Indian Epigraphy c16.s8.44

c16.s8.44

In Tamil inscriptions, the coins called *Kāśu* and *Māḍai* (the same as *Māḍa* of the Telugu epigraphs) are very often mentioned, sometimes in association with various names as in *Sambirānippalaṅ-gāśu*, *Rājarājaṅ-māḍai*, *Bhujabala-māḍai*, *Madhurāntakaṅ-māḍai*, etc.¹ An inscription² of 1030 A.D. equates one *Rājarājaṅ-māḍai* (i.e. *Māḍai* issued by the Coḻa king Rājendra I, 985-1014 A.D.) with 1 1/8 *Kaḻañju* of gold, while another epigraph³ speaks of one unspecified *Māḍai* as equal to 1 3/4 *Kaḻañjus*. Similarly two other inscriptions⁴ of the 11th century equate one *Kaḻañju* of gold respectively with two *Kāśus* and one and six-twentieth *Kāśus*. The basis of the Tamil weight system was the *Mañjāḍi* which was regarded by medieval authors as 1/20th of a *Kaḻañju* and equal to two *Ratis* of the North and has been equated with 4 grains in Wilson’s *Glossary*.⁵ The equation of the *Māḍai* and *Kāśu* with the *Kaḻañju* weight of gold in the above epigraphs shows that they were gold coins though there was difference either in the weight or in the metalic purity amongst different varieties of both the coins.⁶ About the beginning of the 19th century, *Kāśu* (spelt Cash in English) was a small copper coin, 80 of which were taken as equal to a small silver coin called Paṇam (spelt Fanam in English), a name derived from Sanskrit Paṇa which was originally a copper coin weighing 80 Ratis (146.4 grains).¹ In the medieval period, Paṇam was the name of a small gold coin about 6 grains in weignt,² and was regarded sometimes as 1/16 of a Hūn or Varāha, called Pagoda or Star Pagoda in English and weighing about 50 grains.³ Ceylonese coins were called Iḷa-kkāśu in Tamil records and Chinese gold currency as Cīna-kkanakam.⁴ The standard coin of the Koṅgu country in the north-western part of the Tamil-speaking area and in Kerala was called Accu which is supposed to have been a gold coin, one Kaḻañju in weight. In an inscription⁵ of 1156 A.D., one Accu is equated with 9 1/4 Kāśus, Kāśu probably indicating a silver coin in this case. Inscriptions of the Koṅgu country mention various kinds of Accus such as Ānai-accu, Nall-ānai-accu, Paḻamudal-accu, Paḻañjalāgai-accu, Paduccalāgai-accu, Amudan-accu, Uṇḍi-accu, etc., with reference, in some cases, to the deviation from the standard fineness of their gold content. The word ānai suggests that the coins in question originally bore the representation of an elephant.⁶