The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c17.s2.t9: (5) The coinage of the Chālukyas of Bādāmi
The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c17.s2.t9
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(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.
v2.c17.s2.t9.4
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
v2.c17.s2.t9.5
² Elliot, pl. i. 19; 22.
v2.c17.s2.t9.6
³ Ibid., pl. i. 21-23.