The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c18.s2: (2) Harigupta
The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c18.s2
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(2) Harigupta
c18.s2.1
Harigupta is known from his copper coins only. Till recently, only one copper coin of this ruler was known, preserved in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. In 1955, however, I noticed a few more coins of this ruler in the collection of Mr. J. Das of Allahabad. Mr. Das was the Manager of the Court of Wards in U. P. and collected most of his coins from Ramnagar and the adjoining area. The solitary coin in the Indian Museum also hails from the same provenance.
c18.s2.2
The question of the identity of Harigupta is not easy to settle. His name suggests Gupta affiliation and one of his types, the Chhatra one, is in close imitation of the same type of the Imperial Guptas. But his gold coins have not yet come to light; it is therefore likely that he was a local ruler in Uttara-Pañchāla (Rohilkhand) ruling over a petty kingdom and not a scion of the Imperial Gupta dynasty.
c18.s2.3
Hari is no doubt a synonym for Kṛṣṇa and it is possible to argue that Harigupta of the copper coins may be identical with Kṛṣṇagupta, the founder of the Later Gupta Dynasty of Magadha. The find-spot of his coins would not, however, favour this view. The sway of the Later Guptas never extended to Pañchāla. Harigupta has also to be distinguished from Harirāja, whose copper plate was discovered in Banaras in 1942.¹
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¹ *Pr. of the 12th Oriental Conference*, Banaras, p. 590.
c18.s2.5
According to Jain tradition, Toramāṇa, who had his Indian headquarters at Pavaiyya on the Chenab, had a preceptor named Harigupta, who himself was a scion of the Gupta family.² This preceptor may well have been his political adviser rather than spiritual guide. The findspot of the coins of Harigupta in northern Pañchāla would suggest the possibility of the identity of Harigupta, the adviser of Toramāṇa, with Harigupta of these coins. If such was the case, we may regard Harigupta as a scion of a local Gupta family in northern Pañchāla, who had made a common cause with the Hūṇa invader. No definite identification, however, can be proposed in the present state of our knowledge. The palæography of his coins shows a survival of the eastern form of *ha* on the Kalaśa (Vase) type and his Chhatra type closely imitates that type of Chandragupta II; it may therefore be presumed that Harigupta could not have flourished later than the first half of the 6th century A. D.
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² *J.B.O.R.S.*, XIV. 28.
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Harigupta issued copper coins in two types, Chhatra and Kalaśa. We now proceed to describe them.
c18.s2.8
(2) Copper; .8"; 78 grains; J. Das's collection. *Obv:* King standing to l., r. hand raised up, l. hand resting on hip; attendant behind holding umbrella; its staff can be seen above the r. shoulder of the king. No traces of any inscription. *Rev:* Upper half : Garuḍa, probably with out-stretched wings; lower half: the legend in two lines, *Maha(ā)-rāja-śra(ī) Hara(i)ga(u)pta*; *ha* is of western form. (Pl. XIXA. 2)
c18.s2.9
There is another coin of this type in the collection of Mr. Das, but it is very much blurred. Its weight is 85 grains.
c18.s2.10
This is a new type of Harigupta, not so far published any where. It is a copy of the Chhatra type of the copper coins of Chandragupta II; see Pl. XVI. 10. In both cases the obverse has standing figures of the king and the umbrella-bearer but no circular legend. The reverse of both has Garuḍa in the lower half. The only difference is that the legend on the coins of Chandragupta II is shorter and in one line, while that on the coins of Harigupta is longer and in two lines. This difference is probably due to the difference in size of the two types.
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KALAŚA (VASE) TYPE
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Copper; .6"; 41 grains; Indian Museum, Calcutta. *Obv:* Flower vase (*kalaśa*) on a pedestal.¹ *Rev:* Legend in two lines; [Śrī]mahara[ja] [Ha]riguptasya. (Pl. XIXA. 3)
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¹ Cunningham takes this to be the Buddha's bowl on a pedestal; C.M.I., p. 19.
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The letter *ha* in line 1 is of the eastern variety. This type also recalls one of the copper types of Chandragupta II (Pl. XVI. 20). The vase on the present coin is on a pedestal, that on the coins of Chandragupta II is on the ground. The inscription on the present coin is in two lines and gives the royal title of Harigupta. The legend on the coins of Chandragupta II consists only of two letters *Cha* and *ndra*. Probably this abbreviation is due to the fact that the coins of the Vase type of Chandragupta II are much smaller than those of Harigupta.
c18.s2.15
There are two coins of this type in the collection of Mr. J. Das also. The obverse of one is completely blurred, but that of the other shows the vase on the stand fairly well. The reverse has the usual legend in two lines, as on the coin illustrated above. Their weights are 59 and 49 grains respectively.