The third Kushān king, Wima Kadphises (reigned about 113-27), reformed the monetary system, minting gold coins in south Asia for the first time. The coinage followed the Roman imperial standard, reflecting Kushān’s close trade links with the Mediterranean world.

The imagery on Kushān coins provides crucial information about the religious ideology of Kushān kingship. Although they depict a wide range of deities who are superficially identifiable from their attributes as Greek, Indian or Roman, the pantheon is essentially Iranian and linked to the Zoroastrian faith. In the elaborate coins issued by Wima, he is shown with the club of the Greek hero Heracles. This emphasises his divine right to rule, as do the flames emanating from his shoulders. The king is also shown as an acolyte (religious attendant), seated on a rocky mountain, his unclean left hand covered, in accordance with Iranian religious practice.

On the reverse, an inscription identifies the god standing in front of a bull as Oesho. He is a manifestation of the Iranian Vayu, the wind that blows in ‘the upper regions’. Oesho also holds a trident, a feature which indicates he is a harbinger of Śiva, the great Hindu god.