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The ancient city of Barikot/Bazira is located in the Swat Valley (Uddiyana) in present-day northern Pakistan. The excavations of the Italian Archaeological Mission over 23 seasons (1984–2021) have yielded 469 coin finds, catalogued and analysed within the framework of a project supported by the Austrian Academy of Sciences. These finds cover a time-span from the 3rd century BCE to the 10th century CE, representing coinages of different periods: Mauryan, Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian, Kushan, Kushano-Sasanian, Turk-Shahi, Hindu-Shahi, etc.
What makes this complex of coin finds so significant is the meticulous recording of their stratigraphic contexts. The radio-carbon dating of Barikot’s archaeological phases has made it possible to roughly determine the time-span of each currency’s circulation in the region. In addition, a comparison of this assemblage with other finds from Uddiyana and adjacent areas provides a clear picture of monetary circulation in the Indo-Iranian borderlands in ancient and early mediaeval times.
