The History of Bengal (Vol. I: Hindu Period; Vol. II: Muslim Period 1200–1757) v1.c19.s9.25

v1.c19.s9.25

The copper-plate grants of the Sena kings refer to two coin-denominations, viz. purāṇa and kapardaka-purāṇa. They are usually mentioned in connection with the income from particular plots of land donated by kings. A comparative study of the grants would tend to show that the purāṇa and kapardaka-purāṇa were interchangeable terms, and not, as is usually supposed, the denominations of two different coins. It seems probable that the term kapardaka was prefixed to purāṇa so as to leave no room for doubt as to the identity of the coin specified, more or less in the same way as bhū was sometimes prefixed to pāṭaka and droṇa in order to make it clear that they were measures of space and not measures of weight.