The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c7.s1: Types of Gupta Gold Coinage
The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c7.s1
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Types of Gupta Gold Coinage
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The special features and full description of the numerous types of coinage issued by the Gupta emperors will be discussed later, while dealing with the coinage of each emperor. Here we shall, for the sake of ready reference, enumerate the types issued by each of them with brief and general observations about each.
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Mahārājas Gupta and Ghaṭotkacha, the grand-father and father of Chandragupta I, were not rulers of importance, and so they did not issue any coins. The coinage was started by Chandragupta I, perhaps at the time when he assumed the imperial title of Mahārājādhirāja probably towards the end of his reign. The Gupta dominion was at this time a kind of dual kingdom, the share of the Guptas and Lichchhavis being more or less equal. This political circumstance was reflected in the coinage of Chandragupta I, which was confined to a single type, showing the Gupta emperor and his queen on the obverse and mentioning on the reverse the name of the powerful Lichchhavi clan from which his bride hailed.¹ None of the coins of Chandragupta II can be assigned to Chandragupta I, as they all show the biruda (epithet) Vikrama either alone or in combination. There is so far no evidence to show that Chandragupta I also bore this epithet.
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¹ The view that these coins are commemoration medals issued by Samudragupta in memory of his parents is untenable. It will be later discussed when this type is described.
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Bailey had no doubt suggested that some coins of the Indo-Scythian style in his possession may possibly have been issued by Chandragupta I. These coins, however, have not been illustrated and Bailey himself was doubtful about the reading of the legend under the arm as Chandra. The British Museum has two similar coins, which in addition to the disputed legend under the arm, have the legend outside the standard as well. One of these coins has been illustrated in J. A. S. B., 1884, Pl. III. 6. A similar coin has been published by Cunningham, which we reproduce in Pl. I. 5. It will be clear from this specimen that the legend in question is really Bhadra, but that it can be easily mistaken for Chandra. Since Bailey himself was doubtful about the reading of the legend, and since other coins of the type show that it is really Bhadra, there is no evidence to show that Chandragupta had really issued any coins of the Standard type.
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It has been recently suggested by Dr. Chhabra that the unique Standard type coin with the legend *Paramabhāgavata* on the reverse should be attributed to Chandragupta I, rather than to Chandragupta II.¹ His arguments, however, though ingenious, are not convincing. The matter can finally be decided only by the help of further evidence. But the fact that Chandragupta II had used the Standard type for the obverse of his unique Couch type (Pl. IX. 6) tends to show that the solitary coin of the Standard type should be attributed to him, and this conclusion gets further support from the circumstance that so far there is no evidence to show that Chandragupta I had also adopted the title *Paramabhāgavata*. We may therefore well conclude that the coinage of Chandragupta I was confined only to the King-and-the-Queen type.
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¹ *J. N. S. I.*, XI, p. 15.
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Samudragupta, the son and successor of Chandragupta I, had a long reign from *c.* 330 to 370 A. D.; he is known to have issued coins in six different types. Of these the Standard type is the most common. It is a very close copy of the type current in the central Punjab under the Shāka or later Kushāṇa rulers during the 3rd century (Pl. I. 3-4) and shows the king standing left with a standard in left hand and offering sacrifice on an altar in his front by the right. The trident (*triśūla*) of the prototype is, however, replaced by *Garuḍadhvaja*, the imperial insignia of the new house (Pl. I. 14-15).
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An attempt to Indianise this type is to be seen in the Archer and Battle-axe types, which were issued later in the reign. Hindu etiquette did not approve of a king becoming his own standard-bearer. The presence of the *Garuḍadhvaja* in front of the king also rendered a banner in his left hand superfluous. It was therefore replaced by a bow and the right hand was shown as holding an arrow instead of throwing incense; the result was the Archer type (Pl. II. 12-14), which remained very popular till the end of the dynasty. In the Battle-axe type (Pl. III. 1-5), the standard was replaced by the battle-axe. This type also shows a dwarf attendant standing before the king, completely accoutred on some specimens. The type appears to be showing His Majesty reviewing the progress of a battle from a point of vantage and receiving a report from or issuing instructions to a soldier arriving from the battle-field with the latest news.
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Kṛitāntaparaśu was an epithet exclusively used of Samudragupta in the Gupta official records, and it is interesting to notice that the Battle-axe type was not continued by any of Samudragupta's successors.
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Samudragupta conceived the idea of proclaiming his hobbies and achievements to his subjects through the instrumentality of his coins and the result was the Tiger-slayer, the Lyrist and the Aśvamedha types of coins. The Tiger-slayer type shows that the emperor was fond of hunting. The coins of this type are rather rare, but they are very beautiful (Pl. III. 13-14). The attitude of the king is very energetic and he is shown wearing the Indian dhoti and jewelry. The Lyrist type shows the emperor passing his rather rare leisure hours in playing on a lute, seated on a couch most probably on the terrace of his Pāṭaliputra palace and in a summer evening, as suggested by his scanty dress (Pl. III. 15-17). The Allahabad pillar inscription claims that Samudragupta excelled Nārada and Tumburu in his musical skill; we should not, therefore, be surprised to find the king ordering the issue of coins proclaiming this hobby of his. The Aśvamedha type (Pl. III. 6-12) proclaims the most spectacular achievement of the emperor. This sacrifice may not have been in real abeyance for a long time, as claimed by the Gupta court panegyrists. But there is no doubt that Samudragupta celebrated it with an unprecedented pomp, and commemorated the occasion by issuing his Aśvamedha coins, which were probably issued primarily for giving presents (dakṣiṇā) to the officiating priests and invited Brāhmaṇas.
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The Lyrist, the Tiger-slayer and the Aśvamedha type coins of Samudragupta rank among the best specimens of ancient Indian numismatic art. R. D. Banerji describes them as ‘freak’ types, but there is no doubt that more careful thought and attention was bestowed in determining the details of these types than those of the Standard, the Archer and the Battle-axe types, which are regarded by Banerji as regular types. It is not clear as to what led Banerji to describe these types as freak ones.¹ It is true that they are rare, but such is also the case with the Archer and the Battle-axe types of the emperor, which are equally scarce. The Aśvamedha type coins are in fact more common than those of the Battle-axe or the Archer type.
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¹ R. D. Banerji, *The Age of the Imperial Guptas*, p. 215—17.
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The goddess seated on a high-backed throne is the most common motif on the reverse of the coins of Samudragupta; it occurs on the Standard and Archer types; it is borrowed from the Kushāṇa prototype (Pl. I. 3-4). Efforts were made to Indianise the type by showing the goddess using a lotus as her foot-stool in the Battle-axe type (Pl. III. 1-2). We find her seated on a wicker stool on the Lyrist type (Pl. III. 15-17). In the Tiger-slayer type, we find her standing on a makara or crocodile (Pl. III. 13-14), and the idea probably was to identify her with the Gaṅgā. The reverse of the Aśvamedha type shows Dattadevī, the crowned queen, with a fly-whisk over her shoulder, ready to attend upon the horse which was to be sacrificed (Pl. III. 6-8).
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The problems connected with the identification of Kācha will be fully discussed when dealing with his coinage. Kācha had a short reign and so his coinage is confined to a single type, —the Chakradhvaja type, showing the king bearing a wheel-topped banner in the left hand and offering sacrifice with the right. The reverse shows a standing goddess, as on the Tiger-slayer type of the preceeding reign. This type of Kācha is not later copied by any other Gupta emperor.
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So far we know of eight types of the gold coinage issued by Chandragupta II. Curiously enough, the Standard type, which was most popular with his father, was very scarcely issued by him; so far only one coin of this type has been found. The Archer type, which was rather rare with Samudragupta, becomes most common with Chandragupta II.
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In the Bayana hoard, out of 983 coins of Chandragupta II, as many as 798 were of this type. In the earlier issues of this type the Goddess was shown as seated on a high-backed throne (Pl. IV. 6-12), as on the later Kushāṇa coins. But soon she was converted into a lotus-seated Lakshmī (Pl. IV. 13-15; V). Great pains were taken to introduce a pleasing variety both on the obverse and reverse of this popular type, to which we have referred already.
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Lion-slayer type is one of the most artistic types of Chandragupta II. Many coins of this class are among the best specimens of Indian art. Here again the mint-masters show great variety in representing the main theme. The lion is sometimes to the right (Pl. VI. 5-6), and sometimes to the left of the king (Pl. VI. 1-4); it is sometimes standing at bay, (Pl. VI. 3-6), sometimes it is being trampled upon by the king (Pl. VI. 9-10). Sometimes it is leaping at the king (Pl. VI. 5), sometimes it is retreating away from him (Pl. VII. 5-7).
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The Horseman and the Chhattra types (Pl. VIII) of Chandragupta are the most common ones among his new types. The former probably shows that Chandragupta was famous as a horseman among his contemporaries, and the latter is intended to proclaim the undisputed imperial position of the issuer by showing him as the only ruler entitled to the use of the imperial umbrella. Couch type of Chandragupta (Pl. IX. 1-5), was probably suggested by the Lyrist type of his father. It is not yet possible to interpret it confidently, but the legend rūpākṛiti contained on one coin of this type (Pl. IX. 1) would suggest that the emperor is engaged in seeing a dramatic performance, while seated comfortably on a couch. The King-and-the-Queen-on-the-couch type is known from two pieces only and refers to a homely scene in the life of the busy emperor (Pl. IX. 6). The Chakravikrama type is known at present from a single specimen found in the Bayana hoard. It does not bear the king’s personal name, but the reverse legend Chakravikrama suggests that the issuer was Chandragupta II. The obverse of this type shows Vishnu with a double halo round his face and a mace in his left hand, bestowing some gift upon the king standing nimbate before him and extending his right hand to receive the divine favour (Pl. IX. 8-9).
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On the reverse of the gold coins of Chandragupta II, there is usually the seated goddess. In the vast majority of cases she is seated on a lotus; in a few cases, however, she continues to occupy the high-backed throne as on the Kushāṇa prototype. On the Horseman type, however, (Pl. VIII. 1-5) she is usually seated on a wicker stool as on the couch type of his father. On the Chhatra type she is sometimes standing to front and sometimes to left, and sometimes walking in the same direction (Pl. VIII. 6-15). On the Lion-slayer type, she is seated on a lion (Pl. VI).
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General observations about the silver and copper coinage of Chandragupta II will be found at the beginning of the sections dealing with those topics.
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Kumāragupta I had a long reign (c. 414—455 A. D.), which was mostly prosperous, and the number of types of his gold coinage is equal to the types issued by his father and grand-father put together. So far he is known to have issued as many as 14 different types and it is not impossible that some more may be discovered. The Archer (Pl. IX. 10-14), the Horseman (Pl. X. 11-15), the Lion-slayer (Pl. XII. 1-10), and the Chhatra (Pl. XIII. 15) types, which were most popular in the preceeding reign, were continued by him. His Chhatra type is, however, very scarce. He revived the Aśvamedha, the Lyrist and the Tiger-slayer types of his grand-father and the King-and-Queen type of his great-grand-father (Pl. XIII. 7-10; Pl. XIV. 5; Pl. XII. 11-13; Pl. XIV. 4). He also introduced several new types. His Kārttikeya type (Pl. XIII. 11-14) is a numismatic homage to the deity after whom he was named; his Swordsman type (Pl. XI. 14-15) is probably due to his being well-known as a swordsman. In the field of sport he devised three new types, the Elephant-rider (Pl. XII. 14-15), the Rhinoceros-slayer (Pl. XIII. 3-6) and the Elephant-rider-Lion-slayer types (Pl. XIII. 1-2). The mystery of the type where he is seen standing with his arms folded on his chest is still unsolved (Pl. XIV. 1-3). For the sake of convenience it was once described as ‘Pratāpa’ type on account of the legend on the reverse; this legend, however, is now seen to be apratigha. We may therefore call it Apratigha type, till its mystery is solved.
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The reverse of the gold coins of Kumāragupta I shows a goddess, except in the case of the Kārttikeya type, where we see that deity at that place, and in the Aśvamedha type, where we find the crowned queen standing with a chourī, ready to attend on the horse. The goddess is usually seated on lotus,¹ but she is sometimes to be seen seated on a wicker stool, and in some cases engaged in feeding a peacock, as on the Horseman, the Tiger-slayer and the Elephant-rider-Lion-slayer types. The Lion-slayer type follows the old tradition and represents the goddess on the reverse as seated on lion. On the Elephant-rider type the goddess is standing to front.
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¹ This is the case on the Archer, the Swordsman and the Apratigha types.
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The types of the silver coinage of Kumāragupta I will be found discussed in Chap. IX.
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There was considerable trouble towards the end of the reign of Kumāragupta I. There was the Hūṇa invasion, which shook the empire to its foundations and must have drained its treasury. The financial stringency, however, did not induce Kumāragupta I to issue adulterated gold coins. But it compelled him to sanction the issue of silver-plated copper pieces as silver coins.
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The decline in the fortune of the Gupta empire, that started with the accession of Skandagupta, is perhaps responsible for the absence of that pleasing variety of types, which we noticed in the coinage of his great predecessors. The earlier view that his gold coins are heavily adulterated is now shown to be wrong. Why he should have increased the weight of his gold coins to about 140 grains is a mystery. Possibly he wanted to revive the national *suvarṇa* standard.
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Only two types were issued by Skandagupta in large numbers. One of them was the Archer type, so popular in the two previous reigns. The other was his numismatic novelty, where we find Goddess Lakshmī, probably offering him the sovereignty of his empire, as described in one of his inscriptions. The unique coin of the Bayana hoard of the Chhattra type with the *biruda* Kramāditya is probably his issue. The same is most probably the case with the solitary coin of the Horseman type, bearing the legend *Kramājitaḥ* or *Kramādataḥ*.
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The types of the silver coins of Skandagupta will be found discussed in Chap. X.
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Most of the successors of Skandagupta confined themselves to a single type, viz, the Archer type. Such is the case with Budhagupta, Narasiṃhagupta, Kumāragupta II, Viṣṇugupta and Vainyagupta. The coins of all these rulers are in base gold, though they weigh about 144 grains. Only Prakāśāditya among the later Gupta rulers issued *suvarṇa* standard coins in pure gold. The type he had selected was the Horseman-Lion-slayer type.