Part 5

Skandagupta, the last of the great Gupta kings, who succeeded his father in A.D. 455, was occupied during the earlier part of his reign in defending his empire against the inroads of the Huns, over whom he appears to have gained a decisive victory. This probably accounts for the comparative scarcity of his gold, of which only two types are known. He continued the favourite device of the Archer with the “seated goddess” reverse, and introduced a new type, on the obverse of which the king appears standing on the left, facing the goddess Lakshmī on the right, with the Garuḍa standard between them. But in this reign the gold coinage underwent an important change of a different character. Hitherto all the Gupta gold pieces had been _dināras_ and followed the weight standard adopted by the Kushāṇa kings from the Romans. All Skandagupta’s coins are, on an average, heavier than those of his predecessors; and certain of his Archer coins evidently represent a new standard of about 142 grains, based, perhaps, on the ancient Hindu _suvarṇa_; but along with the increase in weight there is a corresponding depreciation in the purity of the gold.

The successors of Skandagupta—Puragupta, Narasiṅhagupta, Kumāragupta II, Chandragupta III and Vishṇugupta, whose relationship and dates are somewhat doubtful, struck gold coins only of the Archer type, showing a gradual deterioration in design and execution. On a few coins of the same type are found portions of names, such as _Ghaṭo_ and _Jaya_, even more difficult to identify. A certain Prakāśāditya, perhaps identical with Puragupta, struck coins on which the king appears on horseback slaying a lion, a combination of the Horseman and Lion-slayer types (Pl. V, 11).

The inscriptions on Gupta coins are scarcely inferior to the designs in interest: they vary with each successive type and frequently bear a close relation to them. Thus on Samudragupta’s Battle-axe issue the king is described as “_Wielding the axe of Kṛitānta_” (= Yama, the god of Death), while on his Tiger-slayer coins he is given the title _Vyāghraparākramaḥ_, “He who has the prowess of a tiger.” Sometimes varieties of the same type are marked by a difference in the inscription: no less than seven different legends are found on Kumāragupta I’s Archer coins alone. The obverse legend, which encircles the design, usually takes the form of a verse in _Upagīti_ or some other Sanskrit metre, celebrating in highly ornate language the king’s glory on the earth and his future bliss in heaven, attained through his merit acquired by sacrifice. On the gold of Samudragupta six such metrical legends appear; Chandragupta II has only three; while at least twelve are employed by Kumāragupta I. As an example the obverse inscription on one class of Chandragupta II’s Chattra coins (Fig. 4) may be taken: “_Vikramāditya, having conquered the earth, wins heaven by good works_”; or the more ornate legend on a variety of Kumāragupta I’s Horseman type: “_The unconquered Mahendra, invincible, the moon in the sky of the Gupta line, is victorious_.” When a verse appears on the obverse, the reverse legend is distinct, consisting of a title, sometimes the repetition of one which appears already in the metrical obverse inscription, such as _Apratirathaḥ_, “The invincible one,” on the Archer coins of Samudragupta. Sometimes the king’s name and titles only appear, and then the legend on both obverse and reverse is often, though not always, continuous, but here again the reverse inscription, which appears to the right of the device, consists of a single title. Thus on Chandragupta II’s Archer type appears the following: obverse, _Deva-Śrī-Mahārājādhirāja-Śrī-Chandraguptaḥ_; reverse, _Śrī Vikramaḥ_. Entirely distinct in point of their inscriptions from all other Gupta coins are those struck by Samudragupta in memory of his father and mother, known as the Chandragupta I type; on the obverse appear the two names _Chandragupta_ and _Kumāradevī_, and on the reverse his mother’s family name, _Lichchavayaḥ_. This relationship was evidently a matter of pride to the striker. Finally, on the obverse of all coins of the Archer and most of the allied types appears vertically, under or near the king’s left arm, part of the king’s name, as _Samudra_, _Chandra_ or _Kumāra_. This vertical method of inscription can be traced back through the later Kushāṇa coins to a Chinese source.[31]

[31] Coins have been found in Khotān with a Chinese legend on the obverse and a Kharoshṭhī inscription on the reverse. Cf. _P.M.C._, Vol. I, p. 167, Nos. 134, 135.

Whether the symbols which occur regularly on all Gupta gold are anything more than ornaments is doubtful.

The silver coinage of the Guptas starts, as has been already noticed, with the overthrow of the Western Satraps by Chandragupta II. His issues follow those of the conquered nation very closely, except that on the obverse appears a figure of Vishṇu’s sacred bird, Garuḍa, in place of the _chaitya_, and the dates are computed in the Gupta instead of in the Śaka era. Obviously these were intended for circulation in the recently annexed provinces. Kumāragupta, while striking large quantities of the Garuḍa-type coins in the west (Pl. VI, 1), extended the silver coinage to the Central Provinces of his Empire. This latter class of money is entirely distinct in character: the head on the obverse is drawn in a crude but quite original manner, and is probably intended as a portrait of the king; on the reverse the king’s devotion to Kārttikeya is once more displayed in the representation of a peacock with outstretched wings. A third class of silver-plated coins, with a rude figure of Garuḍa on the reverse, seems to have been intended for the tributary state of Valabhī.[32] Skandagupta continued the Garuḍa and Peacock types (Pl. VI, 2) of his father, and introduced two new ones. The coins, of very base silver, with Śiva’s sacred bull Nandi on the reverse, were probably current in Kathiawar; but commoner than any of the preceding are certain ill-shaped pieces with an altar on the reverse. None of the direct descendants of Skandagupta appears to have struck silver, but a few coins of the Peacock type were issued by Budhagupta, a king of Eastern Mālwā, about A.D. 480. The dates which appear on these coins to the left of the obverse head in the Western, and to the right in the Central, issues are frequently defective or illegible. Inscriptions are confined to the reverse, on the Peacock type always a metrical legend, on all other types the king’s name accompanied by high-sounding titles.

[32] In the Kathiawar peninsula, forming part of what was then known as Surāshṭra.

The copper coinage, which is practically confined to the reign of Chandragupta II, is far more original in design. Eight out of the nine types known to have been struck by him have a figure of Garuḍa on the reverse, usually accompanied by the name of the king, while the obverse is occupied by the bust or head of the king, or by a three-quarter length portrait. In one class this is varied by the reproduction of the gold Chattra type obverse (Pl. V, 13). The tiny coins which constitute the ninth type have the word _Chandra_ in the obverse and a flower vase (_kalaśa_) on the reverse. Only four copper pieces are at present known of Kumāragupta.

After the death of Skandagupta, in A.D. 480,[33] the Gupta Empire rapidly broke up. The inferiority and comparative scarcity of his own gold coins, the still more debased issues of his brother Puragupta and subsequent kings, and the disappearance of silver money, bear ample evidence to their curtailed territory.

[33] Or according to Mr. Panna Lal, “Dates of Skandagupta and His Successors,” _Hindustan Review_, January, 1918, in A.D. 467.

The impression produced by the magnificent coinage of the Guptas upon the peoples of Northern India was undoubtedly as great as that created by the currency of their Kushāṇa predecessors; but, after the general devastation caused by the inroads of the Huns, few princes could have retained sufficient wealth in their treasuries to imitate it. It is significant then that the most notable imitations were the product of a mint, secured by its remoteness from the ruthless hand of the invader, in Central Bengal. These remarkable and not uncommon coins, with Śiva reclining on his bull Nandi on the obverse, and the goddess Lakshmī seated on a lotus on the reverse (Pl. V, 12), were struck by Śaśāṅka, king of Gauḍa (circ. 600-625), notorious as the assassinator of Harshavardhana’s elder brother, and a great “persecutor of Buddhism.” In Bengal, too, for many years after the passing of the Gupta Empire, were current flat gold pieces with crude reproductions of Gupta designs, and, with the exception of the word _Śrī_ on the obverse, completely illegible inscriptions. Another rather striking coin connected with the Gupta series, with a standing bull on the obverse, bears the name _Śrī Vīrasena_, but who Vīrasena was is at present unknown. A modification of the seated goddess motif was preserved on the gold coinage of certain mediæval Rājpūt kingdoms.

KEY TO PLATE VII

1. Gold globule, with faint punch-mark on reverse. Wt. about 52 grs.

2. Padma-ṭaṅka. AV. Wt. 57 grs. Obv., eight-petalled lotus, surrounded by “Śaṅka” and two other symbols. Inscription in a form of Nāgarī.

3. Pāṇḍya. AV. Wt. 57 grs. Obv., two fishes under canopy; to right, lamp, to left, “chauri” (fly-whisk). Rev., undeciphered inscription.

4. Eastern Chālukya: Rājarāja. AV. Wt. 66·8 grs. Obv., in centre, boar to right; around, _Śrī Rājarāja Saṁvat 35_.

5. Koṅgudeśa. AV. Wt. 60·2 grs. Obv., ornate elephant to right. Rev., floral scroll design.

6. Choḷa. AR. Wt. 52 grs. Obv. and Rev., tiger seated under a canopy, behind it a bow, in front two fish, whole flanked by two fly-whisks. In Nāgarī, below, _Śrī Rājendraḥ_.

7. Ceylon: Parākrama Bāhu. Æ. Obv., standing king. Rev., seated goddess. In Nāgarī, _Śrī Parākramabāhu_.

8. Pallava or Chālukya (?). AR. Wt. 103·9 grs. Obv., lion to right. Rev., vase on stand, circle of rays.

9. Kerala. AR. Wt. 36·3 grs. Obv., undeciphered inscription. Rev., in Nāgarī, _Śrī Vīrakeralasya_.

10. Kalīkūt: Tīpū. AV. Fanam. Wt. about 5·2 grs. Obv., Persian “hē” (= Ḥaidar). Rev., in Persian, _Kalīkūt, 1199_.

11. Vijayanagar: Kṛishṇa Deva Rāya. AV. Half pagoda. Wt. about 26 grs. Obv., Vishṇu seated with discus and conch. Rev., in Nāgarī, _Śrī Pratāpa Kṛishṇa Rāya_.

12. Id: Harihara II. AV. Half pagoda. Wt. 25 grs. Obv., god and goddess seated. Rev., in Nāgarī, _Śrī Pratāpa Harihara_.

13. Kananūr: ’Ali Rāja. AV. Obv., in Arabic, _Al-wālīu-l-mulk ’Alī Rāja_, “The guardian of the kingdom, ’Alī Rāja.” Rev., _Bi-l-hijrati as-sina 1194_, “In the Hijrī year 1194.”

KEY TO PLATE VIII

1. Altamsh. Æ. Obv., in hexagon, _’Adl_. Rev., in square, inscribed in a circle, _As-sult̤ān_.

2. Id: AR. Wt. about 165 grs. Rev., in square, inscribed in a circle, _As-sult̤ānu-l-a’z̤am Shamsu-d-dunyā wa-d-dīn abu-l-muz̤affar Altamsh as-sult̤ān_, “The supreme sultan, the sun of the world and the faith, the father of the victorious, Altamsh the sultan.” Marginal legends incomplete.

3. Raẓiya. Bil. Wt. about 54 grs. Obv., horseman to right. Around, in Nāgarī, _Śrī Hamīrah_ (= the Amīr). Rev., in Arabic, _As-sult̤ānu-l-a’z̤am Raẓiyatu-d-dunyā wa-d-dīn_.

4. Ghiyās̤u-d-dīn Balban. Bil. Wt. about 55 grs. Obv., in circle, in Arabic, _Balban_; around, in Nāgarī, _Śrī Sultān Giyāsudīn_. Rev., in Arabic, _As-sult̤ānu-l-a’z̤am Ghiyās̤u-d-dunyā wa-d-dīn_.

5. ’Alāu-d-dīn Muḥammad. Dehlī. 698 A.H. AV. Wt. 170 grs. Obv., in a circle, _Sikandaru-s̤-s̤ānī yamīnu-l-khilāfati nāṣiru amīru-l-mominīn_, “The second Alexander, the right hand of the Khalifate, the helper of the commander of the faithful”; margin, _Ẓuriba hazihi-s-sikkatu bi ḥaẓrati Dehlī fī sinate s̤amāna wa tis ’aina wa sittami ’ata_, “Struck this coin at the capital, Dehlī, in the year eight and ninety and six hundred.” Rev., as on No. 2, but title, _’Alāu-d-dunyā wa-d-dīn_, and name _Muḥammad Shāh_.

6. Qut̤bu-d-dīn Mubārak. 719 A.H. Bil. Wt. 80 grs. Obv., in circle, _Ḵẖ̱alīfatu ’llah Mubārak Shāh_, “The Khalif of God, Mubārak Shāh”; around, _As-sult̤an al wās̤iqu bi ’llah amīru-l-mominīn_, “The sultan, the truster in God, the commander of the faithful.” Rev., _Al imāmu-l-a’z̤am Qut̤bu-d-dunyā wa-d-dīn abu-l-muz̤affar_, “The Supreme Imām, Qut̤bu-d-dīn, the father of the victorious.”

7. Muḥammad bin Tughlaq. Dehlī. 726 A.H. AV. Wt. 199 grs. Obv., in circle, _Al wās̤iqu bi taʾīdu-r-rahman_ (“The truster in the help of the Merciful”) _Muḥammad Shāh as-sult̤ān_. Margin similar to that on No. 5, but _hazihi-d-dīnār_ and date 726 in Arabic words. Rev., _Ashhadu an lā ilāha illallaho wa ashhadu an Muḥammadan ’abduhu wa rasūluhu_, “I testify that there is no god but God, and I testify that Muḥammad is his servant and apostle.”

8. Id: in the name of the Khalif Al Ḥākim. Bil. Wt. about 140 grs. Obv., within quatrefoil, _Al Ḥākim b’ amru ’llah_. Rev., within quatrefoil, _Abū-l-’abbās Aḥmad_.

9. Id: Forced Currency. Tulghlaqpūr, 730 A.H. Brass. Wt. about 140 grs. Obv., in circle, _Man atā’ as-sult̤ān faqad atā’ ar-rahmān_, “He who obeys the sultan surely he obeys the Merciful”; margin, in Persian, _Dar iqlīm-i-Tug̱ẖlaqpūr’urf Tirhut sāl bar hafsad sī_ “(Struck) in the territory of Tulghlaqpūr, alias Tirhut, in the year seven hundred and thirty.” Rev., in Persian, _Muhar shud tankah-i-ra’īj dar rūzgāh-i-bandah-i-ummīdwār Muḥammad Tug̱ẖlaq_, “Stamped as a tankah current in the reign of the slave, hopeful (of mercy), Muḥammad Tughlaq.”

10. Fīroz Shāh. Dehlī. 773 A.H. Bil. Wt. 140 grs. Obv., _Al Khalīfatu amiru-l-mominīn khuldat khilāfatuhu 773_, “The Khalif of the Commander of the faithful, may the Khalifate be perpetuated.” Rev., _Fīroz Shāh sult̤ānī ẓuriba bi ḥaẓrati Dehlī_, cf. No. 5, Obv., margin.

11. Fīroz Shāh Z̤afar. AV. Wt. 169 grs. Obv., in circle, _Fī zamani-l-imāmi amīru-l-mominīn Abu ’Abdu ’llah khuldat khilāfatuhu_, “In the time of the Imām, the commander of the faithful, Abu ’Abdu ’llah,” etc.; margin illegible. Rev., _As-sult̤ānu-l-a’z̤am Fīroz Shāh Z̤afar Shāh ibn-i-Fīroz Shāh sult̤ānī_, “The supreme sultan Fīroz Shāh Z̤afar Shāh, son of Fīroz Shāh, sultan.”

12. Abūbakr Shāh. 792 A.H. Æ. Wt. about 102 grs. Obv., in square, _Abūbakr Shāh_; in margin, _bin Z̤afar bin Fīroz Shāh sult̤ānī_. Rev., _Nāʾībi amīru-l-mominīn 792_, “The deputy of the Commander of the faithful.”

13. Bahlol Lodī. Dehlī. 858 A.H. Bil. Wt. 140-146 grs. Obv., _Fī zamani amīru-l-mominīn khuldat khilāfatuhu 858_. Rev., _Al mutawakkilu ’ala-r-rahmān_ (“Trusting in the Merciful one”) _Bahlol Shāh sult̤ān bi ḥaẓrati Dehlī_.

The western silver coinage of the Guptas may have been imitated by some of the powerful Maitraka rulers of Valabhī, who asserted their independence at the end of the fifth century: coins bearing the name Kṛishṇarāja, at present unidentified, are copied from Skandagupta’s bull type. Far more important are the coins struck by Īśānavarman, the Maukhari, and his successors, whose kingdom was in Bihār. These follow the Central Peacock type, but the head on the obverse, excepting the issue of one king, is turned to the left instead of to the right. These otherwise insignificant coins have a twofold interest: they were copied by the Hun Toramāṇa; and, more important still, the name appearing on the last and most abundant coins of the series is Śilāditya (Pl. VI, 3), who is almost certainly to be identified with the great Harshavardhana of Thāṇeśar and Kanauj, himself a relation of the Maukhari princes. What further strengthens this conjecture is the fact that the dates on the Śilāditya coins are reckoned in a new era, doubtless that which commenced with Harshavardhana’s coronation in A.D. 606, whereas the Maukhari kings use the Gupta era. It is striking testimony to the havoc wrought by the Hun invasions that these tiny silver pieces are the only coins[34] known to have been issued by this great king, who built up on the ruins of Northern India an empire scarcely less extensive than that of the Guptas.

[34] Certain thin silver coins of Sassanian type have been doubtfully ascribed to him. Cf. Rapson, _Indian Coins_, p. 34, § 122.

The copper money of the Guptas was copied by the Hun princes, Toramāṇa and Mihiragula, but left no legacy behind, unless the small coins which record the names of six Nāga princes of Narwar in Northern Rājputāna may have been derived from it.

V

MEDIÆVAL COINAGES OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL INDIA TILL THE MUHAMMADAN CONQUEST

The centuries which elapsed between that great turning point in Indian history, the Hun invasions, and the coming of the Muhammadans in the twelfth century, suggest several points of comparison with the so-called Dark Ages of European history. It was an age of transition, pregnant with important developments for the future, but individualistic expression, both in art and literature, remained largely in abeyance. This want of originality is particularly marked in the limited coinage of the numerous petty kingdoms which flourished and declined during the seventh, eighth and ninth centuries. The most important movement of the time was the rise of the Rājpūt clans, which were now emerging as the dominant powers in Hindustān. The Bull and Horseman type in the Rājpūt coinage symbolises this new force. In addition to the issues of the Huns and the Rājpūt dynasties will be described the money of Kashmīr, which, protected by its mountainous frontiers, ordinarily remained shut off from the influence of political events which agitated the kingdoms of the plains.

I. COINS OF THE HUNS AND INDO-SASSANIANS

The military occupation of India by the Huns, or Hūṇas, lasted but thirty years. By A.D. 500 Toramāṇa, leader of the tribe known as the White Huns or Ephthalites, had established himself in Mālwā. On his death, two years later, his successor, Mihiragula, completed the conquest of Northern India, fixing his capital at Śākala (Siālkōt) in the Panjāb, but was driven out by a confederacy of Hindu princes under the leadership of Yasodharman of Mālwā in A.D. 528. He thereupon seized the kingdom of Kashmīr, where he ruled till his death in 542. Probably there were other Hūṇa chiefs who struck coins in India, but the legends on their coins are so fragmentary that their names have not as yet been satisfactorily deciphered. On some of the earliest Hūṇa imitations of Sassanian silver coins, for example, the legend _Shāhī Javūvlah_ appears, but whether this is the name of a king or merely a title is uncertain. No Hūṇa coins show any originality of design. The majority are either imitated from or restruck upon Sassanian silver pieces. The heads of both Toramāṇa and Mihiragula (Pl. VI, 4) on the obverse are coarse and brutal to the last degree; on the reverse appear the usual Sassanian fire-altar and attendants; the inscriptions are generally in Nāgarī script. Toramāṇa also copied the silver coinage of the Maukharīs (Pl. VI, 7). The copper of both princes show traces of Sassanian and Gupta influence; the reverses especially recall the fabric of Chandragupta II’s copper issues. Kushāṇa copper was imitated by Mihiragula, probably during his reign in Kashmīr.

Although the Huns were mainly instrumental in introducing Sassanian types into India, it seems certain that shortly after their invasion a Sassanian dynasty, or a dynasty acknowledging the suzerainty of Persia, was established in Western India; for coins with bilingual inscriptions in Pahlavī and Nāgarī have been found, directly imitated from Sassanian issues. One of these bears the name Shāhī Tigin, and the Nāgarī legend reads, “_King of India and Persia_.” Another class with the name Vāsudeva is directly copied from a type of the coinage of the Sassanian Khusrū Parvīz struck in 627; but the best known and the most finely executed are the flat copper and silver pieces (Pl. VI, 5) which bear the name _Napkī Malik_; but whether this prince was a Persian or a Hun is doubtful.

These Sassanian coins were the prototypes of degenerate base silver pieces which are found in large quantities throughout Rājputāna, and must have served as currency for the early Rājpūt states there for centuries. At first they preserve the thin flat fabric of their models (Pl. VI, 6), but as the head on the obverse and the fire-altar on the reverse become more debased they grow thicker and more dumpy. The curious coins known as _Gadhiya Paisa_ (Pl. VI, 8), which circulated in the same districts and also in Gujarāt, probably down to a later period, also show traces of a Sassanian origin. The silver coins with the legend _Śrīmad Ādivarāha_ on the reverse, and Vishṇu in his boar avatar (Varāha) as the type of the obverse, retain traces of a fire-altar below the inscription. These have been attributed to the powerful Bhoja-deva of Kanauj (840-890), whose family, Gurjara in origin, had formerly ruled in south Rājputāna. Very similar in fabric are those inscribed _Śrī Vigraha_, assigned to Vigrahapāla I, circ. A.D. 910, of the Bengal Pāla dynasty.

All these debased coins follow the weight standard of their Sassanian originals, which represented the Attic drachma of 67·5 grains, and in inscriptions they are actually called “_drammas_.”

II. COINS OF THE RĀJPŪT DYNASTIES

The coins of the various Rājpūt princes ruling in Hindustān and Central India are usually gold, copper or billon, very rarely silver. The gold coins are all “_drammas_” in weight; the usual type, which appears to have been struck first by Gāṅgeya-deva Vikramāditya (1015-1040) of the Kalachuri dynasty of Ḍahāla (Jabalpūr), bears the familiar goddess (Lakshmī) on the obverse (Pl. VI, 10), with a slight deviation from the Gupta device, in that the goddess has four instead of two arms; on the reverse is an inscription giving the king’s name in old Nāgarī (Fig. 5). Of the same type are the gold coins of six Chandel kings of Mahoba (Pl. VI, 9) in Bundelkhand (circ. 1055-1280), of the Tomara dynasty of Ajmer and Dehlī (978-1128), and of the Rāṭhor kings of Kanauj (1080-1193). On the conquest of Kanauj, Muḥammad of G̱ẖ̱or actually struck a few gold pieces in this style. On the gold of the last three princes of the Kalachuri dynasty of Mahākośala, in the Central Provinces (circ. 1060-1140), a rampant lion is substituted for the seated goddess on the obverse.