The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c18.s3: (3) Harikānta (?)
The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c18.s3
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(3) Harikānta (?)
c18.s3.1
In *J.A.S.B.*, 1894, p. 195, Pl. VI. 15, V. A. Smith has published a silver coin in the cabinet of Dr. Hoey, which he has attributed to a king named Harikānta. The findspot of this coin is not known, but it is not unlikely that it was obtained along with the remaining two coins published along with it. One of the latter is a coin of the Maukhari ruler Śarvavarman and on the other the king's name has not been preserved.
c18.s3.2
The legend on this coin has not been well preserved. Its portion on the right side is illegible. From VI the letters *śri-hara(i)* are clear. What follows is a distinct *ka* followed by another letter, which has been read as *nta* by Smith, but which can also be a *pta*. The following four letters are *vajayata*, being part of the concluding portion *divam jayati*. The letter preceding *va*, however, is not *di* or *da* but looks like *pta* or *nta*. The legend is carelessly engraved. If we take the letter before *va* as *nta*, then we expect it to be preceded by *gu* and not by ka, as is actually the case. So it is only by assuming that there is a mistake in engraving that we can assign this coin to Harigupta written as Harikapta. If this assumption were correct, we can suggest that this Harigupta is the same as Harigupta of the copper coins discussed above.
c18.s3.3
This however seems unlikely. The reading Harikānta is also not free from difficulty; for the last letter looks more like a pta than a nta, but nta is not impossible. We may therefore tentatively assume that the king's name is Harikānta.
c18.s3.4
Harikānta (?) seems to have been a fairly early ruler, not much later than 500 A. D. On the obverse in front of the king's face there is a date, which has been conjectured as 166 by Smith. If this were a correct reading, Harikānta (?) would have been a contemporary of Budhagupta. The numerals are truncated and the reading is quite uncertain.
c18.s3.5
We shall now describe the coin.
c18.s3.6
Silver; .6"; weight not recorded; Hoey's Collection. *Obv:* Head of the king to right; ear very large; date in front of the face; numerals truncated and illegible. *Rev:* Fan-tailed peacock to left. Circular legend, beginning at XII, *Viji......*, at VI *Śri-Harikānta(or pta) vajayata*. (Pl. XIX A. 5)