Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c27.16

c27.16

§ 126. Cola. - - The coins all belong to the period during which the Colas were becoming, or had become, the paramount power in S.India. They fall into two classes:—(1) before c. 1022 A.D. the beginning of the reign of Rājarāja Cola. These coins show that the Cola power was already becoming supreme: they bear the Cola emblem, the tiger, in the centre with the Pāṇḍya and Cera emblems (fish and bow) on either side of it. The coin-legends, in Sanskrit characters, give the names or titles of Cola sovereigns; but they have not, as yet, been identified beyond dispute with those occurring in the dynastic lists (**Plate V, 13**); (2) after c. 1022 A.D. With the reign of *Rājarāja* comes a coinage of an entirely new type — *obv.* King standing: *rev.* King seated (**Plate V, 14**). This type spread with the extension of Cola power over a great portion of Southern India. Its use was established in Ceylon, as a result of the Cola occupation of the island, and was continued by the independent Rājas of Kandy (v. inf. § 127).