| Vishnu nicolo seal | |
|---|---|
 Cast of the seal in theBritish Museum. | |
| Material | Agate (nicolo) |
| Created | 4th century CE |
| Discovered | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Pakistan 34°00′N71°19′E / 34°N 71.32°E /34; 71.32 |
| Present location | British Museum,London |
| Registration | 1892,1103.98 |
| Location | |
     | |
TheVishnu nicolo seal is a "finely engraved" ovalagate seal (1.4 inches by 1.05 inch) from theGandhara region, dated to the 4th century CE. Since 1892 it has been in theBritish Museum.[1]Nicolo is an abbreviation of the Italianonicolo, meaning "little onyx", a type of stone, often made of different layers in various shades of blue, used forintagli.[2]
The seal depicts a four-armed deity, probablyVishnu orVāsudeva,[3] being prayed by a royal devotee. The deity holds Vishnu's classical attributes: thegada club, thechakra discus, the wheel and thelotus.[4][5][1] There is a two-line inscription and amonogram by the worshipper's feet.[1]
The British Museum describes the inscription as "Bactrian", transliterating it: "(1)saso reo iastoo (2)algo", translated as: "Sas-re(w) the leader of worship (?)".[1]
It was found in what was then theNorth-West Frontier Province ofBritish India, nowKhyber Pakhtunkhwa ofPakistan.[1]
The seal was first reported byAlexander Cunningham inThe Numismatic Chronicle of 1893.[4][6] Cunningham, saw in the devotee theKushan emperorHuvishka, who reigned about 140-180 BC, based on the similarity of the headdress.[5]
More recentlyRoman Ghirshman proposed that the text on the seal was in theKushan script and mentions three majorHindu gods:
A more recent interpretation suggests the divinity isVāsudeva, an early deity whose attributes were later reused in the iconography ofVishnu with the addition of anaureole.[3][8]
This recent research also identified the devotee, not with Huvishka, but with aHuna king.[6][5] The devotee could also be aKushano-Sasanian or aKidarite prince.[9]
The seal also suggest that a composite cult of the three deitiesSurya (another name forMihira, meaning "Sun"), Vishnu and Shiva was current inIndia circa 500 CE.[6] However, the British Museum in 2019 gives a different reading of the inscription.[1]
| Line | Original (Greco-Bactrian script) | Transliteration | English translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | σασο ρηο ιαþτoo | saso reo iastoo | "Sas-re(w) the leader of worship (?)" |
| 2 | αλγo | algo |
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{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)A seal inscribed in Bactrian, fourth to fifth century AD, shows a Kushano - Sasanian or Kidarite official worshipping Vishnu : Pierfrancesco Callieri, Seals and Sealings from the North - West of the Indian Subcontinent and Afghanistan.
