Hvaramira

Hvaramira was the fourth ruler of Paratarajas. He succeeded his brother Arjuna and ruled areas of modern day Pakistan. He was the youngest son of Yolamira. He ruled for a significant time period before he was succeeded by his son Mirahvara after his death in 175 CE.

Coinage

Hvaramira's coins can be categorized into three groups. The only exception is the distinctive di-drachm; all of the remaining coins are drachms and no fractional coins of any type have been identified. The drachms from group one, being coins seventeen and eighteen, were likely among the earliest coins and reused the initial die for the production of coin sixteen, the Arjuna die. The first drachm from group two has a closely related style of bust to the Arjuna die from coin sixteen namely, horizontal stripes on the chest but uses a different die.

However, the letter style used on coin twenty is generally primitive compared to the letter styles on coin sixteen. For example, the bottom curve of the letter "ta" on coin twenty is nearly flat compared to the similar bottom curve on coin sixteen. Similar letter styles are found on the didrachm, so it seems logical to place coin nineteen with coin twenty. The Pärata essentially crowned the king after he assumed his position as king, or if the coins were merely meant to honor some king's victory. That might explain why there is a lack of di-drachms from each of the kings; therefore, it stands to reason that several kings lacked di-drachm coinage due to not issuing any during his reign.

Coin 22 denotes a change in the style of letter creation (also shaped by the artist) and is the last of a group of four coins that are classified together on the same basis of style. Both of these coins contain the father's name spelled Yolamira. The use of this die by the successor Mirahvara is what also provides us with the information that this coin belongs at the end of Hvaramira's reign. The similarity in letter formation further strengthens the belief that 21 belongs late in Group 2. Etymology The word Hvaramira uses two different roots mira (Mithra) and the new root hvara. The new root hvara is tied to the "glory of the sun." The word hvara likely has some similarity to the Iranian khvareno. As Rosenfield put it, Khvarenah is considered to be "a supernatural gift that can take the form of fire, part of the overall bright heavenly light that all gods share, and that lights the way of a great prince." The personification of Khvarenah in the Kushan religion is called Pharro. Therefore, the name Harva can also be translated as "Mithra the glorious."