Indian Epigraphy c16.s8.68

c16.s8.68

revenue-income of land in *Kapardaka-purāṇas*,¹ in which *kapardaka* means ‘a cowrie-shell’ and *purāṇa* the old silver coin 32 *Ratis* in weight, also called *Kārṣāpaṇa*. The expression *kapardaka-purāṇa* apparently means a *Purāṇa* counted in *Kapardakas*. This is because the Senas and other early medieval rulers of the Bengal region did not issue any coin and the transactions were carried on mostly in cowrie-shells. In the late medieval period, 80 cowries were usually regarded as equal to one *Paṇa* and 16 *Paṇas* as equal to one *Kāhaṇa* (Sanskrit *Kārṣāpaṇa*).