India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c9.s6.1

c9.s6.1

The *Ārhīya* section of the *Ashṭādhyāyī* (*Adhyāya* V, *pāda* 1, *sūtras* 19-37) furnishes some important data in respect of the oldest coinage of India.¹ The general sense governing these *sūtras* is that of *Tena krītam* (V. 1. 37), 'purchased with that', and *Tad-arhati* (V.1.63), 'worth that'. An attempt is made here to bring together the available evidence from the *sūtras* and their commentaries, and to discuss it with a view to identifying the denominations and value of those coins in the light of facts known from ancient Indian numismatic history.