The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c17.s1: 1. Symbols
The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c17.s1
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1. Symbols
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The term ‘symbol’ is conventionally used to denote a small geometric type of drawing occurring on the reverse of Gupta coins¹ and consisting of a circle or parallelogram, usually hanging down from a line with a number of prongs or dots above it. Some early writers like Smith had used the term monogram to denote this drawing, as it bears a striking resemblance to the monograms occurring on the Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian coins, where they are obvious combinations of Greek or Kharoshṭhī letters. It is, however, hardly possible to interpret any symbol on the Gupta coins as a combination of Gupta letters. We therefore prefer to call this drawing a symbol.
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¹ According to Smith, coin No. 688 of the Bodleian Collection, which is a Standard type coin of Samudragupta, has [Figure: symbol] on the reverse and [Figure: symbol] on the obverse (J.R.A.S., 1889, p. 30). This is the only Gupta coin having a symbol on the obverse, and it may have been due to a mistake of the engraver.
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It may be stated at the outset that the symbols occur only on gold coins, and never on silver or copper ones. There is usually one symbol on a coin, though on the coins of the early emperors like Chandragupta I and Samudragupta, a second one also makes its appearance on about 15% of their issues. The second symbol is usually simpler in composition, cf. ∧, ∧, Δ. This practice survived on some rare varieties of the Archer type of Chandragupta II, but was later given up. The usual place for the symbol is the upper left corner of the reverse; the second symbol, when engraved, occupies the upper right corner. If the place of the symbol is usurped by an object in the hand of the deity, it is sometimes shifted to the middle of the coin, lower down, as on the coins of Kācha (Pl. IV. 1-4) and on the Apratigha type of Kumāragupta I (Pl. XIV. 1-3). The shifting of the symbol to the upper right corner on the Rhinoceros-slayer type of Kumāragupta I (Pl. XIII. 3-5) was an unusual procedure. In several cases, however, the symbol was dropped altogether, when it was not possible to accommodate it in its proper place. Thus, for instance, the top of the sūchi and the crescent-topped banner trespass on the usual place of the symbol in the Aśvamedha and Tiger-slayer types (Pl. III. 6-8, 13-14) of Samudragupta; it is, therefore, dropped altogether from them. Lotus or bunch of grapes in the hand of the goddess renders the engraving of the symbol difficult in its usual place in several types like Couch type, var. A, of Chandragupta II (Pl. IX. 1), King and Queen (Pl. XIV. 4) and Elephant-rider (Pl. XII. 14-15) types of Kumāragupta I and most of his varieties of the Horseman type (Pls. X-XI); it is, therefore, omitted altogether there. Symbol does not make its appearance on the Lyrist type, Var. A, of Samudragupta (Pl. III. 15-16) and on several coins of the Horseman type of Chandragupta II (Pl. VIII. 3-5), though its place is empty there. This procedure can be explained perhaps on the assumption that the artists, who engraved these dies, had an aversion for symbols.
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In the earlier reigns, however, symbols usually exercised a great fascination over the Gupta artists, who introduced several varieties of them. In the later reigns the diversity of symbols disappears with the diversity of types.
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After making a close and exhaustive study of the problem published elsewhere,¹ the present writer has come to the conclusion that the symbols do not appear to have possessed any particular significance. The symbols on the Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian coinage are usually combinations of Greek or Kharoshṭhī letters. Such is not the case either with the Kushāṇa or the Gupta symbols. Gondopharnes had a symbol peculiar to himself; each of the Great Kushāṇa emperors had only one or two symbols upon his coins, which to some extent may be regarded as peculiar to him. But no symbol can be regarded as peculiar to any Gupta king with the only exception of Prakāśāditya. In the case of the early Gupta emperors we have a very large number of symbols associated with each, and many of them are continued by their successors. This circumstance renders the theory of the symbols being associated with particular mint-master also improbable; symbols like ☤, ☥, ☧, etc. persist through several reigns. No mint-master could have lived so long. It is, however, possible that some rare symbols like ☨, ☩, ☪ and ☫, which appear on solitary or rare coins, may be the choice of particular artists. If so, we cannot identify them. The theory of particular symbols being associated with particular mint cities is difficult to prove. There is no evidence to connect a particular symbol with a particular city. Some coins have two symbols; were they partly minted in one city and partly in another? Smith's theory² that the symbols had some religious significance does also not appear as a probable one. The goddesses on the coins of Chandragupta I and Chandragupta II are most probably Durgā and Lakshmī respectively, but they have no Śaiva and Vaishṇava symbols associated with them. Kārtikeya type was certainly issued in honour of that deity; but it bears no Śaiva symbol. Śaṅkha and chakra sometimes appear in the field, but not as, or in the place of, symbols.
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¹ Altekar, A.S., *Catalogue of Gupta Gold Coins in the Bayana Hoard*, pp. cxxxi-cli.
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² *J.R.A.S.*, 1889, p. 33.
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Nor can the symbols be regarded as auspicious signs, because none of them is known as such either to tradition or to literature. It may be added that Svastika, lotus or conch, which are known to be auspicious, do not occur on Gupta coins among their symbols.
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It has been argued¹ that the symbols may denote the total number of coins of a particular type issued in a particular mint operation by conventional signs, a line denoting 20 and a dot one. There is no evidence for this assumption. If it were true, the Archer type of Chandragupta II, issued in mass quantity, should have had most complex symbols; but such is not the case. The symbol on the unique Chakravikrama type ⁙ ⟐ would suggest that eighty-three coins were issued in the mint operation; why should we have got only one specimen of it so far?
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¹ J.N.S.I., XI, p. 111.
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Nor can we regard the symbols as giving the date of issue by some conventional numbers. Dates of issue, when given on the silver coins, use the well known Gupta numerals and not any conventional ones. It is also doubtful whether dates were given on any Kushāṇa or Gupta gold coins.
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The Kushāṇa gold coinage shows only a few symbols, ♜, ☙, ♜, ♜, ♜, ♜. It appears most probable that the early Gupta mint-masters regarded these symbols on their prototype as merely decorative elements which they were free to diversify in any artistic way they liked. This theory alone can explain the following divergence in the symbols :—
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Chandragupta I issued coins probably for a short period and yet there are eight symbols on his coins. On the coins of Samudragupta, there are about 25 different symbols; on those of Chandragupta II their number increases to about 40.
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Early Gupta emperors had issued several types, varieties and sub-varieties of gold coins, but particular symbols do not appear to be associated with particular types and varieties. The coins of the Archer type of Samudragupta are very few, and yet they show two different symbols 屮 and 🜲. In the Archer type, class II, var. E, of Chandragupta II, there are 18 coins, but five different symbols. There are only five coins of the Couch type of Chandragupta II and they show two different symbols. It is only in the case of var. C of the Standard type of Samudragupta that we see one and the same symbol 🜳 throughout.
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During the reign of Kumāragupta I, a tendency arose to discourage diversity in the forms of symbols. His Archer type was issued in mass quantity, and yet the symbols it shows are only half a dozen.
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Out of the seven varieties of the Horseman type, only two, class II, vars. B and D show the symbol. It is uniformly one and the same in class II, var. B, viz. ☩; in class II, var. D we have usually 🜴. The variety A of the class II of the Lion-slayer type of this ruler with the legend Sākṣādiva narasiṁhaḥ has one and the same symbol 屮. The coins of the rare types of Kumāragupta I have particular symbols of their own. The Swordsman type has the symbol 🜳 and the Rhinoceros-slayer type 🜲. But these symbols cannot be described as being specially associated with particular types; for the symbol 🜳 occurs not only on the Swordsman type, but also on the Chhatra and Apratigha types. The coins of Skandagupta usually show one of the two symbols, 屮 and 🜲. It is the former of these symbols which alone appears on the coins of Ghaṭotkachagupta, Budhagupta and Kumāragupta II. The coins of Narasiṁhagupta have also this symbol.
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in addition to the cognate one 🜂. The coins of Prakāśāditya show a unique and original symbol 🜄 and none other.
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The reverse with one symbol in the upper left corner is the usual feature on Gupta gold coins. We shall now enumerate below the exceptions.
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1. A symbol occurs on the obverse also of a coin of the Standard type of Samudragupta in the Bodleian collection (No. 688) in addition to a symbol occurring on the reverse. See however the Addenda.
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2. Two symbols occur on the reverse, one in the upper left corner and the other in the upper right one on the following coins:—
(a) Chandragupta I; some coins; (Pl. I. 8).
(b) Samudragupta; the Standard type, about 15% coins.¹
(c) Chandragupta II, Archer type, Class I, var. b, one coin; (Pl. IV. 10).
(d) Kumāragupta I, Horseman type, var. D, some coins; (Pl. IX. 12-13).
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¹ Not illustrated in our plates; see B.M.C., G.D., Pl. I. 1-4; C.C. B.H., I. 14., II. 2.
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3. On the following coin-types, there is no symbol on the reverse, its place being usurped by some other object.
(a) Samudragupta, Aśvamedha type; Pl. III. 6-8.
(b) Samudragupta, Tiger-slayer type; Pl. III. 13-14.
(c) Chandragupta II, Archer type, class II, var. H; Pl. V. 7.
(d) Chandragupta II, Couch type, var. A; Pl. III. 15-16.
(e) Chandragupta II, King and Queen type, Queen’s head occupying the place of the symbol; Pl. IX. 6.
(f) Chandragupta II, Lion-slayer type, a few coins; Pl. VI. 8, 13.
(g) Chandragupta II, half-Dināra; Pl. V. 13.
(h) Kumāragupta I, Lion-slayer type, var. A; Pl. XII. 1.
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(i) Kumāragupta I, Archer type, class III, var. C; Pl. X. 4-5.
(j) Kumāragupta I, Horseman type, class I, vars. A-D, class II, var. A; Pl. X. 11-15, XI. 1-8.
(k) Kumāragupta I, Aśvamedha type; Pl. XIII. 7-10.
(l) Kumāragupta I, King-and-Queen type; Pl. XIV. 4.
(m) Kumāragupta I, Elephant-rider type; Pl. XII. 14-15.
(n) Kumāragupta I, Elephant-rider Lion-slayer type; Pl. XII. 1-2.
(o) Kumāragupta I, Lyrist type; Pl. XIV. 5.
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4. On the following types, there is no symbol, though its place is empty on the coin.
(a) Samudragupta, Lyrist type, var. A; Pl. III. 15-16.
(b) Chandragupta II, Chhatra type, var. B; Pl. VIII. 10.
(c) Chandragupta II, Horseman type, class II, some coins; Pl. VIII. 3, 5.
(d) Chandragupta II, Lion-slayer type, some coins; Pl. VI. 8, 13-14; Pl. VII. 1, 4.
(e) Kumāragupta I, Horseman type, class I, var. C; Pl. X. 14-15.
(f) Kumāragupta I, Kārtikeya (Peacock) type; Pl. XIII. 11-12.
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5. On the following coin-types, the symbol is shifted to the centre of the left side:--
(a) Kācha, var. A; Pl. IV. 1-4.
(b) Kumāragupta I, Lion-slayer type, var. D; Pl. XII. 6.
(c) Kumāragupta I, Apratigha type; Pl. XV. 1-3
(d) Budhagupta, one coin; Pl. XV. 8.
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The symbols occurring on Gupta coins are all shown on Pl. XXVII.