VI The Coinage of Southern India
The difficulties of the historian in tracing the fortunes of the numerous clans and dynasties which contended for sovereignty in the south from the third to the fourteenth century have been enumerated by Vincent Smith in his Oxford History of India. Even fewer guide-posts mark the path of the numismatist. Legends on South Indian coins are rare, and, when they occur are short, giving simply the ruler’s name or title: dates are rarer still. As in the early coinage of the Greeks, the heraldic symbol or cognizance serves as the stamp of authority; the fish, for example, is so used by the rulers of the Pāṇḍya dynasty. But in India we receive little help from contemporary records; and the habit, which conquerors indulged, of incorporating on their issues the cognizance of vanquished peoples, and the extensive imitation of popular and well-established types, worse confounds the confusion. In assigning coins to dynasties reliance has often to be placed upon the evidence of find-spots, a dubious method at all times, but least unsatisfactory for copper, which seldom circulates freely beyond the country of its origin. Again, the isolation of the southern peninsula is as marked in the development of the coinage as in political history. With the sole exception of the elephant pagodas of the Gajapati dynasty, imitated by Harsha-deva of Kashmīr, there is no certain point of contact between the south and the north after the third century A.D. Finally, the currency of the south has not received that attention from scholars which has been bestowed upon the more attractive money of the north. A careful systematic study, in conjunction with the historical material now available, would doubtless throw considerable light upon it and its strikers.
Certain marked characteristics belong to the coinage of the south, which, in spite of foreign irruptions and their consequent innovations, have persisted until recent times. Gold and copper were the metals used almost exclusively; of the former there were two denominations, the hūn, varāha or pagoda37 (50 to 60 grains) and the fanam (five to six grains), based respectively on the weights of two seeds, the kaḷanju or molucca bean (Cæsalpina bonduc) and the mañjāḍi (Adenathera pavonina). Copper coins were called kāsu, of which the English corruption is “cash,” while the rare silver coins appear to have followed the gold standard. The Travancore silver chakram was equal in weight to the fanam. The gold coin had an independent development in the south, the various stages of which can be marked. The earliest specimens—the age of these is doubtful—are spherules of plain gold with a minute punch-mark on one side (Pl. VII, 1); these developed into the cup-shaped “padma-ṭaṅkas,” stamped with punches, first on one side only, later on both obverse and reverse. Finally came die-struck pieces, of which the small thick Vijayanagar pagodas are the typical southern form. Another characteristic is the preference for tiny coins: this is particularly evident from about the sixteenth century, when copper coins tend to decrease in size, and the fanam acquired a wide popularity; the silver tārēs of Kalikat (Calicut), which weigh only one or two grains, must be the smallest known currency.38 A great variety of devices and symbols, usually Hindu gods and emblems, also characterizes the copper currency, especially after the fifteenth century, and this feature adds considerably to the difficulty of correct attribution.
The dynasties of the south may be divided into two territorial groups—(1) the kingdoms of the Deccan—all the country between the river Narbadā on the north and the Kṛishṇa and Tuṅgabhadrā on the south—and the Mysore country; Telugu was the language of the former, Kanarese of the latter. (1) The remainder of the peninsula, where Tamil and its cognate dialects were spoken, the country of the Pāṇḍyas, Cheras, Choḷas, Pallavas and their successors.
During the first two centuries of the Christian era, and even after the disappearance of the silver punch-marked coins, perhaps about A.D. 200, the currency of the south consisted chiefly of imported Roman gold39 along with the spherules already mentioned. A certain quantity of Roman silver must also have been in circulation, while the small copper pieces bearing Roman devices and legends—one of them seems to give the name of the Emperor Theodosius (A.D. 393)—were probably local productions.
Conjecture has assigned the earliest coins connected with a local dynasty to the Kurumbas, a pastoral tribe inhabiting the present Arcot district. One type of these copper pieces with a two-masted ship on the obverse is evidently derived from the similar Andhra issues struck for the Coromandel coast, and so may belong to the third century A.D.
I. Coinage of the Deccan and Mysore
The first great dynasty to dominate Southern India was that of the Chālukyas (a foreign tribe probably of Hūṇa-Gurjara origin), founded by Pulakeśin I in the middle of the sixth century, whose capital was at Bādāmī in the Bījāpūr district. His grandson, Pulakeśin II (A.D. 608-642), became paramount in the Deccan, but the kingdom was overthrown by the Rāshṭrakūṭas in 753. In 973, however, a Chālukya prince, Tailapa, retrieved the fortunes of his family and founded the Western Chālukya kingdom with its capital at Kalyāṇi, and this lasted till 1190, after which the Chālukyas of the west, overthrown by the Hoysaḷas, became petty chiefs. Meanwhile, in the middle of the seventh century another dynasty, known as the Eastern Chālukyas, had been established by Vishṇuvardhana, brother of the great Pulakeśin II, in Kaliṅga with its capital at Veṅgī, which lasted till the eleventh century, when it was overthrown by the Choḷas.
The earliest coin assignable to a Chālukya prince is a base silver piece of Vishṇuvardhana (615-633), with a lion device and the king’s title in Telugu, Vishamasiddhi, “Successful in scaling the inaccessible places,” on the obverse, and a trident flanked by two lamps on the reverse. Certain pagodas, fanams and copper coins, perhaps of an earlier date, from the appearance on them of the boar, the cognizance of the Chālukyas, have been conjectured to belong to that dynasty. To the Eastern Chālukya princes, Śaktivarman (1000-1012) and Rājarāja (1012-1062), belong large flat gold pieces, also depicting the boar symbol, but with blank reverses (Pl. VII, 4).
The curious cup-shaped “padma-ṭaṅkas” (lotus ṭaṅkas) were possibly first struck by the Kadambas (Pl. VII, 2), inhabiting Mysore and Kanara. Similar coins, but with a lion or a temple in place of the lotus and legends in old Kanarese, were struck by the Western Chālukya kings, Jayasiṁha, Jagadekamalla and Trailokyamalla, of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In 1913, 16,586 of these cup-shaped coins were unearthed at Kodur in the Nellore district, and this find shows that the type was subsequently adopted by the Telugu-Choḷa chiefs of the Nellore district in the thirteenth century.
The Hoysaḷa chiefs, who rose to paramount power under Ballāḷa II on the ruins of the Western Chālukya kingdom, had for their cognizance a maned lion. Some heavy gold coins with old Kanarese legends, which bear that emblem, have, therefore, with probability been assigned to them. On one of these appears the interesting inscription, Śrī Taḷakāḍa gonda, “He who took the glorious Taḷkāḍ,” the capital of the old Koṅgu-Chera kingdom.
There are numerous South Indian coins belonging to the twelfth century which afford no certain clue to their strikers. Among these the following have been tentatively assigned to petty dynasties who succeeded to the territories of the Chālukyas: to the Kākatīya or Gaṇapati dynasty of Waraṅgal (1110-1323), pagodas, fanams and copper coins with a couchant bull on the obverse and incomplete Nāgarī legends on the reverse; to Someśvara, one of the Kalachuri chiefs of Kalyāṇa (1162-1175), pagodas and fanams with the king’s titles in old Kanarese on the reverse, and on the obverse a figure advancing to the right; to the Yādavas of Devagiri (1187-1311), a pagoda and a silver coin, bearing a kneeling figure of Garuḍa on the obverse.
There remain to be noticed the coins of three dynasties. The original home of the Gajapatis, “Elephant-Lords,” was Koṅgudesa—Western Mysore with the modern districts of Coimbatore and Salem. About the ninth century these Chera kings fled before the invading Choḷas to Orissa, and there were coined the famous “Elephant pagodas” (Pl. VII, 5) and fanams, which Harsha-deva of Kashmīr (A.D. 1089) copied. The scroll device on the reverse also appears on some of the anonymous boar pagodas attributed to the Chālukyas. To Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga, a member of that branch of the Gaṅga dynasty of Mysore who settled in Kaliṅga (Orissa), and ruled there from the sixth to the eleventh century, are assigned fanams with a recumbent bull, conch and crescent on the obverse, and Telugu regnal dates on the reverse. The gold coins of two of the later Kādamba chiefs of Goa, Vishṇu Chittadeva (circ. 1147) and Jayakeśin III (circ. 1187), are also known; these bear the special Kādamba symbol, the lion passant on the obverse, and a Nāgarī legend on the reverse. One interesting inscription of the latter runs as follows: “The brave Jayakeśideva, the destroyer of the Mālavas who obtained boons from the holy Saptakoṭīsa (i.e. Śiva).”
II. The Coinage of Tamil States
The Tamil states of the far south first became wealthy owing to their foreign sea-borne trade. Tradition has defined with some exactness the territories held by the three principal races in ancient times; the Pāṇḍyas inhabited the modern Madura and Tinnevelly districts, the Choḷas the Coromandel Coast (Choḷamandalam), and the Chera or Keraḷa country comprised the district of Malabar together with the states of Cochin and Travancore. Although their frontiers varied considerably at different periods, this distribution is sufficiently accurate for a study of their coin types.
Nevertheless history affords but few glimpses in early times of these peoples: the Pallavas, as is evident from inscriptions, a native pastoral tribe akin to the Kurumbas, were the first dominant power in the extreme south. At first Buddhists, but later converted to Brahmanical Hinduism, during the sixth, seventh and eighth centuries they extended their territories from their capital, Kāñchī, the modern Conjeeveram, until these included even Ceylon; but they suffered considerably from wars with the Chālukyas, and were overwhelmed in the ninth century by the Choḷas and Pāṇḍyas. It was under the patronage of the Pallavas that South Indian architecture and sculpture began in the sixth century. The earlier Pallava coins, a legacy from the Andhras, are indistinguishable from those of the Kurumbas; later pagodas and fanams bear the Pallava emblem, the maned lion, either on obverse or reverse (Pl. VII, 8),40 but the legends remain undeciphered.
The Pāṇḍyas had a chequered career: at first independent, then subject to the Pallavas, they emerge in the ninth century to fall once more during the eleventh and twelfth centuries under the domination of the Choḷas. In the thirteenth century they were the leading Tamil state, but gradually sank into local chieftains. The earliest Pāṇḍya coins retain the ancient square form, but are die-struck, with an elephant on the obverse and a blank reverse; later coins have a peculiar angular device on the reverse; others of a still later period display a diversity of emblems, such as wheels, scrolls and crosses. The Pāṇḍya coins, assigned to a period from the seventh to the tenth century, are gold and copper, and all bear the fish emblem adopted by the later chiefs (Pl. VII, 3): the innovation is supposed to mark a change in religion from Buddhism to Brahmanism. The fish appears sometimes singly, sometimes in pairs, and sometimes, especially on the later copper coins, in conjunction with other symbols, particularly the Choḷa standing figure and the Chālukyan boar. The inscriptions on these, such as Soṇāḍu koṇḍāṇ, “He who conquered the Choḷa country,” and Ellān-talaiy-āṇāṇ, “He who is chief of the world,” are in Tamil, but the intermingling of the symbols, evident marks of conquest, makes any certain attribution difficult.
Madura, the later capital of the Pāṇḍyas, was captured by ’Alāu-d-dīn in 1311, and an independent Muhammadan dynasty ruled there from 1334 to 1377, after which it was added to the Vijayanagar kingdom.
The Choḷas were supreme in Southern India from the accession of Rājarāja the Great in 985 down to 1035, during which period they extended their conquests to the Deccan and subdued Ceylon. After some years of eclipse they rose again under Rājendra Kulottuṅga I (acc. 1074), who was related to the Eastern Chālukyas of Veṅgī. The Choḷa power declined in the thirteenth century. The earlier coins of the dynasty, before 985, are gold and silver pieces, portraying a tiger seated under a canopy along with the Pāṇḍya fish (Pl. VII, 6); the names inscribed on them have not been satisfactorily explained. The later class of Choḷa coins, all copper, have a standing figure on the obverse and a seated figure on the reverse, with the name Rāja Rāja in Nāgarī. This type spread with the Choḷa power, and was slavishly copied by the kings of Ceylon (1153-1296; cf. Pl. VII, 7), and its influence is also noticeable on the earlier issues of the Nāyaka princes of Madura and Tinnevelly.
Only one coin has been attributed to a Chera dynasty. A silver piece in the British Museum, with Nāgarī legends on both sides (Pl. VII, 9), belongs to the Keraḷa country, the extreme southern portion of the western coast, and has been assigned to the eleventh or twelfth century.
III. Coinage of the Empire of Vijayanagar and Later Dynasties
The great mediæval kingdom of Vijayanagar was founded in 1336 by five brothers as a bulwark against Muhammadan conquest, and continued to flourish under three successive dynasties until the battle of Tālikota, 1565; the members of a fourth dynasty ruled as minor chiefs at Chandragiri until the end of the seventeenth century.
The small, dumpy pagodas of Vijayanagar, with their half and quarter divisions, set a fashion which has lasted to the present age. Coins, gold or copper, of more than twelve rulers are known: on these appear a number of devices, the commonest being the bull, the elephant, various Hindu deities, and the fabulous “gaṇḍabheruṇḍa,” a double eagle holding an elephant in each beak and claw. A pagoda on which a god and goddess appear sitting side by side (Pl. VII, 12) was struck both by Harihara I (acc. 1336) and Devarāya.41 The great Kṛishṇarāya, during whose reign (1509-1529) the Empire was at its height, was evidently a devotee of Vishṇu. He struck the popular “Durgi pagoda,”42 on which that god is portrayed holding the discus and conch (Pl. VII, 11). Other coins of the dynasty which acquired fame were the “Gandikata pagoda” of Rāmarāya (d. 1565), which had a figure of Vishṇu standing under a canopy on the obverse; and the “Veṅkaṭapati pagoda,” struck by one of the Rājas, named Veṅkaṭa, of the fourth dynasty. On the obverse of this coin Vishṇu is standing under an arch, and on the reverse is the Nāgarī legend, Śrī Veṅkaṭeśvarāya namaḥ, “Adoration to the blessed Veṅkaṭeśvara,” Veṅkaṭeśvara being the deity of Veṅkaṭādri, a sacred hill near Chandragiri. The so-called “three swami pagoda,” introduced by Tirumalarāya (circ. 1570), displays three figures, the central one standing, the other two seated. These are said to be either Lakshmana with Rāma and Sītā, or Veṅkaṭeśvara with his two wives. The legends on Vijayanagar coins are either in Kanarese or Nāgarī; the latter is most commonly used, by the later kings exclusively.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Nāyaka princes of Tanjore, Madura and Tinnevelly and the Setupatis of Rāmnāḍ, originally in subjection to Vijayanagar, gradually assumed independence. The earlier coinage of the Madura Nāyakas bears the names of the chiefs on the reverse in Tamil, but their later coins were struck in the name of Veṅkaṭa, the “pageant” sovereign of Vijayanagar. Somewhat later, probably, begin series of copper coins both of Madura and Tinnevelly, with the Telugu legend Śrī Vīra on the reverse and a multitude of varying devices on the obverse; these include the gods Hanumān and Ganesh, human figures, the elephant, bull, lion, a star, the sun and moon, etc. A similar copper series, with double or single crossed lines on the reverse, are found in large quantities in Mysore. Yet another series with the same reverse, also found in Mysore, bears on the obverse the Kanarese numerals from 1 to 31.
1. Jahāngīr. Lāhor. 1016-3 R. AR. Wt. 209 grs.
Obv., within square border of dots, on ornamented ground, the Kalima; below, Ẓarb-i-Lāhor 1016.
Rev., Nūru-d-dīn Muḥammad Jahāngīr bādshāh g̱ẖāzī sana 3.
2. Id: Āgra. 1028-14 R. AV. Wt. 168 grs.
Obv., ram skipping to left, surmounted by sun; below, Sana 14 julūs,
“The 14th year from the accession.”
Rev., Yāft dar Āgrah rū-i-zar zīwar || Az Jahāngīr Shāh-i-Shāh Akbar,
“The face of gold received ornament at Āgra from Jahāngīr Shāh, Shāh Akbar [s. Son],” and Sana 1028.
3. Id: Ajmer. 1023-9 R. AV. Wt. 168 grs.
Obv., Jahāngīr nimbate seated cross-legged on throne, head to left, goblet in right hand.
Around, Qazā bar sikka-i-zar kard taṣwīr || Shabih-i-ḥaẓrat-i-Shāh-i-Jahāngīr,
“Destiny on coin of gold has drawn the portrait of His Majesty Shāh Jahāngīr.”
Rev., sun in square compartment in centre; to left,
Ẓarb-i-Ajmer 1023; to right, Ya mu’īnu,43
“O thou fixed one,” and Sana 9; above and below,
Ḥarūf-i-Jahāngīr u Allāhu Akbar || Zi rūz-i-azal dar’adad shud barābar,
“The letters of Jahāngīr and ‘Allāhu Akbar’44 are equal in value from the beginning of time.”
4. Id: Āgra. 1019-5 R. AR. Wt. 220 grs.
Obv., within multifoil area on flowered ground,
Dar isfandārmuz īn sikka-rā dar Āgrah zad bar zar,
“In Isfandārmuz placed this stamp at Āgra on money,” with date 5.
Rev., contained as obv., Shāhanshāh-i-zamān Shāh Jahāngīr ibn-i-Shāh Akbar,
“The emperor of the age, Shāh Jahāngīr, son of Akbar Shāh”; with date 1019.
5. Id: with Nūr Jahān. Sūrat. 1036. AV. Wt. 166 grs.
Obv., Zi ḥukm-i-Shāh Jahāngīr yāft ṣad zīwar.
Rev., Ba nām-i-Nūr Jahān Bādshāh Begam zar,
“By order of Shāh Jahāngīr, gained a hundred beauties gold, through the name of Nūr Jahān Bādshāh Begam”; on obv., Ẓarb-i-Sūrat; rev., 1036.
6. Id: in the name Salīm. Aḥmadābād. 2 R. AR. Wt. 176 grs.
Obv., Māliku-l-mulk sikka zad bar zar.
Rev., Shāh Sult̤ān Salīm Shāh Akbar,
“The Lord of the realm placed (his) stamp on money,
Shāh Sultan Salīm Akbar Shāh [S. Son]”; on Obv., Ẓarb-i-Aḥmadābād; Rev., Farwardīn sana 2.
7. Shāh Jahān I. Aḥmadābād 1038-2 R. AR. Wt. 168 grs.
Obv., the Kalima in 3 lines; below,
Ẓarb-i-Aḥmadābād sana 2 Ilāhī māh Ḵẖ̱ūrdād,
“Struck at Aḥmadābād in the month Ḵẖ̱ūrdād of the Ilāhī year 2.”
Rev., Ṣāḥib-i-qirān s̤ānī Shihābu-d-dīn Shāh Jahān bādshāh g̱ẖāzī sana 1038.
8. Id: Shāhjahānābād. 1069. AV. Nis̤ār. Wt. 43 grs.
Obv., Nis̤ār-i-Ṣāḥib-i-qirān s̤ānī.
Rev., Ẓarb-i-dāru-l-ḵẖ̱ilāfat Shāhjahānābād 1069.
“Nis̤ār of the ‘second lord of the conjunction,’
struck at the capital, Shāhjahānābād, 1069.”
9. Aurangzeb: Tatta. 1072-5 R. AV. Wt. 170 grs.
Obv., Sikka zad dar jahān chū mihr-i-munīr || Shāh Aurangzeb ’Ālamgīr, 1072,
“Struck money through the world like the shining sun,
Shāh Aurangzeb ’Ālamgīr.”
Rev., Ẓarb-i-Tatta sana 5 julūs-i-maimanat-i-mānūs,
“Struck at Tatta in the 5th year of the accession associated with prosperity.”
10. Shāh Shujā’: Akbarnagar. 1068-aḥd. AR. Wt. 177 grs.
Obv., in square, the Kalima and 1068; in margins, names of Four Companions with epithets.
Rev., in square, Muḥammad Shāh Shujā’ bādshāh g̱ẖāzī; right margin, Ṣāḥib-i-qirān s̤ānī; lower margin, Akbarnagar.
11. Aurangzeb: Katak. 29 R. AR. Wt. about 44 grs.
Obv., in dotted square border, on ornamental ground.
Dirham shar’ī.
Rev., Ẓarb-i-Katak 29.
Note. In the Plate the reverses and obverses of Nos. 4, 6, 8 and 10 have been, by a mistake, transposed.
Key to Plate XII
1. Shāh ’Ālam II. Shāhjahānābād, 1219-47 R. AV. Wt. 166 grs.
Obv. and Rev., surrounded with circular border of roses, shamrocks and thistles.
Obv., Sikka-i-Ṣāḥib-i-qirānī zad zi tāʾīdu-llah ||
Ḥāmī-i-dīn-i-Muhammad Shāh ’Ālam bādshāh,
“Struck coin like the ‘lord of the conjunction,’ by the help of God,
Defender of the Faith, Muhammad Shāh ’Ālam, the king.”
Date 1219; mint marks, umbrella and cinquefoil.
Rev., as. Pl. XI, No. 9, but date 47; and mint, Shāhjahānābād.
2. Aḥmad Shāh Durrānī. Shāhjahānābād, 1170-11 R. AR. Rupee.
Obv., Ḥukm shud az qādir-i-bīchūn ba Aḥmad bādshāh ||
Sikka zan bar sīm u zar az auj-i-mākī tā-ba māh,
“There came an order from the potent Incomparable One to
Aḥmad the king to strike coin on gold and silver from the zenith of Pisces to the Moon. Date, 1170.”
Rev., as on No. 1, but date 11.
3. Awadh: Wājid ’Ali Shāh. 1264-2 R. AV. Muhar.
Obv., arms of Awadh; around, Z̤arb-i-mulk-i-Āwadh baitu-s-salt̤anat
Lakhnau sana 2 julūs-i-maimanat-i-mānūs, “Struck in the country of Awadh, at the seat of sovereignty, Lakhnau,” etc.
Rev., Sikka zad bar sīm u zar az faẓl-i-tāʾīdu-llah, ||
Z̤ill-i-haqq Wājid ’Alī Sult̤ān-i-’ālam bādshāh.
“Struck coin in silver and gold through the grace of the divine help, the shade of God, Wājid ’Alī, sultan of the world, the king.” Date, 2.
4. Ḥaidarābād. Sikandar Jāh, in the name of the Mug̱ẖal Akbar II. AR. Rupee.
Obv., Sikka-i-mubārak-i-bādshāh g̱ẖāzī Muḥammad Akbar Shāh, 1237,
“Blessed coin of the king,” etc.; with initial letter “sīn” of Sikandar.
Rev., as on No. 1, but year 16, and mint, Farḵẖ̱anda bunyād Ḥaidarābād,
“Ḥaidarābād, of fortunate foundation.”
5. Mysore. Tīpū. Seringapatam. Æ. 20 cash.
Obv., elephant with lowered trunk to right.
Rev., Ẓarb-i-Pattan.
6. Nepāl. Pṛithvī Nārāyaṇa. AR. Wt. 84 grs.
Obv., within circle a square; above sun and moon; below date, 1691 (Śaka = A.D. 1769); at sides ornaments.
In square, small circle containing trident in centre; around, in Nāgarī, Śrī Śrī Pṛithvī Nārāyaṇa Sāhadeva.
Rev., within central circle, Śrī Śrī Bhavānī; marginal legend, each character in an ornament, Śrī Śrī Gorakhanātha.
7. Indore. Jaśwant Rāo. AR. Rupee.
Obv., in Sanskrit, Śrī Indraprasthasthito rājā chakravartī bhumaṇḍale,
|| Tatprasādat kṛitā mudrā lokesmin vai virājite.
Rev., Lakshmīkāntapadāmbhoja-bhramara-rājitachetasaḥ,
|| Yeśawantasya vikhyātā mudraisha pṛithivītale,
“By permission of the king of Indraprastha (Dehlī), the emperor of the world, this coin has been struck by the renowned Yaśwant, whose heart is as the black bee on the lotus-foot of Lakshmīkānt, to circulate through the earth,
Śaka 1728” (= A.D. 1806).
8. Assam: Gaurīnātha Siṁha. AR. Wt. 88·4 grs.
Obv., within dotted border in Bengālī script,
Śrī Śrī Gaurīnātha Siṁha nṛipasya,
“(Coin) of the king, Śrī Gaurīnātha Siṁha.”
Rev., Śrī Śrī Hara-Gaurīpadaparasya,
“Devoted to the feet of Hara and Gaurī.”
9. East India Company. Murshidābād.
In the name of Shāh ’Ālam II. AR. Rupee (machine struck).
Obv., legend as No. 1, no date.
Rev., as No. 1, but mint, Murshidābād, and Company’s mark cinquefoil.
10. Sikh. Amritsar S. 1837. AR. Rupee.
Obv., corrupt Persian couplet (?)
Sar teg̱ẖ-i-Nānak... az faẓl-i fatḥ-i-Gobind Singh Saḥā (?)
Shāhān ṣāḥib sikka zad bar sīm u zar (?).
Rev., Ẓarb-i-Śrī Ambratsar julūs-i-taḵẖ̱t ākāl sambat 1835,
“Struck at Amritsar, the accession to the eternal throne, in the Sambat year, 1835.”
Note—In the Plate the obverse and reverse of No. 7 have been transposed.
With the extinction of the Vijayanagar kingdom the number of petty states minting their own money rapidly increased. For example, the “Durgi pagoda” continued to be struck by the Nāyakas of Chitaldrūg from 1689 to 1779; the god and goddess type was continued by the Nāyakas of Ikkeri (1559-1640), and later on at Bednūr (1640-1763). On the conquest of the latter city in 1763 by Ḥaidar ’Alī, the type was for a short time struck by him with addition of the initial letter of his name “hē” on the reverse; but this initial soon became the obverse and the year and date in Persian occupied the reverse. So also the East India Company issued, from Madras, pagodas of the “three swami” type, and both British and Dutch Companies struck “Veṅkaṭapati pagodas,” but with a granulated reverse. These latter Company coins acquired the name “Porto Novo pagodas,” from one of their places of issue. The famous “Star pagoda” was of this type, with the addition of a star on the reverse. Likewise the Niz̤āms of Ḥaidarābād and the Nawābs of the Karnatic struck pagodas of various types; those of the Nawāb Ṣafdar ’Alī are of the “Porto Novo” type with an “’Ain” on the granulated reverse.
At Bālāpūr, Qolār (Kolār), Gūtī and Ooscotta were struck fanams, and at Imtiyāzgarh pagodas, with Persian inscriptions in the name of the Mug̱ẖal Emperor, Muḥammad Shāh, and a small copper coinage in the name of ’Ālamgīr II was in general circulation in parts of the peninsula; small silver coins of a similar type are also known. An exceedingly interesting fanam, as well as some copper pieces, bear the Nāgarī legend, Śrī Rāja Śiva on the obverse, and Chhatrapati, “Lord of the umbrella,” on the reverse, and have with great probability been assigned to the great Marāṭhā chief, Śivajī.
The coinage of the old Keraḷa country, the Malabar coast, was, in 1657, the Portuguese Viaggio di Vincenzo Maria informs us, in the hands of the rulers of four states, Kannanur, Kalikat, Cochin and Travancore. It is distinguished from that of the rest of the peninsula by its large employment of silver, the most remarkable among these silver coins being the tārēs, said to have been struck in Kalikat, which have a śaṅkha shell on the obverse and a deity on the reverse, and weigh only from one to two grains each. The same device, a śaṅkha shell, appears on the silver puttans of Cochin, struck both by the Dutch and the native rulers, and also on the old and modern silver vellis of Travancore. Various gold fanams were current in Travancore before the nineteenth century, the oldest, known as the rasi, also has a śaṅkha on the obverse, and is closely allied to the “Vīra rāya” fanams of Kalikat. During the eighteenth century the copper coinage of Travancore was known as the “Anantan kāsu”; on the obverse was a five-headed cobra, and on the reverse the value of the coin, one, two, four or eight “cash” written in Tamil. In the years 1764 and 1774 the Moplah chief of Kannanur, ’Alī Rāja, struck double silver and gold fanams with Persian inscriptions, recording his name and the date (Pl. VII, 13). The Muhammadan coinage of Mysore is reserved for a later chapter.