The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c17.s2.t10: (6) The coinage of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas
The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c17.s2.t10
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(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.