The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c11.s9.1

c11.s9.1

Coins and coin-types in ancient India were to a great extent regional. Provinces which were accustomed to gold, silver or copper currency had to be supplied with the coins of the usual metal and type by the conqueror. When Mālwa, Gujarāt and Kathiāwār were annexed to the Gupta empire by Chandragupta II, he found that his new subjects were accustomed to the use of small silver hemi-drachms. Eventually he had to decide to issue a silver currency of his own, more or less similar to that popularised in Western India by the Kshatrapas, whom he had overthrown. The precise date of the conquest of Mālwa, Gujarāt and Kathiāwār by Chandragupta II is not yet known, but it seem to have been effected late in his reign. At any rate the silver coinage seems to have been sanctioned and introduced towards the end of his long reign. His silver coins are relatively very rare and the earliest date recorded on them seems to be 90 G. E. or 409 A.D. The silver coins are usually found only in Western India, showing thereby that Chandragupta had no idea to introduce the white currency in his home provinces. A silver coin of Chandragupta is no doubt known to have been found at Sultanganj in Bihar. But it was found along with a silver coin of Rudrasena III,¹ whom Chandragupta had overthrown; it is very probable that both these coins may have been brought as mementoes by a Bihārī captain, who had accompanied the expeditionary force in Western India. The silver coin of Chandragupta that Cunningham had acquired at Ayodhyā² was also most probably an imported piece.