Maues's name primarily attested from his coins appear under the Gandhari form Moa (𐨨𐨆𐨀) and the Ancient Greek form Maúēs (Μαύης),[2] both of which are variants of the same ScythianSaka language name *Mava, meaning "tiger" and "hero".[8]
Another form of Maues's name appears on the Taxila copper plateasMoga (𐨨𐨆𐨒),[3] which is a Gandhari derivation of the Saka name *Mauka, which also means "tiger" and "hero".[8]
The Mathura lion capital inscription refers to Maues as Mevaki Miyika (𐨨𐨅𐨬𐨐𐨁 𐨨𐨁𐨩𐨁𐨐),[4][5] which is composed of Mevaki, derived from Saka *Mavyaka, meaning "tiger", and of Miyika, from Saka *mayaka, meaning "prosperous".[9]
Sakas
[edit]Silver tetradrachm of Maues. The obverse shows Zeus standing with a sceptre. The Greek legend reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΜΑΥΟΥ (Οf the Great King of Kings Maues). The reverse shows Nike standing, holding a wreath. Kharoshthi legend. Taxila mint.
The Sakas from Sakastan defeated and killed the Parthian king Phraates II in 126 B.C. Indo-Scythians established themselves in the Indus around 88 B.C., during the end of Mithridates II of Parthias reign. The Sakas and Pahlavas became closely associated during the Saka migration. This can be demonstrated from various sources, such as the adoption of names and titles. Maues took the title of "Great King of Kings", an exceeded version of a traditional Persian royal title.
Maues is the first recorded ruler of the Sakas in the Indus. 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 Kusuluka by name - his son Patika - in the town of Takshasila..."[10]
Mauses is possibly mentioned the Maira inscription in the Salt Range in Pakistan as 'Moasa'.[11]
When precisely and under what circumstances Maues arrived in India is uncertain, but the expulsion of the Scythian (Saka/Sai) peoples from Central Asia is referred to in the Han Shu, where the cause given is their confrontation with the Ta Yüeh-chih, themselves undergoing an enforced migration. It is stated that『when the Ta Yüeh-chih turned west, defeated and expelled the king of the Sai, the latter moved south and crossed over the Suspended Crossing.』That this route (from the Pamirs into the Gilgit valley) was used in Maues' time is confirmed by the discovery of inscriptions in the Chilas/Gilgit area bearing his name (Dani, 1983 and 1995, pp. 52, 55).[13]
Coins
[edit]Coin of Maues depicting Balarama, 1st century BCE. British Museum.Coin of Machene, Queen of Maues. Obv. Tyche, wearing mural crown. Legend ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ ΘEOTPOΠOY MAXHNHΣ "Godlike Queen Machene". Rev. Zeus with Nike, legend "Rajatirajasa mahatasa Moasa" in Kharoshthi "Great king of kings, Maues".
Maues issued joint coins mentioning a queen Machene ("ΜΑΧΗΝΗ"). Machene may have been a daughter of one of the Indo-Greek houses.[14]
An Indo-Greek king, Artemidoros, also issued coins where he describes himself as "Son of Maues".
A few of the coins of Maues, struck according to the Indian square standard, seemingly depict a King in a cross-legged seated position. This may represent Maues himself, or possibly one of his divinities. It has been suggested that this might also be one of the first representations of the Buddha on a coin, in an area where Buddhism was flourishing at the time, but the seated personage seems to hold a sword horizontally, which favors the hypotheses of the depiction of the king Maues himself.
Also, Maues struck some coins incorporating Buddhist symbolism, such as the lion, symbol of Buddhism since the time of the Mauryan king Ashoka.
The symbolism of the lion had also been adopted by the Buddhist Indo-Greek king Menander II. Maues therefore probably supported Buddhism, although whether sincerely or for political motives is unclear. His coins also included a variety of other religious symbols such as the bull of Shiva, indicating wide religious tolerance.
^An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman, Richard Salomon, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1996), pp. 442 [2]
^A Kharosthī Reliquary Inscription of the Time of the Apraca Prince Visnuvarma, by Richard Salomon, South Asian Studies 11 1995, Pages 27-32, Published online: 09 Aug 2010 [3]