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INDO-PARTHIAN/Pahlava Dynasty/ Suren Kingdom/ Gondopharid Dynasty (20 BCE- 250 CE)
I. NOMENCLATURE & ORIGIN:
The Parthian Empire was founded by Arsaces I of Parthia when he rebelled against the Seleucid
Empire. King Mithridates, the great grandson of Arsaces I, further expanded by the empire by taking
over Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. The Parthian kingdom had its reach from Turkey to eastern Iran.
Parthian kingdom founded by the Gondopharid branch. The largest of these sub-kingdoms- the Indo
Parthian kingdom, located west of the Parthian homeland was founded in the late 100 BCE by the first
of several kings named Gondophares, who was a Scythian (Saka) king & member of the House Suren
family, one of the seven major noble houses of the Parthians. One of the most esteemed families in
Arsacid Iran, which not only had the hereditary right to lead the royal military. House of Suren is one of
two Parthian noble families explicitly mentioned by name in sources dateable to the Arsacid period. It
was called the Indo-Parthian Empire since its coinage was influenced by the coinage of Parthia.
There is still a lot of dispute about their origin.
Area of Rule- Parts of eastern Iran, Afghanistan, N-W Indian subcontinent (parts of modern Pakistan&n-
w India).
The chronology of the Gondopharid kings has long been uncertain, predominantly based on coins.
It was the third biggest dynasty that ruled over present day Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan&Northern India.
Capital city- Taxila, Later between Kabul&Peshawar. Language- Aramaic, Greek, Pali (Kharoshthi script),
Sanskrit, Prakrit (Brahmi script) Parthian, Religion- Zoroastrian, Buddhism, Hinduism.
II. SOURCES:
Literature [Foreign]-
Apollonius of Tyana (c. 15-100 CE)- was a Greek Neopythagorean philosopher from the town of Tyana in
the Roman province of Cappadocia in Anatolia. Life of Apollonius of Tyana is a text in 08 books written
in Ancient Greece by Philostratus. It tells the story of Apollonius of Tyana. He describes constructions of
the Greek type, probably referring to Sirkap & explains that the Indo-Parthian king of Taxila,
named Phraotes, received a Greek education at the court of his father & spoke Greek fluently.
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (100 CE)- It describes the presence of Parthian kings fighting with each
other in the area of Sindh, a region traditionally known at that time as "Scythia" due to the previous rule
of the Indo-Scythians there:
"This river (Indus) has seven mouths, very shallow & marshy, so that they are not navigable, except the
one in the middle; at which by the shore, is the market-town, Barbaricum. Before it there lies a small
island, & inland behind it is the metropolis of Scythia, Minnagara; it is subject to Parthian princes who
are constantly driving each other out." Chapter- 38.
The Chinese explore- Zang Qian described Parthia as an advanced urban civilization.
Archaeological [Epigraphs, Numismatics, Architecture- Art]-
Epigraphs- Inscription from Takht-i-Bahi bears two dates, one in the regnal year 26 of the Maharaja
Guduvhara (again thought to be a Gondophares),&the year 103 of an unknown era; Kalvan Insc. of Azez-
II.
Excavated site- Jandial (Taxila, Pakistan) is a Zoroastrian fire temple from the period of the Indo-
Parthians.
Coins/ Numismatics- The most important evidence.

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III.DYNASTIES & RULERS:
1. Gondophares I (c.19-46 BCE) Coin
2. Gondophares II Sarpedones (first years-
20 CE)Coin
3. Abdagases I (c. 46 to 60 CE) Coin
4. Gondophares III Gudana,
previously Orthagnes (c.20-30 CE)
5. Gondophares IV Sases, (mid-100 CE)
6. Ubouzanes, (late-100 CE)
7. Pacores (100-135 CE) Coin.
1. Gondophares I- Gondophares called himself King of Kings, a Parthian title. Around
20–10 BCE he made conquests in the former Indo-Scythian kingdom, perhaps after
the death of the important ruler Azes. Gondophares became the ruler of areas
comprising Arachosia, Seistan, Sindh, Punjab, & the Kabul valley, but it does not seem
as though he held territory beyond eastern Punjab.
2. Gondophares II- Sarpedones was an Indo-Parthian king. He was a lieutenant or
kinsman of Gondophares, & ruled Sakastan, where he had coins minted with the title of King of Kings.
He was possibly son of the first Gondophares.
3. Abdagases I- He ruled Gandhara & possibly over the Indus. He was a nephew & successor of
Gondophares. The most important successor was Abdagases, Gondophares’ nephew, who ruled in
Punjab & possibly in the homeland of Seistan.
4. Gondophares III- He was one of the successors of Gondophares, together with Abdagases, Sases,
Gondophares II, Sarpedones, & Pacores. He may have ruled from Arachosia to Eastern Punjab.
Orthagnes ruled mostly in Seistan & Arachosia, with Abdagases further east, during the first decades CE,
& was briefly succeeded by his son Ubouzanes Coin.
5. Gondophares IV Sases- He ruled in n-w parts of India in modern Pakistan. He is only known from
coins. His coins show the Greek deity Zeus, forming a benediction sign (possibly Vitarka mudra), and
incorporate the Buddhist symbol of the triratana.
6. Ubouzanes- Ubouzanes was a ruler of the remnants of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom in Arachosia in the
first century CE. He was the son of Orthagnes. He was unknown until the late 20th century when a
hoard of coins was found in Jammu. Joe Cribb analyzed them in 1985, discovering some belonged to a
new ruler. Cribb placed him between Orthagnes and Pacores.

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7. Pacores- He is well-known from coins minted in Seistan and Kandahar, mostly silver drachms (It was
the currency used in Greece during several periods) and tetradrachms (It was an Ancient Greek silver
coin equivalent to four drachmae). The time of his reign can be determined as many of his coins over
strike those of Vima Takto. He is the last well attested ruler. After his coins there is a single surviving
coin with the name Abdagases II and a set of poorly made Indo-Parthian coins with unnamed rulers
before the Kushan Empire conquered it.
IV. DECLINE:
1. The Kushans under Kujula Kadphises began absorbing the northern Indian part of the kingdom in 100
CE.
2. They managed to retain control of Sakastan, until its conquest by the Sasanian Empire in c. 224.