Administrative System of the Marathas c23.s8.1

c23.s8.1

The origin of another Maratha village officer, *viz.*, the Potdar, can be traced to the Maurya days. The Potdar was a Sonar or goldsmith by caste, and his duty was to assay coins. Kautilya mentions an examiner of coins,²⁹ and lays down that no gold coin should be accepted by the treasury officer unless its purity has been attested to by the examiner of coins (or Rupadarsaka).³⁰ It was his duty to regulate currency both as a medium of exchange and as legal tender admissible into the treasury.³¹ Whether Kautilya's Rupadarsaka was like the Maratha Potdar a goldsmith by caste or profession we do not know, but it may be noticed here that the officer in charge of the Maurya mint was, as in Maratha days, a goldsmith. While in Shivaji's time and under the Peshwa regime the goldsmiths obtained license, on the payment of a premium, for opening and working mints under certain stipulations and reservations, the Maurya kings had mints of their own, and these were worked under the supervision of the State goldsmith.