The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c13.s9.7

c13.s9.7

On the obverse of this type, we see the king feeding a peacock,¹ the mount of Kārtikeya, whose figure appears on the reverse. The obverse legend is not yet possible to decipher completely. It begins with *Jayati svaguṇair*²*guṇa*³ and ends with *Mahendrakumāraḥ*; ‘Victorious is Mahendrakumāra, by his own merits....’ The reverse shows Kārtikeya,⁴ seated on his mount peacock holding a *śakti* (spear) in his left hand and apparently scattering something by his right hand upon an object which looks like an altar.