Vasudeva I who issued coins in gold (dinars and quarter dinars) and copper (single denomination) was a _________king.

Correct — D. Vasudeva I was the last of the great Kushana kings, following Kanishka and Huvishka in the dynasty's line.

The coinage described is the identifying mark. The Kushanas struck gold dinars and quarter dinars alongside copper, and were the first dynasty to issue gold coins in India on a large scale.

Vasudeva I's own coins carry Shiva with the bull on the reverse, an Indian deity on a Central Asian dynasty's gold — a combination no other option in the question produces → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Shunga — The Shungas followed the Mauryas in Magadha in the 2nd century BCE and are remembered for Pushyamitra Shunga and the railings at Bharhut and Sanchi, not for a gold coinage.
• (b)
  Shaka — The Shakas, the Western Kshatrapas of Ujjain and Gujarat, are known for their dated silver coins and for Rudradaman I's Junagadh rock inscription rather than for gold dinars.
• (c)
  Vakataka — The Vakatakas ruled the Deccan from Vindhyashakti onwards and are remembered for their patronage at Ajanta. They belong to the Gupta age, later than Vasudeva I, and issued no dinar coinage of this kind.

The Kushanas came out of the Yuezhi movement into north-western India and built an empire running from Central Asia to the Gangetic plain.

Their coinage is the most quoted fact about them. Gold begins under Vima Kadphises and continues through Kanishka, Huvishka and Vasudeva I, and the coins carry Greek, Iranian and Indian deities side by side — the clearest surviving evidence of how mixed the empire's culture was.

By Vasudeva I's reign the Indian element dominates: an Indian royal name, and Shiva and the bull on the reverse of the gold.

Key facts

• Vasudeva I was a Kushana ruler, usually placed as the last of the dynasty's major kings.
• Kushana gold coins were called dinaras, a name derived from the Roman denarius.
• The Kushanas issued gold coins in India on a large scale, with Greek, Iranian and Indian deities on their types.
• Kanishka, the best-known Kushana ruler, is linked to the fourth Buddhist council and to the Gandhara and Mathura schools of art.

Common traps

• Reading the Indian name Vasudeva as proof of an Indian dynasty, when Kushana kings adopted Indian names and Indian deities.
• Confusing the Kushana dinara with the Gupta gold coin, also called a dinara, which comes later.

No directly related past PYQ was found.