Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s15.t2: 5.15.2 Coin-legends
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s15.t2
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5.15.2 Coin-legends
c25.s15.t2.1
The silver portrait coins with bilingual legends were issued by a succession of Andhra kings from Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvi to Vijaya Sātakarṇi, who ruled from about the end of the 1st century to the beginning of the 3rd century A.D. The coins are in an identical format and depict the bust of the king on the obverse and certain dynastic emblems on the reverse. The legend on the obverse giving the name of the king is in Prakrit written in the well-known Southern Brāhmī script of the period. The legend on the reverse is a literal rendering of the Prakrit legend in Tamil written in the Tamil-Brāhmī script of the Tamil cave inscriptions of the same period (Fig. 5.⁹). Typical of the series are the following two examples:⁷
c25.s15.t2.2
⁷ See Nos. 9 & 10 in Table 1.6. The coin-legends are put together from several specimens.
c25.s15.t2.3
On the coins of Puḷumāvi (see coins 1 & 2 in Fig. 5.⁹):⁸
c25.s15.t2.4
⁸ Coin No. 1: Puḷumāvi. National Museum, New Delhi ( Accession No. 79.423 /1). Coin No. 2: Puḷumāvi. Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies, Anjaneri (Acc. No. 134/1-11).
c25.s15.t2.5
| Obv. (Pkt.) | : | **rāñō vāsiṭhi-putasa siri puḷumāvīsa** |
| Rev. (Ta.) | : | **aracaṉ-ku vāciṭṭi-makaṉ-ku tiru-puḷumāvi-ku** |
| Transl. | : | **Of the King Vāsiṣṭhīputra Śrī Puḷumāvi.** |
c25.s15.t2.6
On the coins of Sātakarṇi (see coins 3 & 4 in Fig. 5.9):⁹
c25.s15.t2.7
⁹ Coin No. 3: Sātakarṇi. National Museum, New Delhi (Acc. No. 74.75/1). Coin No. 4: Sātakarṇi. Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies, Anjaneri (Acc. No. 134/2-6).
c25.s15.t2.8
| Obv. (Pkt.) | : | **rāñō vāsiṭhi-putasa siri sātakaṇisa** |
| Rev. (Ta.) | : | **aracaṉ-ku vāciṭṭi-makaṉ-ku tiru-cātakaṇi-ku** |
| Transl. | : | **Of the King Vāsiṣṭhīputra Śrī Sātakarṇi.** |
c25.s15.t2.9
Remarks on the legends on the reverse:
c25.s15.t2.10
(i) The Tamil expression *makaṉ-ku* is replaced by the hybrid *puta-ku* in the issues of Yajña and Vijaya Sātakarṇi.
c25.s15.t2.11
(ii) The Tamil expression *tiru* is replaced by *ciru* (for *ciri* < Pkt. *siri*) in the above two issues.
c25.s15.t2.12
(iii) On the coin of Siva Siri Puḷumāvi, the name is spelt *purumāvi* (R. Nagaswamy 1985).
c25.s15.t2.13
(iv) The word *vāciṭṭi* is spelt [*vāci*]*ṭhi* in the issue of Vijaya Sātakarṇi.