Page 114 - Acts of Apostle Thomas_Neat
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X 72 AD APOSTLE ST. THOM10A5S MARTYRED : M. M. NINAN
Obv: Vasudeva in tall helmet, holding a scepter, and making an offering over an altar. Legend in Kushan
language and Greek script (with the Kushan letter "sh"):
"Shaonanoshao Bazodeo Koshano": "King of kings, Vasudeva the Kushan".
Rev: oesho, a conflation of Zoroastrian Vayu and Hindu Shiva, holding a trisula scepter, with the
bull Nandi. Monogram (tamgha) to the left.
He is reported to have been converted to Hinduism during his reign . It must have been Saivism an early
form of Christianity.
The martyrologist Rabban Sliba dedicated a special day to both the Indian king, his family, and St
Thomas:
"Coronatio Thomae apostoli et Misdeus rex Indiae, Johannes eus filius huisque mater
Tertia" ("Coronation of Thomas the Apostole, and Misdeus king of India, together with his son
Johannes (thought to be a latinization of Vizan) and his mother Tertia") Rabban Sliba (Mario
Bussagli, "L'Art du Gandhara", p255)
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