An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c13.s5: 8.5 Coins
An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c13.s5
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8.5 Coins
v1.c13.s5.1
Foreign coins recovered from different sites are many and varied. The earliest ones are Persian and Greek coins from Taxila. Later on come the vast number of Roman coins mainly from s. India, highlighting the trade relations between Rome and India. They fall under three periods: (1) the pre-Augustan period; (2) the Imperial age of Rome from Augustus (23 B.C. to A.D. 14) to Nero; and (3) the period beginning with the death of Nero (A.D. 68) and ending with Caracalla (217). In the Roman coins, found in India one often comes across a groove engraved on the face of the emperor. This device seems to be due to the necessity of avoiding Roman gold flowing back to the w. Holes bored in some coins further testify to their being used as ornamental pendants. Since Roman *aurei* and *denarii* were current throughout w. India it strongly influenced the Kushan and Kṣatrapa coinage.
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There are chance finds of Chinese, Sinhalese and Arab coins too. During the Pallava and Coḷa periods (7th to 13th centuries) there was trade contact between India and China, as a result of which Chinese coins flowed into India. As many as 20 coins, all of copper, with different weights ranging from 1·86 to 7·64 g, have been discovered at Vikraman, Dt Thanjavur. Among them three belong to the T’ang and the rest to the K’uang-yin period (713-42). Among the Thanjavur coins discovered recently there are 17 Chinese coins which represent the entire Sung period (960-1279). Along the Coramandel coast a number of perforated Chinese coins have been found. Gold and silver coins of the early Caliphate dynasties—Omayyad and Abbasid—have been found in Malabar. Their dates range from the 7th to the end of the 9th century. The find of these early Caliphate coins is a testimony to the early contact of the Arab traders with s. India.
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The discovery of Ceylonese coins in the s. Dts of India and of Coḷa and Pandya coins in Ceylon attest to the close commercial and political contacts between Ceylon and Tamil Nadu. The earliest Ceylonese coins may go back to the 10th century. They are often referred to in contemporary inscriptions as *īḻakkāśu* and were used side by side with the regular local coins.
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Allchin, B , & R , 1968, *Birth of Indian Civilization*, Harmondsworth, pp. 150-3 Deshpande, M N., 1965, in *Le Rayonnement des Civilizations grécque et romaine sur les cultures peripheriques*, Paris, Text Elliot, S W , 1970, *Coins of s India*, Varanasi, reprint Khandalawala, K., 1960, in *Lalit Kalā*, 7 (for Brahmapuri). Lal, B B.. 1953, in *AI*, 9 (for Nagpur cylinder seal) Marshall, J , 1951, *Taxila*, 3 vols., Cambridge. Piggott, S., 1944, in *Antiquity*, 18, 70 (for s. cylinder seals). Rao, S.R., 1973, *Lothal & the Indus Civilization*, Bombay. Saboor, M.A., 1914, in *Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bombay*, 10, N.S., 11 (for Nagpur cylinder seal). Schoff, W.H., 1912, *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*, New York. Sewell, R., 1904, in *Jour Royal Asiatic Soc.* (for Roman coins) Srivastava, B., 1964, in *Jour Numismatic Soc. Ind . 16* (for Roman coins) Thapar, B.K., 1957, in *AI*, 13 (for Maski seal). Wheeler, M . 1954, *Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontiers*, London For sites see respective entries in vol II —K.V. RAMAN