by E.J. Rapson, M.A., M.R.A.S.
The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
1900
CONTENTS.
PLATE / PAGE
1. Uddehika / 98
2. Uddehika: Suryamitra / 98
3. Upagoda / 102
4. Seal of Nandivardha or Nandivrddha / 103
5. Seal of Mamma / 106
6. Arjunayana / 106
7. Eran / 108
8. Hindu Princes of Mathura: Uttamadatta
9-11 Hindu Princes of Mathura: Sesadatta; Hindu Princes of Mathura: Kamadatta Surya-[? Arya-]-mitra, Visnumitra (unpublished) / 111
12. ? Udumbara or Mathura: Mahadeva / 112
13. Dynasty uncertain: ? Bhumidatta or Bhimadatta / 113
14. ? Mathura: (?) Sisucandrata / 114
15. ? Mathura: Virasena / 116
16, 17. Naga Dynasty of Padmavati: Prabhakara / 116
18. Silaharas of the Northern Konkan: Chittaraja / 118
19. Dynasty uncertain: Vatsadaman / 123
20. Dynasty uncertain: Saravarman / 134
With the kind permission of the Council of the Society, I purpose from time to time to contribute a series of notes on such unpublished or noteworthy coins and seals of Ancient and Mediaeval India as come under my notice; and I shall be greatly obliged to collectors of these objects if they will submit to me at the British Museum any specimens about which they may desire information.
The object of these Notes will be partly to correct and bring up to date the account of Indian Coins, which I contributed to Buhler's Encyclopaedia of Indo-Aryan Research,1 [Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde, ii. Band, v. Haft, B. (Trubner: Strassburg, 1898.)] and partly to indicate to collectors of coins in India those classes of which farther specimens are required for study.
Comparatively few of the very numerous series of Indian coins have yet been systematically collected. The attractions of the Graeco-Indian class have apparently diverted the attention of most collectors from a study of the purely native ancient and mediaeval coinages. But there can be no doubt of the great historical importance of these latter. Their evidence, joined to that of the stone and copper-plate inscriptions, furnishes practically the only data supplied by India herself for the reconstruction of her history. The extent to which this reconstruction has already been successfully made with the aid of such apparently inadequate and unpromising materials surely leaves no doubt of the extreme importance, from the historical point of view, of the study of Indian inscriptions and coins. The old gibe that Indian dates were merely so many pins set up to be bowled down again is now anything but true. The outline of Indian history is securely drawn, and many of the details are already filled in. The future progress which scholars will be able to make in this work depends principally on the amount of new material with which they are supplied by those who have opportunities of making discoveries and observations in India.
UDDEHIKA.
1. Obv. Humped bull to r.; above, tree within railing represented horizontally.
Rev.
(Udehaki). Above, three symbols, viz., the 'Ujjain' symbol, two fishes within oblong, and tree within railing.
B.M.; Bush, 65: 8-2: 2. AE -75; Pl. 1.
UDDEHIKA: SURYAMITRA
2. Obv. (almost obliterated). Elephant to l.; beneath, five-hooded snake, and (?) tree within railing, both represented horizontally; at top l., counter-mark.
Rev.
[-] (Udeha [-]).
(Suyami[ta-]).
Beneath, three symbols, probably as on No. 1, but in reversed order, viz., tree within railing, two fishes within oblong, and (?) the Ujjain symbol.
B.M.; Armstrong, 90: 1-8: 1. AE -75; Pl. 2.
The Uddehikas (vv. ll. Audehika, Auddehika) are mentioned in Varahamihira's Brhat-samhita among the peoples who are placed in the central portion of his astrological chart1; [xiv, 3, ed, Kern, and trans., p. 88 = J.R.A.S., 1871, p. 82.] but, apparently, their name has not hitherto been read on coins.
Varāhamihira's (c. 505 – c. 587) most notable works were the Brihat Samhita... The chapters of the Brihat Samhita and verses of Varahamihira were quoted by the Persian traveler and scholar Al Biruni [(973 – after 1050)]...
Although the [encyclopedic Brihat-Samhita] is mostly about divination, it also includes a wide range of subjects other than divination. It covers wide-ranging subjects of human interest, including astronomy, planetary movements, eclipses, rainfall, clouds, architecture, growth of crops, manufacture of perfume, matrimony and domestic relations. The volume expounds on gemstone evaluation criterion found in the Garuda Purana, and elaborates on the sacred Nine Pearls from the same text....
External Link: The Brihat Jataka of Varaha Mihira, Aryan Miscellany, Astrological Series, translated into English by N. Chidambaram Aiyar, B.A., Fellow of the Theosophical Society and Founder of the Tiruvadi Jotistantra Sabha, 1905, Madras, printed by Thompson & Co., in the "Theosophist" Department of the "Minerva" Press, 33, Popham's Broadway, For Sale at the Theosophist Office, Adyar, Madras, India
-- Varāhamihira, by Wikipedia
The form Udehaki which occurs here is, no doubt, a tadvaja formation denoting 'the prince of the Uddehikas,' though, in accordance with the rule of Panini, iv, 1, 173,1 Referred to in P.W., s.v. 'Audumbari.'] should rather have expected to find Audehaki (Odehaki). Another instance of this formation is afforded by the inscriptions in Brahmi and Kharosthi characters on the silver coin of the Udumbaras, published by General Sir A. Cunningham (Coins of Ancient India, p, 67, pl. iv, 1). While we find in the Brhat-samhita the forms Udambara or Audumbara to denote the people or the kingdom, we have on this coin the genitive Odumbarisa (Audumbareh) standing in opposition to the king's name and his other titles, Mahadevasa rano Dharaghosasa. The same form probably occurs on the square bronze coin which follows (id., p. 68, pl. iv, 2). We possess, unfortunately, only a drawing of this specimen, and it is, therefore, not possible to be quite certain as to the reading; but, even on the evidence of this drawing, the fourth aksara certainly seems to be -ri rather than -ra, as read by Cunningham. A similar distinction is, no doubt, regularly observed between the forms Mukhara and Maukhari. Thus, for example, in Makharanam bhubhujam (Fleet, Corpus Inscr. Indic, iii, p. 229) the first genitive is dependent on the second — "of the lords of Mukhara (or of the Mukhara people)"; while in Bhupanam Maukharinam (id., p. 222) the two genitives are in opposition —"of the lords, the Maukharis." It seems impossible to determine, from the two specimens in the British Museum, whether an inscription in Brahmi characters, occurring on certain of the negama coins or 'guild-tokens'2 [For references, see Rapson, Indian Coins, § 6. ] found in the neighbourhood of Taxila, should be read Amtarotaka or Amtarotaki.3 [Figured in Cunningham, Coins of Ancient India, pl. iii, 11.] If the discovery of more complete specimens should prove the latter reading to be correct, we should probably be justified in regarding it as a tad-raja formation, meaning 'the prince of Antarotaka,' and in supposing that other forms found on these negama coins, such as Dajaka and Talimata (or Ralimata), are also names or titles of rulers.
The king's name, Suryamitra, may be recovered with almost absolute certainty from the portions of the inscription still remaining on the coin, No. 2, above described. The most probable restoration of this inscription is Udeha[ki-] Suyam[itasa], and the letters which are certain leave scarcely a possibility of doubt as to the reading of both name and title. The style of the Brahmi characters on these coins seems to justify us in assigning to them a date at least as early as the third century before Christ. We have at present no other evidence of the existence of a king named Suryamitra at this period. The king of North Pancala (Sunga), who bears this name, probably belongs to a somewhat later date; perhaps to the second century B.C.1 [Cunningham, C.A.I., p. 82, pl. vii, 4; Rapson, Indian Coins, § 53.] The same name has also been read on coins of Ayodhya, possibly of the second or first century B.C.; but this may be due to a mistake. The inscription on these coins seems not to be Suya-, Saya-, or Ayu-mitrasa, each of which readings has been suggested, but almost certainly Ayyamitrasa (i.e. Aryamitrasya). The description of this coinage given in Indian Coins (pl. iv, 3), should probably be corrected accordingly; but it must be borne in mind that the letters a and su at this period are very easily confused. Much the same remarks apply to the name of one of the Hindu Princes of Mathura, as represented on his coins; it is not possible from the available specimens to be quite certain whether it is Aryamitra or Suryamitra.
These coins of Uddehika — like some of the coins of Eran, which they resemble in other respects also — are examples of an interesting stage in the art of coin-making in India. Their types, struck from single dies, are simply made up of a collection of those symbols which, at an earlier period, were impressed one at a time by different punches.2 [Indian Coins, § 46.[/i]] As to the meaning of these symbols we can, at present, say practically nothing. Some may have had a personal, others a local, and others a religious significance; but we require to know a great deal more than we do know about the history, the geography, and the religious condition of ancient India, before we can make any profitable enquiry into this subject. That the symbols placed on coins had a very real meaning we cannot doubt when we see, for instance, that on the coins of the Pancala (Sunga) king Bhanumitra — not on those of other members of this dynasty — one particular symbol is deliberately and regularly1 [In three out of the four coins of the largest size in the British Museum. This counter-mark seems to occur less frequently on the coins of medium size, and not at all on the small coins.] defaced by the counter-mark of another. This must surely be the record of some event, at the nature of which we can only vaguely guess.
The counter-mark which occurs on the reverse of coin No. 2 is the curious symbol
which occurs so frequently on coins of all kinds — punch-marked, cast, and struck — and which no one seems to have explained.2 [It appears among other ornaments in a necklace (Fergusson, Tree and Serpent Worship, 2nd ed., 1873, pl. iii, 4), and a similar ornament, described by Mr. Vincent Smith as 'a gold-leaf cross,' was found among the relics from the Piprahwa Stupa (J.R.A.S., 1898, p. 586, pl. 10).] Sometimes it stands within a railing, and, in this form, it appears counter-marked on many of the coins of Bahasatimita, (Cunn., Coins of Anc, Ind., Kosambi, pl, v, 13), whose Pabhosa inscriptions3 [Fuhrer, Epigraphia Indica, ii, p. 240.] show him to have belonged to the second or first century B.C.
The existence of the Uddehikas as a people is attested for the following periods: — (1) 3rd century B.C. (probably), by the evidence of those coins; and (2) 6th century A.D., by Varahamihira. The passage in which they are mentioned by Alberuni (11th century A.D.) is quoted from the Brhat- samhita,4 [Alberuni's India (trans. Sachau), vol. i, p. 300.] and cannot be taken as evidence of their existence in his time. His remark (trans., vol. i, p. 298) to the effect that "most of the names of countries under which they appear in this context are not those by which they are now generally known" applies, no doubt, to this as to the other passages from Hindu authors quoted by him.
With regard to the locality of Uddehika, very little can be added to what Mr. Fleet, in his excellent Topographical List of the Brhat-samhita,1 [Indian Antiquary, 1893, p. 192. ] has already gathered from Varahamihira and Alberuni. The gloss 'near Bazana,' which is added after 'Uddehika' in Alberuni's quotation, might, perhaps, have afforded some useful information if the reading were certain; but this seems not to be the case. Probably the general similarity between the coins of Uddehika and Eran may be held to be good evidence that these two places were not far apart.
UPAGODA.
3. Obv.
(Upagodasa). Above, circle with dot in centre; beneath, 'Taurine' symbol represented horizontally.
Rev. Blank.
B.M.; Lady Clive Bayley, 89: 8-8: 68. AE1-; Pl. 3.
This coin or seal is described, but not illustrated, by Thomas in his edition of Prinsep's Essays on Indian Antiquities, vol. i, p. 216. It is quoted by him as an example of the early cast coinage in which one side was left blank. It seems quite probable that this variety of the cast coinage may be earlier than that which has both an obverse and a reverse, just as the 'single-die' coins of Taxila seem to be of an earlier date than the 'double-die' coins.2 [Cunn., Coins of Anc. Ind., p. 61: Rapson, Indian Coins, § 56.] In any case, the art of casting coins must be very ancient in India. There is no question here of borrowing from a Greek source; and the forms of the Brahmi characters on this coin and on the cast coins of Kada1 [Cunn., id., pl. ii, 21, 22.] seems to be as old as any others found in India. Buhler's opinion2 [Indische Palaeographie, p. 8.] was that coins and seals of this kind date from at least 350 or 400 B.C., that is to say, from some time before the Maurya Dynasty.
It must remain doubtful for the present whether Upagoda is the name of a person — like Upagupta, Upendra -- or the name of a place — like Upavanga, Upajyotisa, The former is, perhaps, the more probable. This coin or seal is not unlike the Patna seals3 [Cunn., Arch. Surv. Reports, xv, pl. iii; v. also Buhler (l.c.).] with the inscription Nadaya and Agapalasa. These are undoubtedly names of persons.
SEAL OF NANDIVARDHA OR NANDIVRDDHA.
4.
(Namdivadhasa), Lion walking r. towards staff standing within railing and surmounted by a fish and a banner (?); above, svastika and 'Taurine' symbol; to l. of staff, symbol
to r. of staff,
(probably the Kharosthi compound letter spa); in exergue, a fish.
Mr. Robert Hammersley. AE -9; Pl. 4.
The seal, from which the impression here described and illustrated was taken, is that of a silver signet-ring. Nothing is known of its provenance; but there seems to be no reason to doubt that it is really what the style of its inscription in Brahmi characters and its other features would indicate — an Indian signet-ring of about 200 B.C.
Fortunately the evidence of numismatics, which is, generally, of all the available kinds of evidence, the best by which to determine the date of other antiquities, is very much to the point in this particular instance.
This seal has several characteristics in common with the square bronze coins of Pantaleon and Agathocles,1 [Gardner: B.M. Cat., Greek and Scythic Kings of Bactria and India, pl. iii, 9; pl. iv, 9.] two of the earliest Greek kings of India, whose date must be very near the beginning of the second century B.C., and with those coins of Taxila of similar shape and metal which seem to bear traces of Greek influence.2 [Cunningham, Coins of Anc. Ind., pl. iii, 1-4; cf Rapson, Indian Coins, §§ 21, 56.]
In the first place, the lion of the seal is not unlike the same animal as represented on the coins. Secondly, the Brahmi inscriptions on the seal and on the coins of Pantaleon and Agathocles are very similar in character; and thirdly, the symbols above the lion on the seal — the svastika and the 'Taurine' symbol — are of common occurrence on the coins of Taxila (v. Cunningham, Coins of Anc. Ind., pl. ii, 8; iii, 2, 13, etc.). If we are right in supposing that the character to the right of the staff on the seal is the Kharosthi compound letter spa, this would be an additional point of resemblance, for Kharosthi as well as Brahmi inscriptions are found both on the coins of Agathocles and on those of Taxila.3 [Gardner, op. cit., pl. iv, 10; Cunn., op. cit., pl. iii, 9, 18.] The fish, which occurs twice on the seal, is found frequently enough as a symbol on coins of Ancient India — e.g., on the coins of Uddehika described above (p. 98) — but no other instance of the ' taff surmounted by a fish and a banner (?)' has yet been noticed. Dr. Burgess has made the suggestion, which is well worth bearing in mind in view of future discoveries, that the Matsyas might reasonably be expected to have adopted the fish (matsya) as their emblem. In southern India the fish was, of course, the emblem of the Pandyas.
The inscription Namdivadhasa is, no doubt, a Prakrit equivalent of the Sanskrit Nandivardhasya or — as Professor Kielhorn has suggested as an alternative — Nandivrddhasya. The only remarkable feature in this Prakrit form is the termination -sa (instead of -sa as would be expected) = Skt. -sya. The parallel instances given in the subjoined note,1 ["taia, Khalsi, xii, 31; Agapalas'a, Patna seal, Cunningham, A.S.R., xv, pl. iii, 2; Buhler, Ind. Pal., pp. 8, 9; Haviskala, on a coin, Cunningham, Coins of the Kusans, Num. Chron. 1892, pl. viii, 15 (Cunn. reads differently); Sakaia, in the second Nasik Inscription of Private Individuals, A.S.W.I., iv, p. 114." Prof. Franke also refers me to an instance -- Gamini Tisasa -- occuring in an ancient inscription of Ceylon, published by Dr. Hoernle in Ind. Ant., vol. i, pl. vii. On this form Dr. Hoernle observes (p. 170): "the sa of the genitive of this word is most remarkable...; it is not given by Prinsep, and has not, I think, been found in India, but I have since found it in many places in Ceylon, and there can be no doubt about the meaning of the sign."] I owe entirely to the courtesy of Professor O. Franke, to whom I desire to express my grateful acknowledgments. Other curious interchanges of letters on coin-inscriptions will be noted below — ca for cha on a coin of the Kunindas (p, 125, note 2), and na for na on the coin of Vatsadaman (p. 124).
No adequate explanation of the Kharosthi spa2 [It may be noted incidentally that spa -- not spa -- seems to be the regular equivalent to the Greek [x] on the coins which bear the names of Spalagadama, Spalabora, Spalarises, Spalyris (the Saka or Saka-Parthian class), v. Buhler, Indische Palaeographie, Taf. 1. Moreover, on the Audumbara coin published by Cunningham, Coins of Anc. Ind., pl. iv, 1 = Rapson, Indian Coins, pl. iii, 8, the reading Visvamitra should be corrected to Vispamitra. The second aksara is certainly not sva, but spa, and the dialectical form Vispamitra is not without interest.] — if such it be — can be given. Isolated aksaras like this are of frequent occurrence on Indian coins. They must, no doubt, have had a meaning at one time, but that meaning has almost certainly, in the majority of cases, been irrecoverably lost.
We may conclude, with some confidence, that this seal came originally from some place in India not far from Taxila — the modern Shahdheri or Dheri Shahan, in the Rawal Pindi district3 [Cunningham, Geog. of Anc. Ind., p. 104.]; and that its date is not long after 200 B.C.
SEAL OF MAMMA.
5.
(Sri-Mamma).
Mr. J. P. Rawlins, Steatite; Pl. 5.
This seal is published here chiefly with the object of calling attention to a branch of Indian antiquities which no one seems to have yet systematically collected — ancient and mediaeval inscribed gems and seals. If one may judge from the numbers of these which have been brought from time to time to the British Museum by visitors, they would appear to be fairly common in certain parts of India. To collect them would be an interesting, and probably not an expensive, amusement; and the study of them would certainly add to our knowledge of Indian nomenclature and of Indian epigraphy, and might often be useful in adding to the testimony of coins and inscriptions. It is to be hoped that some one in India will turn his attention to this branch of antiquities.
Mamma is a well-known Indian name. It occurs, for example, as a surname of Harivarman in his Kudarkot inscription;1 [Kielhorn, Epigraphia Indica, i, pp. 180, 181: "Harivarmmanama Sri-Mamma ity aparanamakrtapratitih."] and, in the Rajatarangini, it is the name of one of the regents under Ajitapida.2 [Stein, Num. Chron., 1899, p. 158.] In its feminine form it is found in one of the Nasik inscriptions.3 [Burgess: Arch. Surv. West. Ind., Buddhist Cave Temples, pl. lv, p. 116; note 3, "Mamma is probably a corruption of Mahima, just as Mammata is of Mahimabhatta."]
ARJUNAYANA (Indian Coins, § 42).
6. Obv. Camel (? or humped bull) to r., facing tree within railing.
Rev.
(Arjunayanana-jaya). Humped bull to r., facing sacrificial post within railing.
B.M., Cunningham. AE -75; Pl. 6.
The coins of the Arjunayanas hitherto published4 [Cunn., Coins of Anc, Ind,, p. 90, pl. viii, 20. Prinsep's Essays (ed. Thomas), vol. ii, pl. xliv, 224; p. 224 (wrongly read).] bear types which connect them with the series of the Hindu Princes of Mathura. The importance of the present specimen lies in the fact that, both by its types and by its inscription, it shows a striking resemblance to certain coins of the Yaudheyas, This resemblance is very clearly seen when this specimen h compared with the Yaudheya coin illustrated in pl. vi, 3, of Cunningham's Coins of Anc. Ind,1 [The full inscription on these coins has not been read. I conjecture that, on certain specimens, the word of which traces can be seen beneath the type may have been Bahudhanake; but there seem to be several varieties.] The reverse type is the same in both cases, and it is struck in the same manner — slightly incuse; and the form of the inscription, Arjunayanana (i.e. -nanam) jaya[h] is similar to that of other Yaudheya coins — Yaudheyaganasya jaya[h] (op, cit., pl. vi, 6-8).
This connection between the Arjunayanas and the Yaudheyas thus indicated by the coins has long ago been inferred from other records. They are mentioned together in the Allahabad inscription of Samudragupta (c. A.D. 380),2 [Fleet, Corpus Inscr. Ind., iii, p. 1.] and five passages in the Brhat-samhita (Varahamihira, obiit 587 A.D.).3 [Ed. Kern, iv, 25; xi, 59; xiv, 25-28; xvi, 22; xvii, 19. It may be said that the Arjunayanas are never mentioned apart from the Yaudheyas in the Brhat-samhita (v. Fleet, Topographical List, Ind. Ant., 1893, pp. 173, 194.)] The Malavas also are mentioned together with these two in the same inscription, and they are placed with them in the 'northern division' by Varahamihira, It is worthy of notice that the Malava coins have an inscription of the same character = Skt. Malavanam jaya[h].4 [Indian Coins, § 51.] These Malava coins, which have been found literally in thousands,5 [Smith, J.R.A.S., 1897, p. 884.] are still, unfortunately, not represented by a single specimen in the collection of the British Museum.
Mr. Vincent Smith, in his admirable account of the princes and peoples mentioned in the Allahabad inscription, places the Arjunayanas in "the region between the Malava and Yaudheya territories, or, roughly speaking, the Bharatpur Alwar States, west of Agra and Mathura, the principal seat of the Northern Satraps."6 [J.R.A.S., 1897, p. 886.]
ANCIENT CAST COIN OF ERAN (Indian Coins, § 46).
7. Obv. Horse to l. ; above, the 'Ujjain ' symbol.
Rev. In r. and l. field, a tree within railing; between, written vertically in Brahmi characters,
(Eraka[ . ]).
Mr. L. White King. AE -8; Pl. 7.
This coin, in fabric, most resembles the cast coins represented in Cunningham's Coins of Anc. Ind., pl. i, 26-30. Like them, and like the cast coins of India generally — e.g. Kada (id., pl. ii, 21), Kosambi (id., pl. v, 7-10), and Upagoda (v. sup., p. 102, pl. 3) — it shows the marks where it has been separated by cutting from the row of coins cast in the mould at the same time.
Specimens bearing a similar inscription are published in Cunningham's Arch. Surv. Reports, vol. x, p. 77, pl. xxiv, 16, 17; and one is described in his Coins of Anc. Ind., p. 102, but no illustration of it is given in the accompanying plate. General Cunningham read the last aksara as -nya, or -na. The reading cannot be verified from his autotype plate in the Arch. Surv. Reports; and the traces remaining on the specimen now published do not justify us in restoring either of these suggested readings here.
This coin is interesting as being, apparently, the only specimen of round form belonging to Eran yet discovered. The 'Ujjain' symbol, which occurs on the obverse, above the horse, is characteristic of many of the coins of Eran (v. Cunn., op. cit., p. 100, pl. xi, 1, 6, 8, 9). It would, perhaps, be more correct to call this the 'Malava' symbol, as, according to Cunningham (l.c.), it appears "on nearly all the coins of ancient Malwa, wherever found — at Eran, Besnagar, and Ujain."
HINDU PRINCES OF MATHURA (Indian Coins, § 52).
UTTAMADATTA.
8. Obv. Elephant to r.; above, a circle (?).
Rev.
(Rajno Utamadatasa).
Standing figure facing, with r. hand raised; in l. field, a tree.
Mr. L. White King, AE -75; Pl. 8.
At present there are five known coins — two in Mr. White King's collection and three in the British Museum — of this newly-discovered member of the dynasty of Hindu Princes of Mathura, as they may conveniently be called for the present, as distinguished from the Saka Satraps of Mathura (Northern Ksatrapas). The relation of these two lines to one another is at present somewhat uncertain (Indian Coins, § 52). Until more information can be obtained about them, I can do little more than classify them generally according to the locality in which their coins are found, and the character of the names which they bear.
One of the coins of Uttamadatta in the British Museum — Lady Clive Bayley, 89:8-8: 21 — is counter-marked on obverse with the curious symbol which appears on the obverse of the coin, No. 12, described below, and attributed doubtfully to either the Udumbaras or to Mathura. It may be that the striker of this coin, who bears the title Mahadeva, reissued some of the coins of Uttamadatta, counter-marked with his own symbol. This counter-mark may quite possibly prove to be of some chronological importance; and it will be interesting to note whether it occurs or not on any other coins of the Hindu Princes of Mathunl which may be discovered in the future.
Some of these Mathura coins are cast, some are struck, and in some cases it is not easy to determine whether a coin has been cast or struck. This uncertainty results from what seems to have been a peculiarly Indian method of stamping the metal when it was almost in a molten state (Indian Coins, § 56). The coin of Uttamadatta here described seems undoubtedly to have been cast; while those of Sesadatta, Nos. 9-11, seem as certainly to have been struck.
With the name Uttamadatta — or Utamadata as it appears on the coins — we may compare such forms as Utaradata and Utaramita found in the Sanchi Stupa inscriptions (Buhler, Epigraphia Indica, vol. ii, p. 386; Nos. 279, 280).
SESADATTA.
9. Obv. Probably a debased representation of the type: ''Three elephants, one to front and the others facing to r. and 1., each with a man mounted on his neck."1 [Cunningham, Coins of Anc. Ind., p. 89.]
Rev. [ ]2 [It is uncertain whether or not the word Rajno occupied this position on this coin.] ('Sesadatasa). Standing figure facing, with r. hand raised; in l. field, a tree.
Mr. L. White King. AE -75; Pl. 9.
10. Similar, but rev. inscription,
(Rajno Sesadatasa).
Mr. L. White King. AE-75; Pl. 10.
11. Obv. A wheel within a caitya.
Rev. Across centre
([Se]sadatasa); beneath, upper part of standing figure.
Mr. L. White King. AE -75; Pl. 11.
These are the only three known specimens of Sesadatta, another recently discovered ruler of this dynasty. Mr. Vincent Smith at first proposed to read the name as Gosadatta; but there can be little doubt that the first aksara is se and not go. Moreover, there is no such word as gosa, and it is scarcely likely to be a mistake for ghosa.1 [See, however, what is apparently an instance of the substitution of non-aspirate for aspirate -- catra for chatra -- referred to inf., p. 125, note 2.] The name Sesadatta is, of course, derived from Sesa, the serpent-lord, cf. Nagadatta, etc.
It is interesting to notice on these coins the fluctuation between the two Prakrit forms, -datasa (i.e. dattasa) and -datasa. The latter is sufficiently common, though not so frequently found on these coins as the former; cf. Usavadatena = Rsabhadattena (Arch. Surv. West. Ind.: Buddhist Cave Temples, pl. lii, No. 5, line 1).
Everything seems to indicate that great discoveries, both in numismatics and in epigraphy, await the future explorer of Mathura. Although the coins, whether of the Saka Satraps or of the Hindu Princes, can scarcely be said to have been collected except in a casual and accidental manner — the same remark, indeed, would apply to all the coinages of Ancient India except those of the Graeco-Indian Princes, the Kusanas, the Western Ksatrapas, and the Imperial Guptas — yet the number of names already known is considerable; while the inscribed Lion-Capital, discovered and published by Pandit Bhagvanlal Indraji (ed. Buhler, J.R.A.S., 1894, p. 525), and the Jaina inscriptions discovered by Dr. Fuhrer in the Kankali Tila (published by Buhler in Epigraphia Indica, vol. i, pp. 371, 393) are an earnest of the epigraphic treasures which may be expected.
Besides Uttamadatta and Sesadatta, the following names — all represented by coins in the British Museum — have to be added to the list of Princes of Mathura given by Cunningham (Coins of Anc. Ind., p. 85 ff., pl. viii) — Kamadatta (first discovered by Mr. Vincent Smith, in the collection of Mr. L. White King), Sivadatta, Suryamitra (or Aryamitra),2 [v. sup., p. 100.] and Visnumitra. I hope to give a more detailed description of these, together with illustrations, in a subsequent instalment of Notes on Indian Coins and Seals in this Journal.
? Udumbara or Mathura (Indian Coins, §§ 43, 52).
Name or title, Mahadeva.
12. Obv. Symbol,
Rev.
(Bhagava[ta] Maha-devasa). Standing figure, holding in r. hand a trident and battle-axe combined.
Mr. L. White King. AE -7; Pl. 12.
At the first glance, one is inclined to attribute this coinage — of which Mr. L. White King possesses two specimens — to one of the Hindu Princes of Mathura; but, on a closer examination, it will be seen that, beyond a general resemblance in fabric and epigraphy, which denotes that it is not far removed either locally or chronologically, it has little in common with that series.
The symbol, which occurs as the obverse type, is quite peculiar. It may possibly be some form of the lingam or some other religious symbol. It seems not to be found, as a type, on any other Indian coins hitherto published; but, as has been noticed above (p. 109), it is counter-marked on a coin of Uttamadatta, one of the Princes of Mathura, in the British Museum. Until further specimens are discovered, it cannot be determined whether this symbol is characteristic of a class of coins or merely of the coins of some particular ruler. In any case, the counter-mark probably denotes some connection, the nature of which we can only conjecture, between the dynasty to which these coins belong and the Hindu Princes of Mathura.
The standing figure on the reverse is quite different from that which appears in the same position on the Mathura coins. On the latter, the figure is most probably that of a woman (perhaps the goddess Laksmi) and it has the right hand raised. On these coins, the figure is undoubtedly that of a man holding the trident battle-axe in his right hand. This is the usual weapon of the god Siva (Mahadeva), who is probably represented here in allusion to the name or title of the prince.
The same inscription, Bhagavata-Mahadevasa — with the addition of Rajaraja[? sa] (Brahmi) and Rajarana (Kharosthi) — occurs on a coin attributed by Cunningham to the Audumbaras (Coins of Anc. Ind., p, 68, pl. iv, 5), on which the trident battle-axe also appears.
These facts, then, make it most probable that these coins should be attributed to the Audumbaras; and, if so, we may infer from considerations of the fabric of the coins and from the occurrence of the counter-mark discussed above that some sort of connection existed between the Audumbaras and the Hindu Princes of Mathura. Cunningham has already shown (Coins of Anc. Ind., p. 67) that some of the Audumbara coins are imitated from the hemidrachms of the Graeco-Indian Princes, Apollodotus and Zoilus. We have, therefore, some data — not of much weight, certainly — to enable us to make a tentative chronological arrangement of these series.
The title Bhagavata denotes a worshipper of Visnu or Krsna. Mahadeva is probably, in this case, not a name but a title. It is almost certainly a title on the two Audumbara published by Cunningham (Coins of Anc, Ind., p. 68, pl. iv, 1 and 5), although he regards it as a proper name in the case of the second of these. For the occurrence of Mahadeva as a proper name, see the references to vol. iii of the Epigraphia Indica.
DYNASTY UNCERTAIN.
? BHUMIDATTA OR BHIMADATTA.
13. Obv. Elephant to l.
Rev. Inscription in Brahmi characters across the middle doubtful, perhaps intended either for
or
(Bhumidatma or Bhimadatasa). Type obscure.
Mr. L. White King. AE -75; Pl. 13.
There is very little at present to be said about this coin, which is published and illustrated here chiefly in the hope that it may lead to the recognition of other similar specimens.
The obverse type of the elephant occurs so frequently on Indian coins that it affords a very slight clue to the identification of this particular one. Practically all that can be said of this coin is that, in fabric, it is not unlike issue of the coins of the Hindu Princes of Mathura, and that the Brahmi characters of its inscription seem to belong to the same period. The formation of the name, ending in -datta, is also similar. It is quite possible that, when better specimens are found which will enable us to identify the reverse type — if any— and to read the inscription correctly, this coin may have to be placed in that series.
The first portion of the name is quite uncertain. The third consonant seems to be bh, and the second m (or possibly v); but the vowels which accompany these consonants are altogether doubtful. The readings Bhumi- or Bhima-, suggested above, are merely conjectural. There are traces on this specimen of something above this name— possibly of another line of inscription in Brahml characters, the word Rajno or something of the kind — but it is impossible to do more than guess what these traces may represent until better specimens are available.
? MATHURA.
(?) SISUCANDRATA [SISUCHANDRADATTA]
14. Obv. Elephant standing to r. with trunk upraised; above, 'Taurine' symbol represented horizontally.
Rev. In incuse
(Rajasa
sucamdatasa).
B.M.; Lady Clive Bayley. AE -55; Pl. 14.
No coin of this kind seems to have been hitherto published; and almost all that can be said as to its attribution is that, in its general character — fabric, shape, size, and epigraphy — it seems to be not far removed from the coins of Virasena, one specimen of which is described below. Cunningham, probably from considerations of provenance, assigned the coins of Virasena generally to the district of Mathura (Coins of Anc. Ind,, p. 89, pl. viii, 18), and, on the assumption that this attribution is approximately correct, we may, provisionally, place the coins of (?) Sisucandrata [Sisuchandradatta] in the same class.
The reading of the inscription suggested above is by no means certain. The second aksara is quite probably to be read as jno —
— as we should have expected; but it is not easy to see how the remaining traces fit in with this restoration. The vowel of the third aksara is, again, quite uncertain. There is no room on the coin for a vowel-sign above the line, if such was ever intended; and the restoration si is proposed rather than sa, merely because sisu would seem to be a more probable form than sasu as the first part of a name. The remainder of the name, Camdata (i,e. Candratta), is, of course, equivalent to the fuller Sanskrit form Candradatta.
VIRASENA.
15. Obv. Debased representation of the type: "Standing figure, with r. hand upraised."
Rev.
beneath, symbols.
B.M.; Lady Clive Bayley. AE -45; Pl. 15.
This type, which appears to be of no great rarity,1 [Smith, J.R.A.S., 1897, p. 876.] has already published, both by Cunningham (Coins of Anc. Ind., p. 89, pl. viii, 18) and by Rodgers (Cat of Coins in the Indian Museum, part 3, pp. 32, 33), but illustrated in the former case only from a drawing, and, in the latter case, without illustration. Cunningham tacitly places the coins among those of Mathura, while Rodgers gives a quotation — very probably from some letter or statement of General Cunningham's — to the effect that they are found at Mathura." There seems to be no reason to doubt that they belong to this district generally. Future discoveries may, perhaps, enable us to assign them to some particular dynasty ruling in this neighbourhood; but, for the present, their attribution must remain somewhat vague.
As has been noticed above (p. 115), the coins of (?) Sisucandrata may perhaps belong to the same class, and so may other specimens in the British Museum having inscriptions too fragmentary and indistinct to be deciphered. The discovery of other rulers of the same dynasty may confidently be predicted when better specimens of this series of coins are available.
The 'symbols' under the inscription on the reverse are apparently a tree with the trisula1 [For this emblem, see Burgess: Arch. Surv. West. Ind., Elura Cave Temples, p. 12. It occurs very commonly on coins, e.g., Cunn., Coins of Anc, Ind., pl. iv, 14; pt. v, 1, 2, etc.] emblem on either side. In some cases, the svastika seems to take the place of the circle and surrounding dots which form the lower portion of the trisula emblem.
NAGA DYNASTY OF PADMAVATI (Indian Coins, § 101).
PRABHAKARA.
16. Obv. Lion to l.; border of dots.
Rev.
(Nagaraha-Sru-Prabhakara).
Mr. L. White King. AE -45; Pl. 16.
17. Obv. Humped bull to r.; border of dots.
Rev. Inscription as on No. 16.
Mr. L. White King. AE-5; Pl. 17.
The inscription, Maharaja-Sri-Prabhakara, is not complete on any single specimen belonging to Mr. White King, but it can be read with absolute certainty by comparing the eight specimens in his collection. The fabric of these coins leaves no doubt that they belong to the series attributed to the Naga Dynasty of Padmavati (Narwar), one member of which, Ganapatinaga, is mentioned in the list of princes conquered by Samudragupta (c. 350-380 A.D.)1 [Fleet, Corpus Inscr. Ind., p. 1.] The name Prabhakara is, of course, well known in Indian history, but it has not been hitherto found in connection with this dynasty. It appears in the nominative, and this would seem to be the most common form on the coins of this series. The genitive, however, is found on some coins of Ganapati — those reading -Gampatui[h] (sic) — of Skandanaga, and, apparently, all those published of Devanaga (v. Cunningham, Coins of Mediaeval India, pp. 23, 24). The name Naga is omitted on the coins of Prabhakara, as on those of Ganapati; but it is given to Ganapati in the Allahabad inscription of Samudragupta.
Fragments of several names not yet read are to be seen on coins belonging to this series. It is to be hoped that further specimens will be discovered which will enable us to decipher the names of these princes at present unknown. It has been surmised2 [Fleet, op. cit., Index, c.v. Naga, p. 328.] that, besides Ganapatinaga, others of the tributary princes mentioned in Samudragupta's inscription belonged to this family. It is extremely probable, for instance, that the Nagasena, whose name occurs twice in the inscription, is identical with the 'Nagasena, heir to the house of Padmavati,' mentioned in the Harsa-carita.3 [p. 221 (ed. Bomb., 1892); p. 192 (trans., Cowell & Thomas); cf. Rapson, J.R.A.S., 1898, p. .449.] Some interesting identifications may may reasonably be expected from further discoveries in this series.
SILAHARAS OF THE NORTHERN KONKAN.
CHITTARAJA ('Gadhiya-ka paisa' class: Indian Coins, § 122 (2) ).
18. Obv. Degraded representation of type: "King's head to r."
Rev.
within border of dots.
Mr. W. Theobald. AE -6 ; Wt. 53 grs.; Pl. 18.
The series which, since Prinsep's time,1 [Essays (ed. Thomas), vol. i, p. 341.] has been conveniently, if not very scientifically, known by its native designation, Gadhiya-ka paisa, 'Donkey-money,'2 [Cunningham (Coins of Med. Ind., p. 47) spells the word "Gadiya, derived ... from the fire-altar or throne (gadi) on the reverse."] cannot yet be arranged with any great accuracy, whether local or chronological. Cunningham classes these coins generally with "the Indian coins of Mediaeval Age, from A.D. 600 to 1200," and states that they are "found most plentifully in S.W. Rajputana, in Baroda and the neighbouring districts of Mewar, Malwa, and Gujarat"; and, in my Indian Coins, I have contented myself with stating these general facts, and leaving the coins, together with the two other classes dealt with by Cunningham in the passage above referred to, under the heading 'unattributed.'
A consideration of the fabric of the two unattributed classes of silver coins3 [With the other class of unattributed coins -- the copper series, of which specimens are shown in Cunningham's Coins of Med. Ind., pl. vi, 1-6 — I shall hope to deal in a subsequent article.] — (1) the thin pieces of silver, and (2) the thick pieces of silver — and of the epigraphy of the rare inscribed specimens of the latter class, will, I think, reveal some tangible chronological facts.
In the first place, the Sassanian derivation of both classes can scarcely now be doubted.
General Cunningham doubted this in the case of the thick pieces, which he regards as "the direct descendants of the hemidrachms of the Saka Satraps of Surashtra and Malwa, with the gadi, or 'throne,' in place of the original chaitya."1 [Op. cit., p. 48. In the sentence following this, he says, "Even the sun and moon symbols of the Sassanian coins are retained with the fire-altar or throne." Sassanian is, no doubt, a misprint for Surashtran. The 'sun and moon symbols' occur, of course, on both the Sassanian and the Surashtran coinages.[/i[] But we know that the coins derived from this source — e.g., the Gupta silver coinage and the silver coinage of Valabhi (Indian Coins, §§ 91, 98) — were very different both in form and weight. Moreover, the reverse type of these thick pieces — the gadi or whatever it may have been intended to represent in later times — was surely derived originally from the fire-altar of the Sassanian coins;2 [[i]General Cunningham seems to admit this (op. cit., p. 47) in the passage quoted above.] and no satisfactory reason can be given why their obverse type — king's head to r. — should not in like manner be copied from the same model. As will be seen, a comparison with the types as represented on the coins of the other class — the thin pieces of silver of undoubtedly Sassanian origin— makes this point almost absolutely certain.
Further, the two classes are not disconnected, but class (2) —the thick pieces of silver — is derived from class (1) — the thin pieces of silver.
It would have been unnecessary to labour this point, the truth of which was long ago recognized — for instance, by Dr. Codrington in his arrangement of the Cabinet of the Bengal Asiatic Society3 [Bhagvanlal Indraji, Journ. of the Bombay Br. R.A.S., xii, p. 325: "Gadhia Coins opf Gujarat and Malwa."] — were it not for the fact that General Cunningham seems not to have regarded it as certain. This being the case, it may, perhaps, not be amiss to briefly state the facts of the case.
Sassanian coins were brought into India in great numbers by the Huna invasions in the latter half of the fifth century A.D., and Dr. Hoernle4 [v. reff. in Indian Coins, § 105. Col. Biddulph informs me that the find described by Dr. Hoernle took place not in Marwar, but in M<hairwarra (Merwara), "the small mountainous district in the Aravalli range, forming the south-west portion of the Ajmere-Mhairwarra Commissionership." He says in a letter to me, "The coins, of which I have eight, were found in 1889, five months before I became Commissioner of Ajmere-Merwara."] has shown that some of these thin pieces of silver are direct imitations of the Sassanian coins current during that period. Now, the Sasssanian type of coin — large, thin, flat — was essentially un-Indian; and these imitations made in India gradually lose their Sassanian characteristics. They become by degrees smaller, thicker, and less flat. The process may be seen by comparing the coins illustrated by General Cunningham (Coins of Med. Ind., pl. vi), e.g., No. 13, with Nos. 14, 15, 16, and 19; and it is seen still more clearly when the comparison extends to a great number of specimens. There can be no doubt that the relative date of specimens of these classes may be determined by their fabric, and that there is no hard and fast line of demarcation between the two classes. The transition from class (1) — the thin pieces of silver — to class (2) — the thick pieces of silver — is so gradual, that it is impossible to determine accurately where one class ends and the other begins.
Similar results follow from a consideration of the process of degeneration in the types. When a series is arranged, the gradual transformation from the Sassanian types as represented in the earliest Indian imitations (e.g.. No. 13 of the plate already referred to) to those of the 'Gadhiya-ka paisa' class (e.g., Nos. 7 and 10) is evident.
Chronologically between these extremes — the date of the 'Gakhiya-ka paisa' class will be subsequently discussed — comes a series, which, thanks to Dr. Hultzsch's identification of Srimad-Adhivaraha with Bhojadeva of Kanauj1 [Epigraphia Indica, vol. 1, p. 155] (c. 850-900 A.D.), we are able to date with some approach to accuracy. Specimens of this class are shown in the same plate of General Cunningham's Coins of Med. Ind., Nos. 16, 17, 19, 20. The fabric of these coins is also midway between the extremes, but the encroachment on the Sassanian types of an Indian element in the way of inscriptions or designs can be seen until very slight traces of the Sassanian characteristics remain, as, for example, in the coins of Sramad Adaratha, where the obverse type is purely Indian — the god Visnu in his Varaha or 'boar' avatar — and the greater portion of the reverse is occupied by an Indian inscription, the pillar-like objects beneath this inscription being probably the only vestiges left of the Sassanian fire-altar and its attendant priests.
The only means which we possess at present of dating the 'Gadhiya-ka paisa' class with any degree of accuracy is afforded by the inscribed specimens; and it is interesting to note that, in this case, the evidence of epigraphy confirms the presumption of a comparatively late date, to which we were led by general considerations of the history of fabric and type. These inscribed specimens are, unfortunately, of great rarity. Up to the present, only those bearing one name have been published. This name was read Somaladeva by Cunningham (op, cit,, p. 53); but there can be no doubt that the reading of his No. 10 is Sri-Somaladevi ([x]
— this reading is verified from other specimens — and that of his No. 11 is almost certainly Sri-Somaladevi
It seems, therefore, that we have here the coins of a queen. Who this queen was we cannot yet determine. We can only note that we know of a queen Somalladevi,1 [Kharod inscription of her son Ratnadeva III. Cedi-samvat, 933 = A.D. 1181; v. Kielhorn, List of the Inscriptions of Northern India, p. 60, No. 423.] wife of Jajalladeva II, one of the Kalacuris1 of Mahakosala (Haihayaa of Ratnapura), whose Malhar inscription2 [Kielhorn, Epigraphia Indica, i, p. 40.] is dated [Cedi-]samvat, 919 = a.d, 1167-68. The arrangement of the inscription on these coins of Somaladevi, and the style of the Nagari characters are certainly those of the known coins of the Kalacuris of Mahakosala, which belong to a period extending from c. A.D. 1060 to c. A.D. 1140 (Cunn., Coins of Med. Ind., p. 76; cf. pl. vi, 10, with pl. viii, 6-11); but it would be rash to make this suggested identification of like Somaladevi of the coins on this evidence alone. It is important, in this connection, to ascertain whether or not coins of the 'Gadhiya-ka paisa' type are ever found in Chatisgarh and Raypur districts of the Central Provinces — the site of the ancient kingdom of Mahakosala.
The coin of Chittaraja, now published for the first time, is the only other variety of the 'Gadhiya-ka paisa' class bearing an inscription which has been read without doubt.
Considerations of epigraphy alone would again lead us to much the same conclusion as to the date of this class; for the Nagari letters of Chittaraja's coin are precisely those of the Mandhata plates of Jayasimha of Dhara, dated [Vikrama-]samvat, 1112 = A.D. 1055-56,1 [Kielhorn, id., iii, p. 46. Mandhata is "an island in the Narmada river, attached to the Nimar district of the Central Provinces."] and, if the coin be approximately of this date, we can have no hesitation in identifying this Chittaraja with the Silahara of the Northern Konkan, who is well known from inscriptions,2 [Bhandup Grant (ed. Buhler), Ind. Ant., 1876, p. 276; Silahara Copper-plate Grant (ed Telang), id., 1880, p. 39; Ambarnath Inscription (ed. Bhagvanlal), Journ. Bomb. Br. R.A.S., xii, p. 332; cf. Mrs. Richmers, Chronology of India, pp. 114, 303.] especially as this division of the Bombay Presidency certainly lies within the area over which coins of the 'Gadhiya-ka paisa' class are found. Chittaraja's Bandup grant is dated Saka-samvat, 948 = A.D. 1026, and the next known date of this dynasty is Saka-samvat, 982 = A.D. 1059-60, in the reign of his brother and next successor but one, Mummuni or Mamvani.3 [Fleet, Kanarese Dynasties (Bombay Gazetteer, vol. i, pt. 2, p. 543.] All that we can say at present about the period of Chittaraja's reign, therefore, is that it began at least as early as A.D. 1026, and ended some time -- probably some years -- before a.D. 1059-60.
If we consider the very extensive area throughout which coins of the 'Gadhiya-ka paisa' class are found, we cannot help coming to the conclusion that coinages of this form were struck by a number of different dynasties, and we may confidently hope that future discoveries will enable us to identify some of these. In the meantime it is satisfactory to have been able to determine, with little room for doubt, the attribution, both local and chronological, of one of these coinages.
DYNASTY UNCERTAIN.
VATSADAMAN.
19. Obv.
Cow to l. suckling calf; border of dots.
Rev. Visnu striding to r., tramples on a demon with each foot; in his r. hand he holds a discus; in front of and behind him, other demons; border of dots.
Mr. Darrah. N -8;1 [The note taken of the weight of this coin has, unfortunately, been lost.] Pl. 19.
This is a most interesting coin in every respect, and is at present quite unique of its kind. Gold coins of the period to which it must belong — most probably from the seventh to the ninth century A.D. — are of extreme rarity. Indeed, it is doubtful whether another example is known; for the gold coin which General Sir A. Cunningham supposed to be the solitary specimen with 'mediaeval' letters,2 [Coins of Med. Ind., p. 47, pl. vi, 18.] and the coin of Saravarman described below (p. 124) are more probably of the ninth or tenth century.
The style of the Nagari letters and the reverse type — a representation of Visnu — alike connect this coin with those of Srimad-Adivaraha (Bhojadeva of Kanauj, c. 850-900 A,D,)3 [Indian Coins, § 110, pl. v, 5.]; but it would be rash to conclude that the two classes of coins belong to the same dynasty. All that can be said with any confidence is that they were probably not widely divided by time or distance.
The inscription is, unfortunately, not fully legible, but the first part of the name Sri-Vatsadama is quite certain. The next letter is n with, apparently, some vowel attached. The next two aksaras are uncertain — all that can be said for the suggested restoration is that it seems not to be inconsistent with the remaining traces — and these are followed by na and ha — the former certain and the latter doubtful. Probably the end of the inscription is lost. In any case, the n following the certain portion Sri-Vatsadama constitutes a difficulty, whether we suppose it to be the termination of the name -- damanah for -damnah — or the initial of the following word — e.g., Narayana for Na°.
The obverse type — a cow suckling a calf — is, of course, a punning allusion to the name Vatsadaman, and the reverse type represents Visnu in his Vamana1 [Is it possible that this name can be restored in the obverse inscription —
— again with na for na?] or 'dwarf' avatar slaying the demons.
A Vatsadaman is known to us from an inscription of some princes of the Surasena family.2 [Bhagvanlal Indraji, Ind. Ant., x, p. 34 ; Cunningham, Arch. Surv. Reports, xx, pl. xii; v. Kielhorn, List of Inscriptions of Northern /India, p. 81, No. 589.] The inscription is of about "the eighth century A.D."; and the Nagari letters of inscription and coin are not very dissimilar. But this is not sufficient evidence to justify us in identifying this Vatsadaman with the striker of the coin.
SARAVARMAN.
20. Ob.
within border of dots.
Rev.
within border of dots.
Mr. Spinner. N -9; Wt. 123-5; Pl. 20.
This coin, which is noteworthy in many ways, was sent to the British Museum for examination by Mr. Daniel Howorth, of Ashton-under-Lyne, in February, 1899. There is, apparently, no other Indian gold coin known of the period to which it belongs — probably ninth or tenth century A.D. — of a similar weight. Like the small gold coin published by General Cunningham (Coins of Med. Ind., pl. vi, 18 ; v. sup., p. 123) it is characterized by having inscriptions on both sides without any type whatever.
The style of these inscriptions is precisely that of the Pehoa Prasasti of the reign of Mahendrapala of Kanauj, published by Buhler in Epigraphia Indica, i, p. 242. The known dates of Mahendrapala are A.D. 903 and 907 (id., p. 244), and the date of Saravarman cannot be far removed from these. Buhler describes the characters of the Prasasti as "of the ordinary Nagari type, current in Northern and Western India during the ninth and tenth centuries."
The name Saravarman seems not to be known; but it is, of course, a perfectly possible formation, the former part being, probably, merely the ordinary word sara, meaning 'a reed or arrow'; cf. the names of Kartikeya, Sarabhu, Sarajanman, etc.
The title taken by Saravarman on the reverse of this coin — Dharmatma-Meru — 'the mount Meru of the pious'— is curious, but characteristically Indian. With it we may compare the title Koputa, ' the very pure,' on a coin of the Audumbara king Virayasasa, published by Cunningham (Coins of Anc. Ind., pl. iv, 14),1 [The description of this coin, id., p. 70, requires correction. The inscription is Rajna[h] Koputasya Virayasasya. The name also should be given an Virayasasa. This compound from vira + yasah is, of course, quite regular.] and, perhaps, Mahatman 'the high-souled,' on certain coins of the Kunindas (id., pl. v, 4).2 [The reading of the inscription of this coin, id,, p. 72, should also be corrected. It should be Bhagavata - Catresvara - Mahatmanah, The form catresvara for chatresvara appears to be quite beyond doubt. But it is certainly very remarkable, and a similar loss of aspiration in a Sanskrit form is not easy to find.]