The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c18.s9.4

c18.s9.4

The attribution of these coins is a matter of some uncertainty. N. K. Bhattasali attributed them to the later Guptas of Magadha.¹ There is a horse on one of these coins (Pl. XIXA. 13). King Ādityasena of this dynasty is known to have performed a horse-sacrifice; he may, therefore, be presumed to have issued coins of this variety. Bhattasali admits that the vast majority of the coins of this type show no horse upon them; but he argues that this is so because they were issued by his successors, who had performed no horse-sacrifice. All these coins, with horse and without horse, undoubtedly belong to the same series, as shown by their type, weight and border of thick dots. N. K. Bhattasali, therefore, thought that the series should be attributed to Ādityasena and his successors of the Later Gupta dynasty of Magadha.