Vonones, also spelled Vovones (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ΟΝΩΝΟΥ ''Onōnou''Gardner, Percy, ''The Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of Bactria and India in the British Museum'', p. 99) was an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

king, who ruled

Sakastan Sistān ( fa, سیستان), known in ancient times as Sakastān ( fa, سَكاستان, "the land of the Saka"), is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran ( Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and Southern Afghanistan ( ...

from 75 BCE to 57 BCE. During the latter part of his reign, he extended his rule as far as Taxila in north

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, minting coins with the title of King of Kings. Vonones was a rival of the first

Indo-Scythian Indo-Scythians (also called Indo-Sakas) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples of Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into modern day Pakistan and Northwestern India from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 4th centur ...

monarch

Maues Maues (Greek: ; (epigraphic); Kharosthi: , , called , on the Taxila copper plate; also called , in the Mathura lion capital inscription,) was the first Indo-Scythian king, ruling from 98/85 to 60/57 BCE. He invaded India and establi ...

(), who also claimed the title of King of Kings. Both of them fought for power over the regions of

Arachosia Arachosia () is the Hellenized name of an ancient satrapy situated in the eastern parts of the Achaemenid empire. It was centred around the valley of the Arghandab River in modern-day southern Afghanistan, and extended as far east as the ...

, the

Kabul Valley Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

, Ghadhara and Taxila. Vonones' origins are uncertain. His name (lit. meaning "victor") was of

Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...

origin, used by the royal

Arsacid The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conquer ...

family of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Because of this, arguments have been made in favour of a Parthian Surenid origin. According to the

Iranologist Iranian studies ( fa, ايران‌شناسی '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It ...

Khodadad Rezakhani Khodadad Rezakhani ( Persian: خداداد رضاخانی, born 1976) is an Iranian historian of late antique Central and West Asia. He has been associate research scholar at The Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gul ...

, Vonones belonged to the royal Arsacid family. Others, however, claim that he was an Indo-Scythian, regardless of his Parthian name. The legend of Vonones' coins also had the name of two of his commanders

Spalahores Spalahores, also spelled Spalohres or Spalahora, (Greek: ; , (epigraphic); Kharosthi: , ; ruled circa 57-35 BCE), was an Iranian king who ruled Sakastan in the 1st-century BC. Name Spalahores's name is attested on his coins in the Greek form ...

and

Spalirisos Spalirisos, also spelled Spalirises, ( Greek: , (epigraphic); Kharosthi: , ) was an Iranian king who ruled Arachosia in the 1st century BCE. Name Spalarisos's name is attested on his coins in the Greek form () and in the Kharosthi form ...

, who are referred to as "brother of the king". Scholars such as R.C. Senior and Rezakhani consider the two figures to indeed be Vonones' brothers, while others such as K.W. Dobbins argue that it was an honorific title given to them, whom he considered to be

Saka The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...

satraps. A major argument against the proposal of a blood relationship between Vonones and the two commanders was due to both of them having

names, contrary to Vonones' Parthian name. Saghi Gazerani has suggested that after the Arsacid re-conquest of Sakastan (sometime between 124 BCE and 115 BCE), which was given as a fiefdom to the Surenid general that led the expedition, the Surenids (who became independent after 88 BCE) and the Sakas became closely connected, presumably through alliances and intermarriages. Indeed, the Parthians and Sakas are often confused in Indian literature. The mythological Iranian hero

Rostam use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Kabulistan , death_cause = With the conspiracy of his half-brother Shaghad, he fell into a w ...

(who was from Sakastan), is mentioned in Iranian traditions as both Parthian and Saka, thus supporting this dual-identity. Vonones was succeeded by Spalahores. The latter's son and successor,

Spalagadames Spalagadames ( Kharosthi: , ) was an Iranian king, who ruled Sakastan in the last quarter of the 1st-century BC after his father Spalahores, who was himself possibly a brother of king Vonones. Spalagadames has been suggested by the Iranologist K ...

, has been suggested by Rezakhani to be the same figure as the first Indo-Parthian king, Gondophares ().

Notes

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vonones Indo-Scythian kings 1st-century BC Iranian monarchs 1st-century BC Iranian people