Soter Mega Coin Portfolio Album

In the third century B.C., the Yueh-Chihs, a loose confederation of Indo-European people, belonged to the pastoral nomad state of what is now Inner Mongolia.  This nomadic hord were the members of the Xiongnu confederacy.  They were China's main rivals during the Han period.  The earliest Great Wall of China was built to defend the territory the Han had captured from Xiongnu.    After the falling out of Yueh Chihs with the confederacy, they split off and fled to Bactria (northwest Afghanistan and Tajikistan) around 135 B.C. Gradually wresting control of the area from the Scytho-Parthians, the Yueh Chihs moved south into the northwest Indian region traditionally known as Gandhara (now parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan) and established a capital near Kabul. Though China made several attempts to woo them as their natural allies, Yue-Chihs rejected the offer of returning to Xiongnu.   The Yueh-Chih nobles intermarried, creating several powerful clans.  They came into contact with the Greek