Indian Palaeography c13.s2.t1.6

c13.s2.t1.6

The majority of the coins fall into series II and III. The second series includes some of the coins of the Yaudheyas, the coins of the Arjunāyanas, the earlier issues of Kauśāmbī, some of the coins of Mathura local rulers, and the coins of Kanauj, of Tripurī, and of Upagoda and Upātikya. In these cases the angularity of the letters is well established and round forms of *ga*, *śa*, and *ta* are usual. In the palaeography of these coin legends we clearly recognize how great was the influence of the Indo-Greek coinage. Their dates must lie in the first century B.C. The third series of the coins is well defined at Mathura, where the local series is succeeded by the Śaka Kshatrapa issues. The Kshatrapa coins show two marked features: (i) equalization of the two verticals in letters such as *sa*, *sha*, *ha*, *pa*, *gha*, and *la*, and (ii) thickening of the top heads. The top flourish in medial *i* is also remarkable. These features are also noticeable in the coins of the Kuṇindas, the Pañchālas, the Vṛishṇis, and the Audumbaras, in the later issues of Kauśāmbī, and in the coins discovered at Almora and Ayodhya. These coins should be attributed to the first century A.D. Some of the still later coins of Kauśāmbī, like that of Dhanadeva, and of Ayodhya, must have been issued after the Kushāṇas.