The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c16.s7.6

c16.s7.6

When the Gunaighar plate disclosed the existence of a king named Vainyagupta, Dr. D. C. Ganguli was the first to propose that the coins in question should be attributed to Vainyagupta.⁴ When once such a name as Vainyagupta was disclosed, the reading of the legend under the arm presented no doubt or difficulty. The so-called crescent over the first letter was clearly a *mātrā* for medial *ai*, and the letter itself was *va* rather than *cha*; the lower letter could stand for a *nya* as well as *ndra*. It is thus clear that the issuer was Vainyagupta and not Chandragupta.