The History of Bengal (Vol. I: Hindu Period; Vol. II: Muslim Period 1200–1757) v1.c19.s9.28

v1.c19.s9.28

It is clear, therefore, that under the Sena kings cowrie shells served as the medium of exchange in Bengal. What, then, is the meaning of the purāṇa or kapardaka-purāṇa so often mentioned in the Sena land-grants? Dr. Bhandarkar has suggested that it was a silver coin shaped like a kapardaka or cowrie.² The strongest argument against this view is that not a single coin of this type has been discovered here or elsewhere in India. The fabrication of such a coin was also difficult and would mark a sudden “retrogression in the evolution of coinage” in the country.³ More plausible is the hypothesis, set forth by Dr. S. K. Chakrabortti, that the kapardaka-purāṇa was not an actual coin, but a mere abstract unit of account; that is to say, it was the value of a purāṇa counted out in cowrie shells. In other words, “payments were made in cowries and a certain number of them came to be equated to the silver coin, the purāṇa, thus linking up all exchange transactions ultimately to silver, just as at present the rupee, the silver coin, is linked up to gold at a certain ratio.”⁴