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The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c17: Part XI. The Coinage of the Deccan

The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c17

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English

Contents

Part XI. The Coinage of the Deccan

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*by* PROFESSOR A. S. ALTEKAR, M.A., D.LITT.

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I. Introduction; Punch-marked coins; Roman coins.

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II. Sātavāhana Coinage; Early Sātavāhana Rulers, the different types of their coins—coins of Sāti, Sātakaṇa or Satakani (Elephant type, Lion type, Bull type, Homo type); coins of Apillaka and Meghasvāti. Later Sātavāhanas; Gautamiputra Sātakarṇi's coins, popular type in potin issues, an Elephant with upraised trunk and legend on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse; some coins bear an Elephant on the obverse and a Tree on the reverse; some lead and potin coins have a Lion or an Elephant on one side and the Ujjain symbol or a Tree on the other; this king also counterstruck the silver coins of Nahapāna with Chaitya, having the former's legend on one side and the Ujjain symbol on the other. Vasishṭhiputra Puḷumāvi, his coins being generally of the Elephant and Chaitya type, but the round lead coins bear a Three-arched Hill and the legend on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse. A silver coin of this king has been found in Bhelsa. Śivaśrī, his lead coins found in Andhra-deśa bear a Three-arched Hill and a River with the legend on the obverse and the decorative Ujjain symbol on the reverse. Śivaskanda Sātakarṇi, one coin bears the Three-arched Hill and the Ujjain symbol, and another a Horse to the right and the Ujjain symbol. Yajña-śrī Sātakarṇi issued coins of different types—one type shows a Three-arched or Six-arched Hill together with other symbols on the obverse, and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse. Another type has a Horse on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse. Sometimes the Horse has a Crescent above it. A third type shows an Elephant, with the trunk hanging down, on the obverse. He also issued coins of the Vidarbha type and lead coins with the symbol of a Ship with two Masts. This king issued silver coins as well, their type being imitated from the Kshatrapa coinage. Vijaya and Chaṇdaśrī Sātakarṇi, the coins of both show the Elephant with upraised trunk on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse.

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III. Post-Sātavāhana Coinage—Introduction, (1) Early Gold Coins, (2) The Ikshvāku Coinage, (3) The Vākāṭaka Coinage, (4) The Śālaṅkāyana Coinage, (5) The Coinage of the Chālukyas of Bādāmi, (6) The Coinage of the Rāshṭrakūṭas, (7) The Coinage of the Later Chālukyas of Kalyāṇi, (8) The Kalachuri Coinage, (9) The Coinage of the Eastern Chālukyas of Veṅgi, (10) The Coinage of the Yādavas, (11) The Coinage of the Śilāhāras, (12) The Coinage of the Kadambas, and (13) The Coinage of the Kākatīyas.

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PART II

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THE CONQUEST OF THE DECCAN

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(*c.* 400 B.C. to *c.* A.D. 1300)

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I

Introduction

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IN the present chapter we propose to make a survey of the coinage of the Deccan from *c.* 400 B.C. to *c.* A.D. 1300, which is the period covered by this volume of the *History of the Deccan*. The Deccan and Southern India are remarkably rich in epigraphical material bearing on their history; the inscriptions of the Sātavāhanas, the Vākāṭakas, the Chālukyas, the Rāṣṭrakūṭas, and the Yādavas are much more numerous than those of their contemporaries in the north, the Śuṅgas and the Kaṇvas, the Guptas and the Vardhanas, the Pratīhāras and the Gāhaḍavālas. In the realm of sculpture and also in that of architecture, art made striking progress in Deccan and Southern India, but strangely enough it had little influence on the coinage. In this realm the North can well claim superiority over the Deccan. Not a single dynasty of the Deccan or of Southern India produced a coin series which can compare with the Gupta coinage in artistic beauty, variety, and fine workmanship.

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The Sātavāhana coinage is numerous, but it is generally crude. The Vākāṭakas and the Rāṣṭrakūṭas do not appear to have issued any coins at all; the coinage of the Chālukyas is scarce and intermittent. The Yādavas indeed did issue a regular series of coins in gold, but these have been handed down only in very small quantities. The gold coins of the Chālukyas and of the Yādavas can only have been employed in big monetary transactions. The ordinary man of the Deccan did not, it would seem, derive much benefit from the coinage which the different states issued from time to time. He apparently had to carry on his daily business by means of barter and with the help of cowries. However, we come across silver punch-marked coins in the Deccan, and the Sātavāhanas minted a great mass of coinage in lead and in copper. These latter types may well have been used in some daily transactions.

Punch-marked coins

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The earliest coinage of the Deccan probably consisted of silver punch-marked money.¹ The antiquity of this medium of exchange was once referred to prehistoric times on the strength of such coins having been found in megalithic tombs. But subsequent evidence has shown that the money found in these tombs sometimes included not only punch-marked pieces but also Roman coins, making it quite clear that not all such megalithic constructions could be dated back to prehistoric times. The antiquity of the punch-marked coinage of the Deccan and Southern India cannot thus be assigned to a date earlier than that of the punch-marked coinage of Northern India; they were in fact probably not struck earlier than *c.* 500 B.C.

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¹ As in Northern India, the Deccan had no punch-marked coins in gold. There were small gold spherules in circulation with minute marks on the obverse, which will be referred to later (p. 799); but they cannot strictly be called punch-marked coins. In Gibb's collection there was a gold coin about 1 in. in diameter and 57.2 grains in weight, which had several punched marks such as an Arrow-head, a Cross, a Conch, two *Śrīs*, &c. (Elliot, Pl. II, 60). But the presence of two *tris* shows that the coin does not belong to any regular punch-marked series. Copper punch-marked coins have not so far been found in the Deccan.

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Hoards of punch-marked coins have been found in the Deccan at Singavaram and Gudivādā in the Krishna district; at Venna, Bhimlipattan, and Rothulpalem in the Vizagapattan district; at Karmanehi in the Kurnul district; at Karimnagar in the Hyderabad State; at Shinhi in the Kolhapur district, and at Sultanpur near Wai in the Satara district.

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Among these hoards, the Sultanpur find is especially unusual and distinctive; it consists entirely of silver coins, double, single, and half-Kārshāpaṇas being the denominations. They have only one large symbol on the obverse and none on the reverse (Pl. LXII, 1-2). The weight of these coins is 50 and 49.5 grains respectively. These coins are usually regarded as early, but their precise date is difficult to determine.

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The silver punch-marked coins of the Singavaram hoard, believed to have been discovered in 1934, were apparently 40,000 in number. The hoard is said to have filled a pit 3x3 ft. in dimension. But only seventy-one coins could eventually be procured for the collection in the Madras Museum. If these are truly representative of the hoard, we may conclude that all the coins were probably half-Kārshāpaṇas in denomination; their weight varies from 20 to 30 grains. These coins constitute a variety peculiar to Āndhra-deśa. They are thin and struck in *repoussé*; thus the symbols are convex in appearance and the coins have become cup-shaped.¹ The number of symbols on these coins is four and not five (Pl. LXII, 3-4). On Pl. LXII, 3 we have Elephant at the top and two Bulls yoked to a plough at the bottom; on either side there is a Knob with circles or crescents around. On Pl. LXII, 4, Branch symbol replaces the Bulls yoked to a plough. The symbols occur on one side only and the reverse is blank. In a few cases four symbols appear on both sides, where those on one side appear very indistinct and faded. In the case of these rare coins it appears that when the original symbols became worn out, a new set of four symbols was stamped on the original blank reverse.²

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¹ JNSI, xv, 55.

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² *Trans. of International Num. Conf.*, 1936, p. 395.

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The coins of the Singavaram hoard bear a curious resemblance to those of the Paila hoard discovered in the Kheri district of U.P. Both have only four symbols on the obverse, among which the Sun and the Six-armed symbol, so common on most of the varieties of the punch-marked coins, are conspicuous by their absence. The coins of the Paila hoard, however, follow the 24 *ratti* standard, whereas those of the Singavaram hoard are struck to the standard of 32 *rattis* or about 56 grains. There is a greater resemblance between the coins of the Singavaram hoard and those of the Sonepur hoard discovered in Orissa. Both are half-Paṇas, weighing about 20 to 25 grains each. The Sun and the Six-armed symbol are absent from both. Both have the Elephant and a pair of Bulls yoked to a plough among their symbols. It is likely that these coins may be a pre-Mauryan issue. Such coins as those found in the Sonepur hoard may possibly have been issued by the Nandas after their conquest of Orissa and the type may have been later imitated and modified in *Āndhra-deśa*, as suggested by the Singavaram hoard. The number of symbols on the Singavaram hoard coins is also four, but they are in relief and not in depression, as is the case with the coins in the Sonepur hoard.

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The remaining hoards of punch-marked coins found in the Deccan are of the usual type, having five symbols on the obverse and weighing about 52 grains. They are Kārshāpaṇas of the 32 *ratti* standard. An analysis of 2,846 punch-marked coins in the Madras Museum shows that about 20 per cent. of them belong to the pre-Mauryan type of five-symbol coins, and the rest to the Mauryan varieties.¹ The same is probably true of other hoards found in the Deccan.

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¹ I owe this information to Miss Vanaja of the Madras Museum.

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The Mauryan punch-marked coins of the Deccan seem to have been introduced into that country as a natural consequence of the Mauryan conquest. Pre-Mauryan five-symbol punch-marked coins were not withdrawn from circulation by the Mauryas, and so some of them must have travelled to the Deccan with the Mauryan armies. They are therefore naturally found in the Deccan, though in a small percentage.

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How long punch-marked coins remained in circulation in the Deccan is a difficult question to answer. The Sātavāhanas introduced their own coinage soon after the establishment of their dynasty, but this did not oust the punch-marked silver currency. Down to *c.* A.D. 110 the Sātavāhanas issued coins in lead and copper only, and these of course could not take the place of silver punch-marked coins. During the second century A.D. four Sātavāhanas kings issued silver coins, but they are extremely rare and were perhaps intended to meet the needs of northern Mahārāshtra and Gujarāt, which were accustomed to a silver currency. Punch-marked coins, therefore, may have continued to circulate in the Deccan even after the disappearance of the Mauryan rule. In the Mambalam hoard, found in Madras, there were 770 punch-marked coins of the pre-Mauryan type, together with one coin of Augustus. In the Tondananathan hoard found in the South Arcot district there were twenty-seven punch-marked coins in association with three *aurei* of Tiberius. It is therefore clear that punch-marked silver coins continued in circulation down to the end of the first century A.D. The majority of them were struck by the usual method of first preparing flans of the requisite weight and size and then punching the symbols on them. But in some localities, as at Kondapur, moulds were used and punch-marked coins were cast from them. In the Kondapur excavations, both the moulds and the punch-marked silver coins cast from them were discovered; their date is approximately the first century A.D.

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There is no archaeological evidence to show that silver punch-marked coins continued in circulation in the Deccan after c. A.D. 200. A verse in the Nāradasmṛiti (c. A.D. 500) states that the silver Kārshāpaṇas were then current in the south.¹ But so far we have not found any punch-marked coins which can be confidently ascribed to so late a date.

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¹ Kārshāpaṇo dakshiṇasyām diśi raupyāḥ pravartate, i, 57.

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Some copper punch-marked coins have been found in Malwa, as also cast copper coins. But none of these have so far been found in the Deccan.

Roman Coins in the Deccan

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There was steady and continuous trade between the ports on the coast of Andhra-deśa and the Roman Empire, and several Roman coins have been found in the Deccan at places like Athirāla in the Cudappah district; Gumad, Kolpad, Salihundam in the Vizagapattan district; Mallyapalem, Ongole, and Vinukonda in the Guntur district; Nāgārjunikoṇḍā and Vidyadurrapuram in the Krishna district; Nadyal in the Kurnul district, and Garparti in the Nalgonda district.² The Roman emperors represented in the hoards were ruling during the first and second centuries A.D. and their coins are found in territories over which the Sātavāhanas were ruling. The Sātavāhana currency, however, remained uninfluenced by the patterns and designs of the Roman coinage; no gold or silver coins were minted in the Deccan in imitation of the Roman types.

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² Ancient India, ii, 116 ff.

II. Sātavāhana Coinage

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Among the ruling families of the Deccan, no other house has left us so varied and numerous a coinage as the Sātavāhana dynasty. The Sātavāhanas issued coins usually in lead and copper. They minted no gold coins and their silver coins are very rare.

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The Sātavāhana coinage occurs in great quantity and usually it shows no foreign influence. But it also shows hardly any artistic merit or originality. Busts of the issuers do not appear on copper and lead coins. Silver coins were issued only by four rulers, Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi, Vāsisṭhiputra Sātakarṇi, Vāsisṭhiputra Puḷumāvi, and Gautamīputra Yajña-śrī-Sātakarṇi, and only eight specimens of these have been found so far. Some of them show good portraits and are not without some skill in design. The representations of the lion, the horse, the bow and arrow, the elephant, the homo sign, &c., which figure among Sātavāhana motifs, are usually very crude and inartistic. Some of the coins bear legends, but usually they are either too fragmentary or too short to help in the reconstruction of history. The Sātavāhanas did not borrow the practice of their northern neighbours, the Western Kshatrapas, of introducing the name of the father of the issuer. Thus it is often difficult to identify the ruler concerned, since there were in many cases several kings of the same name, such as Kaṇha, Sātakarṇi, Pulomā, Svātikarṇa, &c. There are also various kings of the dynasty, for example Simuka, Pūrṇotsaṅga Lambodara, Hāla, and Maṇḍalaka, who are not represented in the coinage; on the other hand there are some kings like Kumbha Sātakarṇi, Śaka Sātakarṇi, and Karṇa Sātakarṇi, who are known from the coinage alone and are unknown to the Purāṇas and the inscriptions. It is no doubt often true that the Purāṇas, inscriptions, and coins help to some extent in reconstructing the history of the dynasty, but sometimes the data which they afford merely serve to introduce uncertainty, since in several cases there is no mutual agreement.

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We propose to describe only the important types of coins issued by the rulers of the dynasty.

Early Sātavāhana Rulers

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The question as to which king initiated the Sātavāhana coinage cannot yet be satisfactorily answered. The third king of the dynasty, according to the Paurāṇic list, was Sātakarṇi, and he was a powerful ruler known as the lord of the entire Deccan. It is usually assumed that the copper and lead coins which bear the legend *Siri Sāta* or *Sātakarṇi* or *Sātakarṇa* were issued by him. The palaeographical evidence of these coin legends suggests that they were minted some time during the period 150 to 50 B.C.

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The Paurāṇic list, however, shows that there were several kings of the dynasty who bore the name of Sātakarṇi. The sixth ruler had this same name and it is possible to argue that kings like Meghasvāti, Svāti, Skandasvāti, and Svātikarṇa, the 9th, the 10th, the 11th, and the 14th in the Pauranic list, may also have abbreviated their names into Sāti or Sāta and issued some of the coins bearing the legends Sāta or Sāti.

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During the last decade three coins of a king named Sātavāhana have come to light; one of these was found at Kondapur and the other two were probably obtained in the former Hyderabad State. Professor V. V. Mirashi holds that the king Sātavāhana who issued these coins was the founder of the dynasty and ruled earlier than the king Sāta or Sātakarṇi of the coins mentioned earlier. The Paurāṇic list of kings in fact does not mention Sātavāhana as the founder of the dynasty, but inscriptions describe it as the Sātavāhana-kula,¹ suggesting that it was brought into prominence first by Sātavāhana. It is quite possible that Sātavāhana was an earlier or immediate predecessor of Simuka, the first king, and he might have issued these coins which bear his name. The fact that his coins are found so far only in the Hyderabad territory, while those of Sāta or Sātakarṇi are found in Western India, Malwa and Tripuri, would seem to show that the latter was a later prince, who ruled the empire after it had expanded beyond the Vindhyas. Sātavāhana was an earlier ruler and might have been the founder of the house. A son of queen Nāganikā, who was the wife of the third king of the dynasty, was also named Sātavāhana, and might perhaps have been called after an earlier and more glorious ancestor.

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¹ *EI*, viii, 93.

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Unless, however, more decisive evidence should become available, the above theory cannot be accepted. If king Sātavāhana of the new coins was indeed a predecessor of Simuka, one wonders why coins of Simuka and his brother Kṛṣṇa should also not have been found. Secondly, it is quite possible that king Sātavāhana of the coins in question might have been one of the sons of Nāganikā, whose name actually occurs in the Nanaghat inscriptions. Pūrṇotsaṅga, who is mentioned in the Purāṇas as the successor of the first Sātakarṇi, might have been his *biruda*. Until we get further evidence, we cannot solve this problem.

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We shall now proceed to describe the chief types of Sātavāhana, Sāta, Sāti, and Sātikarṇa.

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Coins of Sātavāhana

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*Elephant type*

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Copper; square; 0·80 in.; 110 grains; Malwa; *JNSI*, vii, 1. *Obv.* Elephant with trunk upraised; legend, diagonally across the coin, *Raño sari Sadavaha[na]* *Rev.* Ujjain symbol and some other minor symbols. Pl. LXII, 5.

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Lead; oval; 1×0·35 in.; 98·9 grains; from Kondapur; *JNSI*, xi, 5. *Obv.* Elephant, facing right, with trunk hanging down; legend, *Siri Sadavaha[na]*. *Rev.* Big Ujjain symbol, with a circle between two orbs. Pl. LXII, 6.

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Coins of Sāta

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*Elephant type*

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Lead; round; 1·5 in.; 101 grains; Malwa; *BMCAK*, p. 1, pl. i, 1. *Obv.* Elephant standing to right; below, River with fish; above, the legend *Raño siri Satasa*. *Rev.* Blurred (not illustrated). Pl. LXII, 7.

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*Homo type*

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Potin; round; 0·8 in.; 86 grains; Western India; *BMCAK*, p. 1, pl. i, 2. *Obv.* Man standing facing l.; Ujjain symbol; legend, *Raño siri Satasa*. *Rev.* Elephant standing to right; above, Tree within railing; in front, Three-arched Hill; below, River. Pl. LXII, 8.

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*JNSI*, iv, pl. ii, 4-6, publishes three other Elephant type coins of Siri Sāta from the Allahabad Municipal Museum. Their provenance is unknown.

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Coins of Sāti

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Homo type

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Lead; round; 1.01 in.; 218.7 grains; from Tripuri; *JNSI*, xiii, 35, pl. ii, 13. *Obv.* Homo sign on left; Ujjain symbol in centre; legend, XI to VIII, *Raño siri Satasa*. *Rev.* From left to right, Three-arched Hill; Tree within railing; River with fish placed vertically; and again Three-arched Hill. (Not illustrated.)

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Coins of Sātakana or Satakani

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Elephant type

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Copper; round; 0.9 in.; 211.8 grains; provenance unknown; *JNSI*, iv, 27, pl. ii, 7. *Obv.* Elephant with trunk upraised walking to left; Svastika above it; circular legend, *Sātakani*. *Rev.* Faint traces of tree in railing.

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Square potin coins with Elephant with trunk upraised on the obv. and Tree within railing and Ujjain symbol on the reverse, found in Western India, have the legend . . *kanisa*. They may have been issued by this ruler. See *BMCAK*, p. 3, pl. i, 9.

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Lion type

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Potin; square; 0.75 in.; 83 grains; Bhagwanlal collection; *BMCAK*, pl. i, 9. *Obv.* Lion springing to r. Svastika above; legend reversed [*Raño*] *Sātakanisa*. *Rev.* Within square border of dots, Ujjain symbol surmounted by Nandipada; Tree within railing.

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Homo type

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Copper; round; 0.92 in.; 109.3 grains; from Tripuri; *JNSI*, xiii, 36, pl. ii, 14. *Obv.* Homo sign on left; Ujjain symbol in centre; legend from VII to X, *Raño siri Satakanisa*. *Rev.* Three-arched Hill, a vertical line, probably indicating a Tree; Tree within railing; Three-arched Hill.

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Bull type

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Lead; round; 0.9 in.; 282 grains; Hyderabad region; *JNSI*, viii, 18, pl. ii A, 1. *Obv.* Humped Bull in the centre with a blurred triangle-headed standard in front; legend above the Bull, *Raño sara Satakanasa*. *Rev.* Tree within railing; Triangle-headed banner; Svastika, &c.

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The Bull type bears a striking resemblance to the Bull type of Sadakaṇi Kaḷalāya (Pl. LXIV, 8). The arrangement on the obverse of the Bull and the legend are both strikingly similar, though the Bull faces to the left on the coin of Kaḷalāya and to the right on the coin of Sātakarṇi. The tree with large leaves on the reverse of both coins is similar, though other symbols are different. These coin types show that the rulers named were not far removed from each other in time, and indeed it is most probable that Sadakaṇi Kaḷalāya was actually the father-in-law of Sātakarṇi.

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The coins of Sātakarṇi found in Gujarāt and published in *JNSI*, xii, 26, would appear to be the issue of some later ruler such as Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi or Yajña-śrī-Sātakarṇi.

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Coins of Apilaka and Meghasvāti

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According to the Paurāṇic list of kings there were thirteen rulers between Sātakarṇi II and Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi, but we have discovered the coins of only two of them, Apilaka and Meghasvāti. Of these Apilaka is represented only by a single coin found in the Bilaspur district of Madhya Pradesh. The Purāṇas do not attach any affix to the name of Apilaka; the coin on the other hand supplies the affix Śiva-siri. This fact, however, does not justify us in assuming that these names belong to two different rulers. Copper coins do not as a rule travel long distances; the discovery of the coin of Apilaka in the Bilaspur district is probably a proof that the Sātavāhana kingdom was fairly extensive even during this period, of which we have no other records. We shall now describe this unique coin.

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Copper; round; 1 in.; 65 grains; Bilaspur district; *JASB*, 1927, 94N. *Obv.* Elephant walking to right; an indistinct symbol above, circular legend, *Raṇo Siva-sirisāpilakasa*. *Rev.* Blank (not illustrated). Pl. LXII, 11.

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It is possible that the square lead coin having a Bull or Horse on the obverse with the reverse obliterated (*BMCAK*, p. 28) may have been a coin of Meghasvāti, the successor of Apilaka according to the Purāṇas. The legible part of the legend reads *ghasada*, and this may stand for [Me]ghasada or Meghasvāti.

Later Sātavāhanas

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Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi, who reasserted the Sātavāhana power, naturally issued a large number of coins. His coinage is mostly in potin and his most popular type shows an Elephant with trunk upraised with the legend above on the obverse (Pl. LXII, 12) and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse.¹ Out of 1,160 coins of this type in the Tarhala hoard, on which the legend was legible, 525 belonged to Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi. Though the legend on these coins is only *Sātakaṇisa*, their attribution to Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi is fairly certain; for the same hoard contained other coins with the full legend *Raṇo siri Yaña Sātakaṇisa*.

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¹ *BMCAK*, No. 171; the weight of this coin is 36.3 grains.

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Potin coins found in Western India with an Elephant on the obverse and a Tree with large leaves on the reverse seem to have faint traces of the legend *Raṇo siri Sātakaṇisa* on them (*BMCAK*, p. 17). They were most probably issued by Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi.

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Some lead and potin coins have been found in southern Gujarat at Karavan and Kamrej, which have traces of the indistinct legend, *Raṇo siri Sātakaṇisa*. Very probably these coins were struck by Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi.

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karṇi after his conquest of Nahapāna. These pieces have either an Elephant or a Lion on one side and the Ujjain symbol or a Tree within a railing on the other (*JNSI*, xii, 28-29).

v2.c17.s2.t2.6

When Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi crushed the power of Nahapāna and annexed his kingdom, he took the rather unusual step of recalling the silver currency of his vanquished foe and stamping it with his own symbols, bust, and legend. A hoard of about 13,250 such counterstruck silver coins was discovered at Jogalthembi near Nasik in 1906. On the original hemidrachms of Nahapāna the obverse had a bust of the king with a corrupt Greek legend Ranniw IAHAPATAC NAHAPANAC (giving a transliteration of the Indian legend); and the reverse had Thunderbolt, Arrow, and Pellet with legends both in Brāhmī and Kharoshṭhī *Rājño Kṣaharātasa Nahapanasa* and *Raña Chhaharatasa Nahapanasa* respectively (Pl. LXII, 13). Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi counterstruck one side with Chaitya and its own legend and other with the Ujjain symbol. We describe and illustrate below two such coins.

v2.c17.s2.t2.7

Silver; round; 0·65 in.; 35·6 grains; *BMCAK*, no. 255 *Obv.* Chaitya superimposed over the bust of Nahapāna; Brāhmī legend, beginning at XII, *Raño Gotami* . . . . *ri Satakanisa*; traces of Greek legend. *Rev.* Ujjain symbol struck over the reverse of Nahapāna’s coin, leaving traces of Brāhmī and Kharoshṭhī legends, *Raño Khaharatasa Nahapanasa*. Pl. LXII, 14.

v2.c17.s2.t2.8

Silver; round; 0·65 in.; 31·2 grains; *BMCAK*, no. 257. *Obv.* Chaitya superimposed over the reverse of Nahapāna-type; Brāhmī legend, beginning at XI, *Raño Gotamiputara*; traces of Brāhmī *Nahapanasa* and Kharoshṭhī *hapanasa* of the original legend are also visible. *Rev.* Ujjain symbol counterstruck over the face of Nahapāna; faint traces of corrupt Greek legend. Pl. LXII, 15.

v2.c17.s2.t2.9

When Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi found a silver currency so profusely in circulation in the new provinces annexed by him, did he himself then proceed to issue his own independent silver coinage? It is by no means improbable that he did so, and in fact a unique silver coin was published by the present writer, which has on it an incomplete legend containing the word *Gotami*. But Gautamīputra was also the matronymic of a later ruler named Yajñaśrī, and since the legend on the piece in question is incomplete, it is difficult to say whether it contained or did not contain the name Yajña-śrī. Gautamīputra Yajñaśrī’s silver coinage, however, has usually a bust on the obverse and is therefore of a different type; it is thus not improbable that the present coin may indeed have been struck by Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi. We describe the coin below.

v2.c17.s2.t2.10

Silver; round; 0·7 in.; 30 grains; from Ujjayini; *JNSI*, viii, 111. *Obv.* Six-arched Hill with dot in each orb on a platform; Brāhmī legend commencing from the top of the hill, *Raño Gotami*. *Rev.* Ujjain symbol with a pellet in each orb. Pl. LXII, 16.

v2.c17.s2.t2.11

Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvi

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Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi's son and successor Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvi has left us a fairly large number of coins. The Tarhala hoard of 1,160 legible pieces contained 175 coins of this king and the Chanda hoard of 183 coins had 24 pieces issued by him. They are of the Elephant and Chaitya type, the legend being Puḷumavi(sa) (Pl. LXIII, 1). This type has already been referred to. The type of round lead coins, which he had issued for Āndhra-deśa, had a Three-arched Hill above a wavy line with the legend Raño Vasiṭhīputasa siri Puḷumavisa on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse (Pl. LXIII, 2-3). The weights of these coins vary from 78 to 85 grains. The Ship-mast type, once attributed to this ruler (BMCAK, p. 22), has now been shown to be an issue of Yajñaśrī Sātakarṇi; see p. 796.

v2.c17.s2.t2.13

A silver coin of this ruler was found in the river-bed at Bhelsa in 1949. We describe it below; its size has been magnified in the Plate.

v2.c17.s2.t2.14

Silver; round; 0.65 in. in diameter; 28 grains; JNSI, xiv, 1. *Obv.* Bust of king to right; circular legend around beginning at I [*Vasithi*] *putasa sara* . . . *Rev.* In the middle, Ujjain symbol and six-arched Chaitya; legend, fragmentary and blurred, but *siri Puḷu* clear from VIII to XI. Pl. LXIII, 4 (enlarged).

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The nose of the king is aquiline and the portrait shows grim determination in the face.

v2.c17.s2.t2.16

Śivaśrī

v2.c17.s2.t2.17

According to the Purāṇas, Puḷumāvi was succeeded by Śivaśrī and we may reasonably identify this ruler with Vāsiṣṭhīputra Śiva-śrī of the lead coins found in Āndhra-deśa. On his coins, which weigh about 90 grains, the obverse shows a Three-arched Hill and River with the legend Raño Vasisṭhīputra Śiva-sirisa, and the reverse has an ornamental Ujjain symbol (Pl. LXIII, 5).¹ Rapson read at the end of the legend the word *Sātakaṇisa*, but it is not visible on any coin known to us. Vāsiṣṭhīputra Śiva-śrī was probably a brother of Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvi and might have ruled as a sub-king in Āndhra-deśa.

v2.c17.s2.t2.18

¹ BMCAK, 29.

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Śivaskanda Sātakarṇi

v2.c17.s2.t2.20

Śivaśrī was succeeded, according to the Purāṇas, by Śivaskanda Sātakarṇi, and we may reasonably identify this prince with King Vāsiṣṭhīputra Śrī-Chandra Sātī or Sri Chandra Sāti known from coins found in Āndhra-deśa. He also was probably a brother of Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvi ruling over a small fief in Āndhra-deśa. On one of his coins we have a Three-arched Hill and the Ujjain symbol and on the other a Horse to the right and the Ujjain symbol.

v2.c17.s2.t2.21

Vāsiṣṭhīputra Sātakarṇi

v2.c17.s2.t2.22

It will be convenient here to discuss a silver coin of Vāsiṣṭhīputra Sātakarṇi published by the present writer in *JNSI*, xi, 59. Very probably he was a brother of Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvi who succeeded him as supreme overlord. I had once thought that he might be identical with Śiva-śri-Sātakarṇi, whose coins we have discussed above, but we cannot be sure about this point. We shall now describe his unique silver coin.

v2.c17.s2.t2.23

Silver; round; 0.6 in.; 28 grains; Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, *JNSI*, xi, 59, pl. ii. 5.

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*Obv.* Bust of the king to right; circular legend beginning at I *Raño Vasishṭhiputasa*.

v2.c17.s2.t2.25

*Rev.* Ujjain symbol; Six-arched Hill, River, &c.; legend starting at XII, *Ara* . . . . . . *na Haṭakaṇisha*.

v2.c17.s2.t2.26

The reverse legend is probably identical with that on the obverse, but is in a different script and dialect. Pl. LXIII, 6.

v2.c17.s2.t2.27

Vāsiṣṭhīputra Sātakarṇi was the son-in-law of Rudradāman and seems to have been the first Sātavāhana king to imitate the bust type coinage of the Western Kshatrapas.

v2.c17.s2.t2.28

Yajña-śri-Sātakarṇi

v2.c17.s2.t2.29

In the Paurāṇic list Yajña-śri-Sātakarṇi succeeds Śiva-Skanda Sātakarṇi, and we can therefore confidently identify him with the Gautamīputra Yajña-śri-Sātakarṇi of the coins. There was a revival of the Sātavāhana power during his reign and it is reflected in his coinage. He issued several types of coins and they have been found over a large area.

v2.c17.s2.t2.30

In the Andhra country, lead coins of this ruler are found in large numbers. One type is that of the Three-arched or Six-arched Hill above a river on the obverse with the legend giving the king's name, occasionally along with some symbols. The reverse has the Ujjain symbol (Pl. LXIII, 7).¹ These coins are in different denominations, as suggested by their varying weights, such as 244, 72, 40, 20 grains. The full legend on this type is *Raño Gotamīputasa siri Yaña Sātakanisa* (Pl. LXIII, 7-8).

v2.c17.s2.t2.31

¹ Pl. LXIII, 7 is *BMCAK*, 140 and Pl. LXIII, 18 is *BMCAK*, 139. Their weights are 83.5 and 71 grains respectively.

v2.c17.s2.t2.32

Another type in lead (?) struck by this ruler in the *Andhra-deśa* has a Horse on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse. Sometimes there is a crescent above the Horse; sometimes the Horse faces left, and sometimes to the right (Pl. LXIII, 9). The legend is intended to be *Raño Gotamiputa (Yaña) Satākanisa*.

v2.c17.s2.t2.33

A third lead type minted in the *Andhra-deśa* shows an Elephant, facing right, with the trunk hanging down on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse (Pl. LXIII, 10).

v2.c17.s2.t2.34

Yajña-śri issued a fairly large number of potin coins of the Vidarbha type, showing an Elephant with the trunk upraised on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse (Pl. LXIV, 1-2).¹ The Chanda hoard of 183 coins contained 42 pieces of Yajña-śrī and the Tarhala hoard of 1,125 legible coins had 248 pieces of this ruler. The legend is siri Yaña Sata and the average weight is 41 grains.

v2.c17.s2.t2.35

¹ *BMCAK*, 166, 165.

v2.c17.s2.t2.36

The lead coins of the type with a Ship with two masts were ascribed for a long time to Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvī, though it was admitted that the reading of the name of this king was by no means certain. Fresh coins since discovered show that the issuer of these coins was in fact Yajña-śrī-Sātakarṇi. We describe the type below; the photograph in the plate is an enlarged one. Lead; 0-8 in.; 125-7 grains; *JNSI*, iii, 43. *Obv.* Ship with two masts; legend *Raṇa Sāmisa siri Yaña Satakaṇisa*. *Rev.* Ujjain symbol. Pl. LXIV, 3.

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One of these coins was found in the Coromandel coast area and the other in the Guntur district.

v2.c17.s2.t2.38

Yajña-śrī-Sātakarṇi issued silver coins imitating the Kshatrapa type. Originally only three such coins were known, which one came from Sopara near Bombay and the second from Amreli in Kathiwar; the findspot of the third is unknown. Subsequently a fourth coin was discovered at Besnagar by Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar and a fifth one was afterwards acquired near Tripuri by Dr. Katare.

v2.c17.s2.t2.39

We shall describe this important type: Silver; round; 0-6 in.; weight not known; Sopara, *BMCAK*, vii E. 1. *Obv.* Bust of king to right; legend in ordinary Brāhmī characters, *Raño Gotamīputasa siri-Yaña Sātakaṇisa*. *Rev.* Ujjain symbol surmounted with a crescent; Six-arched crescented Hill to right; River below. Sun above. Legend in a different script and dialect, [...] *Gotamiputasha hiru Yaña Hatakaṇisha*. Pl. LXIV, 4.

v2.c17.s2.t2.40

The reverse legend was read by R. G. Bhandarkar (B.G., I, ii, p. 153) as *Gotamiputa Kumara Yaña Sātakaṇi Chaturapaṇasa*, ‘of Chaturapaṇa Yajña Sātakaṇi, prince of Gotamiputra’, the reverse legend giving the name of the prince viceroy Chaturapaṇa and the obverse one of the ruling king Yajña-śrī. Bhagwanlal Indraji read it [*Chatarapaṇasa*] *Gotamiputasha kumaru Yaña Hātakaṇi*. He thought that the legend showed that Yajña-śrī was the son of Chaturapaṇa. D. R. Bhandarkar’s reading was *Gotamiputa Kshahara Yaña Hāta(kaṇi)*. He connected Kshaharu with Chhahara occurring in the Taxila plate of Patika.²

v2.c17.s2.t2.41

² *ASIAR*, 1913-14, p. 217.

v2.c17.s2.t2.42

It may be pointed out that the lacuna on the coin is not sufficient to accommodate a word of five Nāgarī letters such as Chaturapaṇa. Only three letters could have been engraved and these were probably *Araka* (*Aryaka*, honourable). The word *kumaru* does not exist; in the reverse legend the three characters read *shaharu*. The reverse legend is identical with that on the obverse except that it uses *araka* instead of *raño*, and *hiru* instead of *siri*, and *Hatakaisnha* instead of *Satakanisa*.

v2.c17.s2.t2.43

Vijaya and Chandaśrī Sātakarṇi

v2.c17.s2.t2.44

According to the Purāṇas, Yajñaśrī was succeeded by Vijaya and the latter by Chandaśrī Sātakarṇi. Coins of both these kings were discovered in the Tarhala hoard; they show the Elephant with trunk upraised on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse. The name of Vijaya appears without any change in the coin legend; the Sanskrit original of Chandaśrī was probably Skandaśrī. Coin No. 179 in *BMCAK*, though attributed to Rudra Sātakarṇi, is probably an issue of this ruler. The first character in the legend is off the flan and so does not appear.

v2.c17.s2.t2.45

The last king of the Paurāṇic list is Puḷumāvi III. Probably the coins of the Tarhala hoard giving the name Pulahamavi were struck by this ruler.

Coins of Kings not mentioned in the Purāṇas

v2.c17.s2.t3.1

Several kings of the Paurāṇic list are not represented in the coinage shown above. The reverse is also true; some kings of the coins are not represented in the Paurāṇic list or inscriptions. Kumbha Sātakarṇi, Śaka Sātakarṇi, and Karṇa Sātakarṇi of the Tarhala hoard¹ belong to this category. The last-mentioned king is probably identical with king Kaṇha Sātakarṇi of the *BMCAK*, no. 180.

v2.c17.s2.t3.2

¹ *JNSI*, II, 90-91.

v2.c17.s2.t3.3

Kosikiputra Sātakarṇi is another king unknown to the Purāṇas but represented in the coinage. The solitary piece of his, known so far, is of the Chanda hoard type, showing an Elephant with the trunk upraised on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse (*JNSI*, VIII, 116). The actual legend is *Kosikiputa Sa*, which is to be completed as *Kosikiputa Sātakaṇisa*. It is possible to argue that the issuer may not have been a Sātavāhana ruler, the legend being really *Kosikiputasa*, and the proper name being altogether wanting. But the type shows that the issuer was indeed a Sātavāhana ruler and so the last letter *sa* would seem to be the initial character of the word Sātakaṇi.

v2.c17.s2.t3.4

A very big lead coin² 1.55 in. in diameter and weighing 559.5 grains was found in the Godavari district, with one side plain and the other side showing a lion and an incomplete inscription, *Raño* . . . . *varasa* (Pl. LXIV, 5). The name . . . . *vara* does not occur in the Paurāṇic list of Andhra kings.

v2.c17.s2.t3.5

² *BMCAK*, 4.

v2.c17.s2.t3.6

As was the case with most of the ancient empires, the Sātavāhanas controlled a number of feudatory princes, and some of these were permitted to issue coins. One such feudatory family ruled at Kolhapur and is known from the coins of three of its rulers, namely (1) Vāsisṭhīputra Viḷivāyakura, (2)

v2.c17.s2.t3.7

Māḍhariputra Śivalakura (Pl. LXIV, 6), and (3) Gotamīputra Viḷivāyakura (Pl. LXIV, 7). No. 3 among the above rulers restrikes the coins of No. 2; and No. 2 those of No. 1. It is therefore clear that the above kings ruled in the order stated above.

v2.c17.s2.t3.8

These coins have usually a Ten-arched Hill, Tree, and River on the obverse and a Bow and Arrow on the reverse, with the circular legend, *Raño Gotamīputasa Viḷivāyakurasa*, &c. (Pl. LXIV, 6–7).¹ Coins were issued both in copper (Pl. LXIV, 6) and lead (Pl. LXIV, 7). It was once supposed that these kings were Sātavāhana rulers and different attempts were accordingly made to identify them with the kings of the Paurāṇic list. Smith identified Gautamīputra Viḷivāyakura with the great Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi, Māḍhariputra Śivalakura with Śivasvāti, and Vāsiṣṭhīputra Viḷivāyakura with Chakora Sātakarṇi, the predecessor of Śivasvāti.

v2.c17.s2.t3.9

¹ Pl. LXIV, 6 is *BMCAK*, 31 and weighs 60 grains; Pl. LXIV, 7 is *BMCAK*, 30 and weighs 164·6 grains.

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We cannot enter into the details of this controversy. It is essential to point out that the mere matronymics like Gautamīputra and Māḍhariputra cannot make these rulers Sātavāhanas; for example, Gautamīputra and Vāsiṣṭhīputra appear as epithets of the Magha kings Śivamagha and Bhīmasena; a Mahārathi chief at Karli has the matronymic Vāsiṣṭhīputra. The rulers who struck the Kolhapur coins need not therefore be identified as Sātavāhanas merely because they are described as Gautamīputra and Vāsiṣṭhīputra. Ptolemy states that Polemaios of Paithan and Baleokuros of Hippokura were contemporaries. It is clear that Polemaios is the Greek form of Puḷumāvi and that Baleokuros is Viḷivāyakura. These were two different though contemporary kings. It is therefore very likely that the Viḷivāyakura and Śivalakura of the Kolhapur coins were members of some local feudatory ruling family.

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Another feudatory family attached to the Sātavāhana empire ruled in the Chitaldurg district of Mysore. It issued large lead coins having a Bull on one side and a Tree within a railing and a Three-arched Hill on the other (Pl. LXIV, 8).² Only one king is known from the legends of this coinage, viz. Kaḷalāya-mahārathi. The type of his pieces has a close resemblance to one of the types issued by King Sātakarṇi and described above (p. 791).

v2.c17.s2.t3.12

² Pl. LXIV, 8 is *BMCAK*, VIII. 233 and weighs 211·5 grains; Pl. LXIV, 9 is *BMCAK*, VIII. G.P. 2 and weighs 210·4 grains; and Pl. LXIV, 10 is *BMCAK*, VIII. 236 and weighs 250 grains. Photographs are to size.

v2.c17.s2.t3.13

Another feudatory family was ruling at this time in the North Canara district. The lead coins of two of its kings have so far come to light, Chūṭukulānanda and Muḍānanda (Pl. LXIV, 9–10). The type is an Eight-arched Hill on one side and a Tree within a railing and double trident on the other.

v2.c17.s2.t3.14

The legend on Pl. LXIV, 9 is *Raño Chuṭukulānandasa* and that on Pl. LXIV, 10 is *Raño Muḷānandasa*.³

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POST-SĀTAVĀHANA COINAGE

Introduction

v2.c17.s2.t4.1

Little is known so far about the post-Sātavāhana coinage of the Deccan. The coins available for study are few in number, and those among them which are inscribed are very much fewer. Types do not help us very much. The Varāha, Padma, and Bull types persisted for many centuries. The Varāha type, for instance, was no doubt first introduced by the Chālukyas, but it was continued by later dynasties as late as the time of Vijayanagar; thus we cannot assign all coins of this type to the Chālukya dynasty. The term Varāha became in the course of time a common synonym for gold currency in general. Pieces of this type must once have been issued in large quantities, but the Varāha coins now available for study are not many. It has been suggested that a fabulous number of them must have been included in the booty carried to Delhi from South India by Malik Kāfūr, leaving very few behind in their province of origin. This explanation does not carry conviction. U.P. was also occupied by the Muslims and yet quite a large number of gold Gupta coins have been found in that State.

v2.c17.s2.t4.2

There was hardly any silver coinage in Southern India. Nārada no doubt does say, as pointed out above, that silver *kārshāpaṇas* were common in the south, but the archaeological evidence does not support his assertion. Silver bullion or coins are rarely mentioned in connexion with the booty collected by Malik Kāfūr in the Deccan. The dynasties of the Deccan dealt with in this volume rarely issued silver currency. Copper currency of the Deccan of this period is also very scarce.

(1) Early Gold Coins

v2.c17.s2.t5.1

Smooth and minute spherules with tiny marks consisting of four dots on the obverse and none on the reverse appear to be among the earliest extant gold coins of the Deccan. Their weight is about 52 grains and their diameter about 0·45 in.; they are obviously of the Kalanju denomination, so popular in Southern India. These spherules were known as *gullige* or little balls in old Canarese and several of them were found in the Sunda Pargana of Dharwar district in 1828.¹ There are more than 25 of these in the Hyderabad Museum.² Two spherules are illustrated on Pl. LXV, 1 and 2.

v2.c17.s2.t5.2

¹ Elliot, *Coins of South India*, p. 53; pl. i, 2.

v2.c17.s2.t5.3

² ARHAD, 1925, p. 17.

v2.c17.s2.t5.4

A second early type is that of the *padma-ṭaṅkas*: they are flat and round. They have a lotus in the centre, which gives them their name, and four punched marks on the obverse; of these two are the letters *śri*, the third is a conch, and the fourth is usually a bow (Pl. LXV, 3).³ In one variety of this type we have scroll work stamped from a die on the reverse, and among the punches on the obverse there are two retrospectant lions (Pl. LXV, 19).¹ These coins, which are usually found in Banavasi, are generally attributed to the Kadambas, but the attribution is by no means certain. Their diameter is 1 in. and their weight about 60 grains.

v2.c17.s2.t5.5

³ Elliot, pl. i, 7–8.

v2.c17.s2.t5.6

¹ Elliot, pl. ii, 67.

v2.c17.s2.t5.7

The gold *fanams* having a Bull surmounted by the Sun and the Moon on the obverse and a large Sun on the reverse have been attributed to the early Pallavas, since they are found on the Coromandel coast.² This view is probable but not yet proved.

v2.c17.s2.t5.8

² Ibid., pl. i, 31-36.

v2.c17.s2.t5.9

Some tiny gold coins were found in the Maski excavations, with an Elephant on one side and a Lion on the other. Their attribution is difficult to determine, and the more so as they have not yet been adequately published.³

v2.c17.s2.t5.10

³ *ARHAD*, 1939, p. 18.

(2) The Ikṣvāku coinage

v2.c17.s2.t6.1

At Nāgārjunikonda, in the excavations of 1955-6, some lead coins of two Ikṣvāku kings, Vīrapuruṣadatta and Śāntamūla, were found; they imitate one of the types of the Sātavāhanas, showing an Elephant with trunk upraised on one side and the Ujjain symbol on the other. The fragmentary legend is above the Elephant.⁴

v2.c17.s2.t6.2

⁴ *Indian Archaeology*, 1955-6, p. 26.

(3) The Vākāṭaka coinage

v2.c17.s2.t7.1

The Vākāṭakas rose to power soon after the downfall of the Sātavāhanas and were soon ruling over a large part of the former dominion of that dynasty. They must have been familiar with the Sātavāhana coinage, but apparently they did not make any attempt to issue a currency of their own. We have so far found no coins of the dynasty, nor are they referred to in its records.

(4) The Śālaṅkāyana coinage

v2.c17.s2.t8.1

The Śālaṅkāyanas ruled in Āndhra-*deśa* during the fourth and the fifth centuries. A copper coin of Chandravarman has recently come to light. It has a Bull on the obverse and the legend *Śrī-Chandrava(rman)*, giving the king's name, on the reverse.⁵ Its size is 0.7 in. and weight 94 grains.

v2.c17.s2.t8.2

⁵ *Bhandarkar Commemoration Volume*, pp. 213-16.

v2.c17.s2.t8.3

The Bull was the *lāñchhana* of the Śālaṅkāyanas and the palaeography of the coin legend belongs to the fifth century. The coin therefore may have been an issue of the Śālaṅkāyanas. The issuer Chandravarman was probably a grandson of Hastivarman, the opponent of Samudragupta.

(5) The coinage of the Chālukyas of Bādāmi

v2.c17.s2.t9.1

The Chālukyas, who held sway over the Deccan for several centuries, had accepted the *lāñchhana* of the boar, and there can be no doubt that they initiated the coin type which had the Boar on its obverse. Their currency with this symbol must have been very common, since Varāha soon became a common word applied to gold coins in general. Not many specimens of this type, however, have been handed down to our age.

v2.c17.s2.t9.2

We have no inscribed Varāha coins which can be ascribed to any of the rulers of the Chālukya house of Bādāmi. Dr. M. H. Krishna did indeed attribute some uninscribed coins to Pulakeśin II, but the attribution is very doubtful.¹

v2.c17.s2.t9.3

¹ ARMAD, 1933, p. 98.

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Some uninscribed gold coins² have been discovered in the Southern Maratha Country and the Bellary district, which have in the centre a Boar surrounded by punched symbols such as a *Śankha* (conch), a *Chakra* (wheel), a Bow, two *Śris* (Pl. LXV, 5). The reverse has some indented lines. There are other coins also found in the same area, having a Boar with trappings on one side and a Floral design (Pl. LXV, 6) or the Sun on the other (Pl. LXV, 7). The weight of these coins varies from 55 to 58 grains and they might possibly have been struck by some rulers of the House of the Chālukyas of Badāmi.³

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² Elliot, pl. i. 19; 22.

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³ Ibid., pl. i. 21-23.

(6) The coinage of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas

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The Rāṣṭrakūṭa dynasty was a mighty power; for some time it ruled all the territory from the Vindhyas to Rameshwar. On some occasions its armies even penetrated into the Gangetic plain and crossed swords with the forces of northern dynasties like the Pālas and the Pratīhāras. Its princes were lovers of art; they built magnificent temples adorned with beautiful sculptures. But it would seem that they were not interested in coinage. At any rate no coins have so far been found, inscribed or uninscribed, which can be definitely attributed to any ruler of the dynasty. Certain silver hemidrachms from Nasik district having a bust of the Kṣatrapa type on the obverse and a Bull on the reverse with the circular legend *Parama-māheśvara-Mātāpitṛi-pādānudhyāta-s’ri-Kṛiṣṇarājasya*⁴ were once attributed to one of the three Rāṣṭrakūṭa emperors named Kṛiṣṇa. But these have now been shown to have been the issues of the Kalachūri ruler of that name, who flourished during *c.* A.D. 550-75.

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⁴ V. V. Mirashi, CII, vol. iv, pp. clxxx-clxxxi.

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*Dramma*, *suvarṇa*, *gadyāṇaka*, *kalañju*, and *kāsu* are the five coin denominations mentioned in Rāṣṭrakūṭa records. Of these the last two were not current in the Deccan, but in Southern India. The Cambay plates of Govinda IV mention a gift of 1,400 villages yielding a revenue of seven lakhs of *suvarṇas*;⁵ the average revenue of a village was thus 500 *suvarṇas*. Whether the Rāṣṭrakūṭa administration issued any gold coins, and whether, like the *suvarṇas* of Northern India of the earlier period, they had a standard weight of eighty *rattis* or 144 grains, we do not know. It is quite possible that the sum of seven lakhs of *suvarṇas*, which was the revenue of 1,400 villages, represented the approximate gold value of the land revenue in kind collected from these villages. In that case, *suvarṇa* would have been a conventional coin of account. The *gadyāṇaka* was equal to two *kalañjaus* and weighed about 100 grains. No specimens of this coin issued by the Rāṣṭrakūṭas have yet been found. Dr. M. H. Krishna attributed four gold coins of a weight standard of about 60 grains to the Rāṣṭrakūṭas.¹ These have an elaborate floral design on one side and four lions punched round a tank with lotuses on the other. But as the coins bear no legend, this attribution can only be conjectural.

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⁵ EI, vii, 26.

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¹ ARMAD, 1933, p. 99

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One Kanheri Rāṣṭrakūṭa inscription refers to a golden *dramma* and distinguishes it from ordinary *drammas* mentioned earlier.² These ordinary *drammas* were probably silver pieces. The Uruli hoard of Gadhaiya coins discovered in the Poona district belongs to the eighth or the ninth century. Punch-marked types were copied mechanically in the earlier period, and it is not impossible that the Rāṣṭrakūṭa administration might have merely reproduced the Gadhaiya silver type in this unimaginative way, as was done by the Śilāhāra king Chhittarāja. It is, however, also possible that the Uruli hoard may have been the earnings or loot of some Rāṣṭrakūṭa captain participating in the northern campaigns of Govinda III or Indra III. The question whether the Rāṣṭrakūṭas issued any gold or silver currency cannot yet be answered.

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² IA, xiii, 153.

(7) The coinage of the later Cāḷukyas of Kalyāṇi

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Among the pieces struck by the later Cāḷukyas of Kalyāṇi we have gold coins of Jayasiṁha Jagadekamalla (1019-40), Someśvara I Trailokyamalla (1068-76), and Tailapa III (1150, 1182).³ It is quite likely that other rulers of this dynasty issued coins, but if so, they have not so far been found. Dr. M. H. Krishna tentatively suggested that some of the coins with the legend *para* may have been the issues of Tailapa II, but when we remember that the title Parameśvara was common both in the Rāṣṭrakūṭa and the Cāḷukya dynasties, his suggestion must remain merely an unproved conjecture for lack of supporting evidence.

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