Bimaran casket
The Bimaran casket or reliquary on display in the British Museum, with a depiction of the Buddha, surrounded byBrahma (left) andŚakra (right).
Material	Gold encrusted with gems
Size	6.7 cm high, 6.6 cm diameter
Created	1st century CE
Discovered	Bimaran 34°27′31″N70°20′59″E / 34.458544°N 70.349792°E /34.458544; 70.349792
Present location	British Museum,London
Registration	OA 1900.2-9.1
Location
Bimaran Show map of South Asia Bimaran Show map of Afghanistan Bimaran Show map of Gandhara

TheBimaran casket orBimaran reliquary is a small goldreliquary forBuddhistrelics that was removed from insideStupa No. 2 atBimaran, nearJalalabad in easternAfghanistan.

When it was found by the archaeologistCharles Masson during his work inAfghanistan between 1833 and 1838, the casket contained coins of theIndo-Scythian kingAzes II, though recent research by Robert Senior indicates Azes II never existed^[1] and finds attributed to his reign probably should be reassigned toAzes I. The most recent research however (2015) attributes the coins to Indo-Scythian kingKharahostes or his sonMujatria, who minted posthumous issues in the name of Azes.^[2]

The Bimaran reliquary is sometimes dated, based on coinage analysis, to 0–15 CE (Fussman), more generally to 50–60 CE (British Museum), and sometimes much later (2nd century CE), based on artistic assumptions only. It is currently in the collections of theBritish Museum.^[3] The dating of this unique piece of art has a strong bearing on the chronology ofBuddhist art and the creation of theBuddha image, as its advanced iconography implies that earlier forms had probably been existing for quite some time before.

The casket is a small container reminiscent of thePyxis of theClassical world. It was found without its lid. There is a lotus decorating the bottom.^[4]

The casket featureshellenistic representations of the Buddha (contrapposto pose, Greekhimation, bundled hairstyle, wearing amoustache, realistic execution), surrounded by the Indian deitiesBrahma andŚakra, inside arched niches (called "homme arcade", orcaitya) ofGreco-Roman architecture. There are altogether eight figures in high-relief (two identical groups of Brahman-Buddha-Indra, and two devotees orBodhisattvas in-between) and two rows ofrubies fromBadakhshan.^[4]

Owing to their necklace, bracelets, and armbands, andhalo, the two devotees are most probably representations ofBodhisattvas. They hold their hands together in a prayerful gesture of reverence,Añjali Mudrā.^[4]

The casket is made in gold-repoussé and is very small, with a height of 7 cm (2+3⁄4 in). It is considered as a masterpiece of theGreco-Buddhist art ofGandhara.

The Buddha seems to walk sideways. His right forearm goes across his chest to form theAbhaya mudra. His left fist is clenched on his hip. The gown of the Shakyamuni Buddha is quite light compared to that of the other known representations of the standing Buddha (seeStanding Buddha (Tokyo National Museum)), tending to follow the outline of the body, in a rather light way. These are probably the first two layers of monastic clothing theantaravasaka and theuttarasanga, without the heavier overcoat, thesangati, which would only go as low as the knees and be more markedly folded. Also, his gown is folded over the right and left arm (rather than being held in the left hand as in the classical Buddha image), suggesting some kind of scarf-likeuttariya. He has an abundant topknot covering theushnisha, and a simplehalo surrounds his head. This combination of details of the iconography (posture and clothing) is rare and only otherwise known in the coins ofKanishka (c. 150 CE), where they bear the inscription "Shakyamuni Buddha", in apparent contrast to his coins of the "Buddha" where he wears the heavy overcoat. The posture itself is well known in the art of Gandhara in sculptures of the Buddha as a Bodhisattva, but in these cases, he wears the Indian princelydhoti and the royal turban.

The Bimaran casket was kept in asteatite box, with inscriptions stating that it contained some relics of the Buddha. When opened in the 19th century, the box did not contain identifiable relics, but instead some burnt pearls, bead of precious and semi-precious stones, and the four coins ofAzes II.

The inscriptions written on the box are:

The archeological find of theAzes II coins inside the casket would suggest a date between 30 BCE to 10 BCE. Azes II would have employed someIndo-Greek artists in the territories recently conquered, and made the dedication to a stupa. The coins are not very worn, and would therefore have been dedicated soon after their minting. Indo-Scythians are indeed known for their association with Buddhism, as in theMathura lion capital. Such date would make the casket the earliest known representation of theBuddha:

"In the art of Gandhara, the first known image of the standing Buddha and approximatively dated, is that of the Bimaran reliquary, which specialists attribute to the Indo-Scythian period, more particularly to the rule ofAzes II"^[8]

However, several features of the coins are unknown for coins of Azes: theTyche on the reverse, the fact that the king is given the title ofDhramika in theKharoshthi inscription on the reverse, and the fact that the Kharoshthi monograms and symbols used are those of the later Scythian kingKharahostes.^[9]

The latest studies, made in 2015 byJoe Cribb, consider that the coins are issues ofKharahostes, or his sonMujatria.^[2] Many characteristics of the coins of the Bimaran reliquary are consistent with the coinage ofKharahostes (10 BCE–10 CE), a successor to Azes II, who minted many coins in the name of Azes II.^[9]

The four coins in the Bimaran casket are of the same type:tetradrachms of debased silver in the name of Azes, in near-new condition.^[7] On the obverse they show a king on a horse to the right with right hand extended, with a three-pellet dynastic mark and a circular legend in Greek.^[7] The legend reads in corrupted Greek WEIΛON WEOΛΛWNIOCAAC (that is, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝΑΖΟΥ) "King of KingsAzes". On the reverse appears a figure ofTyche standing and holding acornucopia, with aKharoshthi legend.^[7] The legend readsMaharajasa mahatasa Dhramakisa Rajatirajasa Ayasa "The Great king followower of theDharma, King of KingsAzes".

Dynastic mark ofKharahostes.

Left image: Dynastic mark (in front of the horse) on the coins of the Bimaran casket,British Museum[2].
Right image: Dynastic mark on a coin ofKharahostes[3].
The coins types and dynastic mark on the coins of the Bimaran casket are characteristic of Kharahostes.

Close-up photographs by theBritish Museum[4] show that the coins do bear the name of Azes, but that they also have the "Three pellets" symbol, which is characteristic of the coinage of Kharahostes, who also often uses the name of Azes on his coinage.^[10] The coin type of the Bimaran coins is also identical to the main coins of Kharahostes (horseman with Tyche).

The name of Kharahostes has also been recently discovered on a silver Buddhist reliquary, found in Shinkot inBajaur (Pakistan). This suggests that Kharahostes was keen on making Buddhist dedications similar to those of the Bimaran reliquary.^[11]

Without adding any redeposition theory, the Bimaran reliquary may therefore have been dedicated during the reign of Kharahostes (10 BCE – 10 CE), and probably at the beginning of his reign since the coins are not worn and where therefore basically new when they were introduced in the casket. This would put the Bimaran casket at 10 BCE, or around the beginning of our era.

TheKushan rulerKudjula Kadphises does use something similar to the three-pellets mark of Kharahostes in just one of his coin types ( on the reverse of the "Laureate head and king seated" type), which has led to suggestions that the coins of the Bimaran casket may be from his reign, and can be dated to approximately 60 CE.^[9] This coin type however has nothing to do with that of the coins of the Bimaran reliquary (which are all "Horseman with Tyche"). Kudjula Kadphises is also not known to have issued Scythian-type coins in the name of Azes.

The three-pellet symbol mark is not known from any other ruler either (apart from the son of KharahostesMujatria),^[12] so that the only remaining possibility seems to beKharahostes or his son, as determined by Joe Cribb in his 2015 study.^[2]

Various disputes have been arising regarding the early date suggested for this first Buddha image.

Prof.Gérard Fussman thinks that the Bimaran reliquary was manufactured in 1–15 CE.^[13] In any case manufacture necessarily took place before 60 CE, which is the latest date considered for the coins.^[14] The Bimaran casket is on display at theBritish Museum (Joseph E. Hotung Gallery), which dates the casket to 60 CE.

Some also date the casket as late as the 2nd century CE based on stylistic assumptions.^[15] Susan Huntington sums up the issue:

"The well-known gold and ruby reliquary found at Bimaran in Afghanistan is generally assigned a date of about the second century AD in spite of the virtually incontrovertible scientific evidence surrounding it that suggests that it was made about the first century BC. The resistance to the early dating of the reliquary is based solely on the assumption that Buddha images were not introduced into the Buddhist artistic repertoire until the early centuries of the Christian era, and therefore that any work that bears an image of the Buddha must be of a comparably late date."^[15]

These disputes stem from the fact that the first representations of the Buddha are generally assumed to be around the 1st century CE or later, about fifty to a hundred years later than the reign of Azes II, under the rule of theKushans. Since the Bimaran casket, with its already advanced Buddhist iconography, was manufactured at the beginning of our era, give or take a few decades, it is highly probably that much earlier images of the Buddha had already been in existence before its creation, going back to the 1st century BCE.

Since the casket already displays quite a sophisticated iconography (Brahma and Indra as attendants, Bodhisattvas) in an advanced style, it would suggest much earlier representations of the Buddha had been current by the time of the deposition of the Bimaran casket (10 BCE – 10 CE), going back to the rule of theIndo-Greeks in the 1st century BCE. The last Indo-Greek kingsStrato II andStrato III ruled until around 20 CE. This view, that Greco-Buddhist art already was flourishing in the 1st century BCE under the sponsorship of Indo-Greek kings, was originally advocated byAlfred A. Foucher and others, although with much less archaeological evidence.

Stylistically, the casket (gold inlaid with precious stone) is also highly consistent with the art of the Scythians, as known for example from theTillya tepe archaeological site in northern Afghanistan. The Tillya tepe treasure is also dated to the 1st century BCE, and also has what could be early representations of the Buddha, such as theTillya Tepe Buddhist coin.

The Bimaran casket also has some similarities with theKanishka casket, which however is of much coarser execution, and securely dated to around 127 CE.

• 
  Another face of the Bimaran casket, featuring a devotee, possibly aBodhisattva
• 
  Detail of the Buddha on the Bimaran casket
• 
  Detail of the Buddha (other angle)
• 
  Vedic deityBrahma on the Bimaran casket.^[a][b]
• 
  Vedic deityIndra on the Bimaran casket.^[c][d]
• 
  Detail ofhamsa goose
• 
  Detail of aBodhisattva (seehalo).^[4]

• Kanishka casket

• Media related toBimaran casket at Wikimedia Commons

• Afghan art
• Ancient Central Asian art
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• Gautama Buddha in art
• Asian objects in the British Museum
• Gold objects
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• History of Jalalabad
• Buddhist reliquaries
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