The Age of the Imperial Guptas c10.87

c10.87

We come to the most numerous type of the gold coinage of Kumāragupta I, the horseman. In the beginning of this century the Horseman type was classified according to the position of the horse, *i.e.*, horseman to the right and horseman to the left; but at present they are divided into three classes by Allan, with several varieties in such classes. Class I shows the king riding to the right on the obverse and a seated goddess facing the left holding a lotus with a long stalk on the obverse in the first variety. The circular legend on the obverse has not been completely read. It runs:—*Pṛthvī-talaṁ* . . . . . . . . . . *divaṁ jayati=ajitaḥ*.¹ The obverse legend on the second variety is *Kṣitipatir=ajito vijayī Mahendra-siṁho divaṁ jayati*.² In the circular legend on the third variety of Class I *Mahendra-siṁho* gives place to *Kumāragupto*.³ In the second class of the Horseman type of Kumāragupta I we find:—