Indian Palaeography c13.s2.t1.1

Language: English

c13.s2.t1.1.1

We will begin our study with the palaeography of the coins (Pl. V *a, b*). Allan was the first numismatist to make a detailed study of the palaeography of the Brāhmī coin legends. His chronological scheme is taken for granted by others. But it is clear from a perusal of his *Catalogue of the Coins of Ancient India* that his study was influenced by factors other than palaeography. When no other evidence was available he fell back on the style of writing. No systematic attempt was made by him to analyse the letters. He dated some coins to the third century B.C. merely because their script resembled Aśokan Brāhmī. But, as we have seen, no reliance can be placed on such apparent resemblance. Similarly, Rapson, while illustrating a plate of early Persian and Indian coins countermarked with Brāhmī letters, assigned them to the fourth or fifth century B.C. on the evidence of the original coins, but coins by their very nature have a longer span of life than is usually believed. When was the countermarking with Brāhmī letters started? What is the meaning of the word 'countermarking' as applied to these coins? A close examination shows that the word here does not mean 'putting a new symbol on the coins', usually assumed to be the mark of the money-changers or the mint-masters. In these cases the letters are stamped on the old figures and thus the latter are partly defaced. This practice was possible only after the original coin-figures had ceased to be recognizable.

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Even if this assumption is not accepted we have to take into account all the coins illustrated by Rapson. The plate includes six of the debased silver coins of the rectangular variety which are also countermarked in the same fashion. The date of countermarking must be later than the time when these issues were current, as this practice is limited to a few coins and not to be seen at any later time. This fact makes the date considerably later than that given by Rapson. If we look to the palaeography, if it can be relied upon at all, the letter-forms are highly suggestive. We find here two forms of *ya*, the crescentic, in which the verticals are equalized, as 𑀬, and the double-curved, in which the medial *o* is one horizontal line, as 𑀬𑁄 (*yo*); while *pa* has its short vertical drawn at an angle, *va* and *kha* still retain the round forms; but *ga* has the rounded form of the later time. These letter-forms agree with those occurring in the coins of Agathocles and Pantaleon. Hence there cannot be much difference in time between the countermarking and these Indo-Greek issues. In these cases fine workmanship is a clear contrast to the poor lettering on the Negama coins of Taxila. But the Negama coins are not a later degeneration of the Greek issues, because the Greek coins imitate not only the square shape but also the incuse-stamping of the local issues.

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This was done only to maintain the continuity of the local currency, and proves the earlier date of the Negama coins, which must be placed in the earlier half of the second century B.C. The study of these coins makes it clear how poor was the local craftsmanship of letter-cutting for coins. It was the influence of Greek writing and Greek technicians that gave a new face to Indian Brāhmī. Similar poor workmanship is seen in the coins of Kāḍa, probably found in the Punjab. These coins, which are round as well as square, are cast. In two of the pieces¹ the letter *sa* of the legend is reversed and shown as [Figure:] instead of [Figure:]. These coins may also be assigned to the later half of the second century B.C. Similar lettering is found in the earliest issues of the Yaudheyas, who continued their coinage still later, and then stopped to begin again after the Kushāṇas. Farther down in South-east Malwa we have another series of inscribed coins from Eran, the ancient Airikiṇa, spelt in the coins as ‘Erakanya’. Three coins bearing this placename have been published, one by Rapson² and two by Cunningham.³ In Rapson’s coin the letters are written one below the other, while in Cunningham’s coins they are written on the top margin from left to right. A fourth coin inscribed with the legend *dhama-pālasa* (published by Allan) has been the subject of hot discussion. This coin also shows an animal (a horse?—not described by Allan) just as the other coins.

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Here the legend is arranged on three sides of the coin, but all the letters are reversed and hence the writing appears to be from right to left. But it is clear from the coin that it was not done intentionally. Even the animal appears to be in reverse and is hence difficult to identify. A similar blunder of a reversed legend is seen in a coin of Sātakarṇi.⁴ The lettering in all these coins, which are either cast or die-struck, is of the same crude type. In no case can they be dated earlier than the issues of Kāḍa. The earliest issues of Mathura may also go back to this period, but the letters are very blurred and no definite conclusion can be reached.