The History of Bengal (Vol. I: Hindu Period; Vol. II: Muslim Period 1200–1757) v1.c19.s9.15

v1.c19.s9.15

This is, however, an extremely disconcerting position. From the Nāsik inscription of Ṛishabhadatta, dated 120 A.D., it has been estimated that in the second century A.D. the relative value of gold and silver in Western India was 1:10.¹ It is very probable that even in ancient times the rate of exchange between gold and silver did not vary greatly in different parts of India. If that were so, the question arises as to the cause of this tremendous fall in the value of gold in relation to silver in course of the next three centuries. Was it due to a sudden stoppage in the importation of silver, India having had to depend on foreign countries for the supply of that metal? Was this stoppage in any way connected with the break-up of the Roman empire in the fifth century A.D.? Or are we to infer that the term *dināra*, as used in contemporary documents, did not refer to the ordinary gold coins of the Gupta monarchs, but rather to those light-weight, debased gold coins, which are usually described as "Imitation Gupta" coins, and which have been found in such profuse number in different parts of Bengal?² These are problems which, in the present state of our knowledge, we are scarcely able to solve.