94 INDO-SCYTHIAN AND INDO-PARTHIAN KINGS

administration Indian servants such as the general Aspavarma, son of
Indravarma. The nanie of Aspavarma also occurs on coins represented
in this Collection, which I have shown are probably to be attributed
to Gondophares, thus providing a link between the Indo-Scythian
and Indo- Parthian dynasties.

Cunningham makes Gondophares the founder of a separate
dynasty in succession to that of Maues, Azes, and Azilises. Abda-
gases was his nephew, and other members of the line were Orthagnes,
Pakores, and Sanabares. The names of these kings are Parthian, and
the busts on their coins closely resemble those of the contemporaneous
rulers of Parthia. The planetary symbol, 5, is generally found on the
coins of Gondophares and Abdagases, and was termed by Cunningham
the Gondopharian symbol.

The name of Gondophares occurs in the Christian tradition con-
nected with the Apostle Thomas. ' The Acts of Thomas contain certain
statements which discoveries made in recent years have enabled us to
test in the light of actual history. The narrative tells us that the
Apostle Thomas, much against his will and inclination, had to under-
take the work of preaching the Gospel to the Indians; and that to
induce him to obey the mandate he had received, our Lord appeared
to him in person, and sold him to Habban, a minister of King Gondo-
phares of the Indians, who had been sent to Syria in search of a
competent builder, able to undertake the construction of a palace for
his sovereign. Thomas in his company left by sea for India, which
was reached after a rapid passage. Both proceeded to the Courtj
where Thomas was presented to the king, and undertook the erection
of the building' (India and the Apostle Thomas, by A. E. Medlycott).
It is stated that Thomas made many converts, including Gondo-
phares himself and his brother Gad, and ultimately met a martyr's
death.

The name of Gondophares, in the Kharosthi Guduphara or pos-
sibly Gandapharna, is found in various texts and versions of these
Apocryphal Acts of Thomas, as Gudnaphar, Goundaphoros, Gunda-
forus, and Gundoforus. It is a remarkable fact that after the lapse
of so many centuries, the actual existence of this king has been proved
by the discovery of his coins in India. The first .specimen was found
by Masson in Afghanistan about the year 1834, and since then many
have come to light. Their find-spots show that this ruler must have
held Kabul, Qandahar, Sistan, and the West and South Panjab. His
reign probably lasted thirty or forty years, and covered the middle of
the first century A.D. The name of Gondophares occurs in an inscrip-
tion on the well-known Takht-i-Bahi stone, now in the Lahore
Museum.