Coins of Ancient and Medieval India

A coin is a piece of metal of a fixed weight, stamped with marks that guarantee its value as money. The study of coins and medallions is called numismatics. The word "coin" itself comes from the Latin cuneus. The first recorded use of coins was in China and Greece around 700 BC, and in India in the sixth century BC.

Coins are among the most valuable sources for ancient and medieval history. They reveal the names and titles of rulers, the dates and eras in use, the gods a dynasty worshipped, the scripts and languages of an age, and the reach of trade. Early coins were die-struck by hand, so they were not uniform in shape or design. Across this topic, track three things for every series: the metal, the motif (symbol or portrait), and the script/language.

Punch-marked coins are India's earliest coins. They were largely cast and then die-struck on one side, with one to five marks or symbols "incused" (punched in) on a single face, hence the name. Each weight unit was called a Ratti (about 0.11 gram). Panini's grammar, the Ashtadhyayi, refers to metal pieces stamped with symbols. The first of these coins appeared between the sixth and second centuries BC and fall into two phases:

• Mahajanapada coins (around 6th century BC): the earliest were silver pieces called Puranas, Karshapanas or Pana, minted by the Janapadas and Mahajanapadas of the Indo-Gangetic plain. They were irregular in shape but of standard weight, and carried distinctive marks:
  • Saurashtra: a humped bull.
  • Dakshina Panchala: a Swastika.
  • Magadha: generally five symbols.
• The Magadhan punch-marked coins became the most widely circulated coins in South Asia. They are mentioned in the Manusmriti and in Buddhist Jataka stories. They survived three centuries longer in the south than in the north.
• Mauryan coins (322–185 BC): Chanakya (Kautilya), minister to Chandragupta Maurya, names several types in the Arthashastra:
  • Rupyarupa (silver), Suvarnarupa (gold), Tamrarupa (copper) and Sisarupa (lead).
  • The most consistent symbols were the sun and a six-armed wheel.
  • The silver coins averaged 50–54 grains and weighed about 32 rattis. They too were called Karshapanas.

Coins arrived late in the story of Indian civilisation. Keep the order of these milestones clear:

• Urban culture: India's first cities belong to the Harappan civilisation, around 2600 BC. Urban life therefore came first, long before any money in metal.
• Iron plough: iron tools and the iron plough spread around 1000–800 BC. They transformed agriculture in the Gangetic plain, still centuries before coinage.
• Silver punch-marked coins: the first true coins, from the sixth century BC, as described above.
• Gold coins: regular gold coinage in India began only with the Kushanas, around the first century AD. Gold thus entered Indian coinage many centuries after silver.

So the correct sequence runs: urban culture, then the iron plough, then punch-marked silver coins, and gold coins last.

The Indo-Greeks ruled from about 180 BC to 10 AD and transformed Indian coinage. They introduced the fashion of showing the bust or head of the ruler on the coin. This made these the first true portrait coins in India. Their key features:

• Bilingual legends: Greek on one side and Pali in the Kharosthi script on the other.
• These were the first Indian coins to carry detailed information about the issuing monarch, including the year of issue and often the king's image.
• Metals used were mainly silver, copper, nickel and lead.
• Common Greek gods and goddesses depicted were Zeus, Hercules, Apollo and Pallas Athene. Later issues added Indian deities as well.

The Kushans, who followed, carried the Greek custom further:

• Their coins showed the helmeted bust of the king on one side and his favourite deity on the reverse.
• Coins issued by Kanishka used only Greek characters.
• The vast Kushan coinage influenced many later tribes, dynasties and kingdoms. They began issuing coins of their own.

The Satavahanas ruled in the Deccan from after 232 BC to about 227 AD. Their coins are plain but historically rich:

• Lead was the main metal, while silver coins were rare. They also used potin (an alloy of silver and copper) and many copper coins.
• The usual motifs were an elephant, horse, lion or chaitya on one side.
• The reverse carried the Ujjain symbol, a cross with four circles at the ends of the two crossing lines.
• The language used was Prakrit.
• The coins of the last Satavahana king, Yajna Sri Satakarni, bore the figure of a ship. This hints at the dynasty's naval and trading strength.

Apart from coins, the cowrie shell was a major medium of exchange in early India. Ordinary people used it for small everyday transactions, and it carried a definite market value.

The Western Satraps (or Indo-Scythians, 35–405 AD) ruled western India, covering Malwa, Gujarat and Kathiawar. They were of Saka origin:

• Their coins bear dates in the Saka era, which began in 78 AD. This is a key reason they matter to historians.
• One side shows the head of the king, while the other carries a Buddhist chaitya or stupa, a device borrowed from the Satavahanas.
• Prakrit was generally used, written in several scripts.

The Gupta age (319 AD–550 AD) is the golden age of Indian coinage, marking a great Hindu revival. Its features:

• Coins were mainly of gold (often called dinaras), though silver and copper were also issued. Silver coins began only after Chandragupta II overthrew the Western Satraps.
• The obverse showed the king in varied scenes: making offerings at an altar, playing the veena, performing the ashvamedha (horse sacrifice), riding a horse or elephant, or slaying a lion or tiger.
• The reverse depicted goddesses and deities. These included Lakshmi seated on a throne or lotus, and also Durga, Ganga, Garuda and Kartikeya, or sometimes the queen herself.
• For the first time in the history of Indian coins, the inscriptions were in Sanskrit, written in the Brahmi script.
• Gupta kings stamped their given names on the front and assumed titles ending in "-aditya" (sun) on the back.

After the Gupta collapse in the sixth century, caused by Hun invasions, coinage fragmented. Among the successor states:

• Vardhanas: silver coins of Harshavardhana showed the king's head on one side and a peacock on the other, dated in a new era beginning AD 606 (his coronation).
• Chalukyas: Western Chalukyan coins (6th century, capital Badami, founded by Pulakesin I) showed a temple or lion with one side blank. Eastern Chalukyan coins (7th century) showed a central boar symbol.
• Rajput dynasties (11th–12th century): coins of gold, copper or billon (silver-copper alloy). One type showed the king's name in Sanskrit with a goddess. Another type, from Gandhara/Sindh, showed a seated bull and a horseman.
• Pandyas and Cholas: Pandyan coins were square with an elephant, later a fish symbol. Raja Raja I's coins showed a standing king and a seated goddess. Rajendra I's coins carried the legend "Gangaikonda Chola" with tiger and fish emblems. Pallava coins bore a lion.

With the Turkish and Delhi Sultanate rulers, coinage became Islamic and aniconic, carrying no image of the ruler. This was because of the prohibition of idolatry in Islam. Its features:

• Inscriptions gave the king's name, title and date as per the Hijri calendar.
• For the first time, the name of the mint was inscribed on coins.
• The Sultans issued gold, silver, copper and billon coins.
• Iltutmish introduced the silver Tanka and the copper Jital.
• Alauddin Khilji dropped the name of the Khalif and replaced it with self-praising titles.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq circulated bronze and copper coins and issued token paper-like currency, which failed.
• Sher Shah Suri (1540–1545) set two weight standards: 178 grains for silver and 330 grains for copper. These were later known as the rupee and the dam. He is credited with founding the rupee.

In the south, the Vijayanagara Empire (14th–17th century) issued large quantities of gold coins (plus silver and copper):

• Pagodas: high-value gold coins with a running warrior and dagger. Fanams and taras were fractional units.
• Inscriptions were in Kannada or Sanskrit. Motifs included a double-headed eagle (Gandaberunda), a bull, an elephant and Hindu deities.
• Krishna Deva Raya (1509–1529) issued the gold varahan with a seated Vishnu and the legend "Shri Pratap Krishna Raya" in Sanskrit.

Mughal coinage is admired for its purity, weight standards and calligraphy. Its three standard pieces were:

• Mohur: the standard gold coin of about 170–175 grains. Abul Fazl records in the Ain-i-Akbari that one mohur equalled nine rupees. Half and quarter mohurs are also known.
• Rupee: the famous silver coin, adopted from Sher Shah's currency.
• Dam: the copper coin, also from Sher Shah, weighing 320–330 grains.

Ruler-specific issues to remember:

• Akbar struck both round and square coins. In 1579 he issued gold Ilahi coins to promote his creed Din-i-Ilahi, inscribed "God is great, may his glory be glorified". One Ilahi coin was worth 10 rupees. The Sahansah was his largest gold coin, and his coins bore the names of the Persian solar months.
• Jahangir gave his legends in couplets and sometimes added the name of his wife Nur Jahan. He is most famous for coins showing the signs of the Zodiac.

A few later figures continued distinctive coinages:

• Chhatrapati Shivaji issued gold huns and copper shivarais with his titles in the Nagari script.
• The Wodeyar dynasty of Mysore issued coins bearing the Narasimha avatar of Vishnu.
• Tipu Sultan used two eras on his coins.