azes is depicted with the inscriptions:
[[File:AzesIIFineCoin.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Silver coin of King '''Azes II''' (r. c. 35–12 BCE)]]
*Obv: King with coat of mail, on horse, holding a sceptre, with Greek royal headband. Greek legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΑΖΟΥ "The Great King of Kings Azes".
*Rev: [[Athena]] with shield and lance, making a hand gesture identical to the Buddhist vitarka [[mudra]]. [[Kharoshti]] legend MAHARAJASA RAJADIRAJASA MAHATASA AYASA "The Great King of Kings Azes", with the Buddhist [[triratna]] symbol in the left field.

Azes II was long believed to have issued several of the [[Indo-Scythian]] coins struck under the name Azes in northern [[India]]. All these coins were however likely issued by a single ruler named [[Azes]], as suggested by Robert Senior, when he found an overstrike of a coin attributed to [[Azes I]] over a coin attributed to Azes II, suggesting that all the "Azes II" coins were not later than those of "Azes I" and that there was only one king in the dynasty named Azes.<ref name="Senior"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Senior |first1=R. C. |last2= |first2= |date=2008 |title=Azes: an unpublished and important tetradrachm S86.1T |url= |journal=Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society |volume=197 |issue= |pages=24–25 |doi= |access-date= }}</ref> This idea had long been advocated by Senior with a number of indirect numismatic arguments, for instance in his encyclopaedia of Indo-Scythian coins.<ref>{{cite book |last=Senior |first=R. C. |author-link= |date=2001-2006 |title=Indo-Scythian Coins and History |url= |location=Lancaster, Pennsylvania |publisher=Classical Numismatic Group |page= |isbn=}}</ref>

===Coin gallery===
<gallery>
Image:AzesIIPortrait.jpg|Portrait of Azes II
Image:AzesIITriratna.jpg|Coin of Azes II with Buddhist triratna symbol.
Image:Coin of Azes II.jpg|Coin of Azes II.
Image:AzesIIOnHorse.jpg|Coin of Azes II, with a clear depiction of his military outfit, with coat of mail and reflex bow in the saddle.
Image:AzesIICoinage.jpg
Image:Coin of the Indian-Scythian king Azes I.jpg|Coin of Azes II, with king seated, holding a drawn sword and a whip.
Image:SeatedAzesCoin.jpg|Seated king Azes II
Image:ProfileOfAzesII.JPG|Profile of king Azes II.
Image:A16 AzesII drachme MACW2306 1 (8216181697).jpg|Coin
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Ahir]]
*[[Ancient India and Central Asia]]
*[[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]]
*[[Indo-Greek Kingdom]]
*[[Indo-Parthian Kingdom]]
*[[Kushan Empire]]
*[[Tillia tepe]]
*[[Yuezhi]]

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* ''The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies'' by Thomas McEvilley (Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts, 2002) {{ISBN|1-58115-203-5}}
* ''The Greeks in Bactria and India'', W. W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.

==External links==
* [http://www.coinarchives.com/a/results.php?results=100&search=Azes+II&Thumb=1 Coins of Azes II]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060612180233/http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/indo_scythians/azes_II/t.html Coins of Azes II on wildwinds.com]

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| before = '''[[Azilises]]'''
| title = [[Indo-Scythian|Indo-Scythian Ruler]]| years = (35–12 BCE)
| after = ''In [[Kashmir]]:'' '''[[Zeionises]]''' ''In [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathura]]:'' '''[[Kharahostes]]'''
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Indo-Scythians}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azes Ii}}
[[Category:Indo-Scythian kings]]
[[Category:12 BC deaths]]
[[Category:1st-century BC Iranian monarchs]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:1st-century BC Iranian people]]

Azes II - Revision history

CleanupBot at 18:11, 1 January 2022