The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c18.s6.7

c18.s6.7

The identity of king Samāchāra eluded the scholars for a long time, because he was not known from any other sources till *c.* 1909. J. Allan, who read the reverse legend as *Narendrāditya*, was half inclined to identify Samāchāra with Śaśāṅka, because according to Buhler, *Narendrāditya* was another name or *biruda* of that king.³ Bhattasali agreed with the view that *Narendrāditya* was Śaśāṅka, but thought that Samāchāradeva was possibly the father⁴ of Śaśāṅka. This is a difficult view to accept because the type would then be a joint one. Joint coinage is not known in the Gupta age. Hoernle thought that the ruler might be Narasimhagupta II.⁵ The most fatal objection against identifying this ruler either with Śaśāṅka or with Narasimhagupta is the circumstance that the vertical legend on the obverse indicated the personal name in the Gupta numismatic tradition, and so the personal name of the issuer will have to be taken as Samāchāra and not Śaśāṅka.