Post-Mauryan coinage
Post-Mauryan coinage refers to the period of coinage production in India, following the breakup of the Maurya Empire (321–185 BCE).
The centralized Mauryan power ended during a
Yona kings, which were once incorporated by or allied with the Mauryan Empire, settled in the Indus forming Indo-Greek Kingdoms bringing new coinage practices.[2] These techniques were utilized by the Indo-Scythian Kingdoms and Kushan Empire.
In the south the
Technology
Punch-marked coinage
These political changes were accompanied by technological changes in coin production techniques. Before the collapse of the Maurya Empire, the main type of coinage was punch-marked coins. After manufacturing a sheet of silver or silver alloys, coins were cut out to the proper weight, and then impressed by small punch-dies. Typically from 5 to 10 punch dies could be impressed on one coin.[3] Punch-marked coins continued to be used for about three more centuries in the south, but in the north they disappeared in favour of the production of cast-die coinage.[4]
Cast die-struck coinage
The types of coins were replaced at the fall of the Maurya Empire by cast, die-struck coins.
Northwestern cast die-struck coinage
Single-die coins
The most ancient of the coins are those that were die-cast on one side only, the other side remaining blank.
Single-die coins (220-185 BCE)
Single-die coins before Indo-Greek invasions (220-185 BCE) |
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Single-die coins after the Greco-Bactrian invasions (185 BCE)
The year 185 BCE is the approximate date the
Single-die coinage after the Indo-Greek invasions (185 BCE) |
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Double-die coins (185 BCE onward)
Progressively, after 185 BCE and the Greek invasion, coins were cast on both sides.
Main designs
Main designs |
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Later, humped or elephant images are known from
Indian-standard coinage of the Greeks (185 BCE onward)
The
Symbolism
In addition to their own Attic coins, Greek kings thus started to issue bilingual Greek-Prakrit coins in the Indian standard, often taking over numerous symbols of the Post-Mauryan Gandhara coins, such as the arched-hill symbol and the tree-in-railing or Goddess Lakshmi at the beginning, and depictions of the bull and elephant later.
Legends
Several coins of king
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Coin of
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Coin ofKharoshthi legend Akathukreyasa "Agathocles". Rev vegetal symbol and hirañasame (185-168 BCE).[10]
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Indian coinage of Agathocles, with Buddhist lion and Lakshmi.
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Coin ofSamkarshana (found at Ai-Khanoum).
Normalization
Later on, from the second half of the reign of Apollodotus I (ruled 180-160 BCE), legends would become standardized, with simply the King's name and attribute in Greek on the obverse and Kharoshthi Prakrit on the reverse. The usage of Indian symbols would become much more restrained, generally limited to the illustration of the elephant and the zebu bull. There are two major exceptions however: Menander I and Menander II used the Indian Wheel of the Law on some of their coins, suggesting an affiliation with Buddhism, which is also described in literary sources.
However the usage of bilingualism would endure, at first coexisting with Attic-standard coins, and later becoming exclusive. The last Indo-Greek kings even went as far as issuing some Prakrit-only coinage. The period of Indo-Greek coinage in northwestern India would last until the beginning of our era.[3]
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Coin of Apollodotus I (180-160 BCE).
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Menander I (155-130 BCE) coin with elephant.
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Silver Drachm of Menander II (95-80 BCE) with Zeus and Nike handing a victory wreath to a Wheel of the Law[13]
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A coin of Artemidoros (85-80 BCE)
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Coin of the last Indo-Greek king Strato II (25 BCE-10 CE)
Coinage of the Northwestern tribes
With the influence of the Indo-Greeks in the northwest, local India tribes started to mint their own coins, often in a style reminiscent of the Indo-Greeks.
The rulers of Mathura in the 1st century BCE, known as the Mitra dynasty, also issued some important coins.
Coinage of the Kunindas (1st century BCE)
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Silver coin of the Kuninda Kingdom, c. 1st century BCE.
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Another Kuninda coin.
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Coin of the Kunindas.
Coinage of the Audumbaras (1st century BCE)
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Coin of Dharaghosha, king of the Audumbaras, in theIndo-Greek style, circa 100 BCE.[15]
Coinage of the Yaudheyas (1st century BCE - 2nd century CE)
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Kumāra Karttikeya withrooster, coin of the Yaudheyas (1st c. BCE)
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Six-headedKarttikeya on a Yaudheya coin. British Museum.
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Coin of the Yaudheyas with depiction of KumāraKarttikeya(1st c. BCE)
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Karttikeyashrine with antelope. Yaudheya, Punjab, 2nd century CE
Indo-Scythians, Indo-Parthians, and Kushans
Indo-Greek coinage in Gandhara would continue for nearly two centuries, until it was taken over by the coinage of the
Their coinage was almost completely derived from that of the Indo-Greeks, including the usage of the Greek language on the obverse down to the 2nd century CE with the Kushan king Kanishka, or even the Western Satraps until the 4th century.
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Coin ofIndo-Scythian ruler Azes II.
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Coin ofIndo-Parthian ruler Gondophares.
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Heliocles.
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Coin of Kushan ruler Vima Kadphises with Greek legend.
Eastern India: coinage of the Shungas
The Shunga Empire was a new Indian dynasty that toppled the Maurya Empire and replaced it in the east of the Indian subcontinent from around 185 to 78 BCE. The dynasty was established by Pushyamitra Shunga, who usurped the throne of the Mauryas. Its capital was Pataliputra, but later emperors such as Bhagabhadra also held court at Besnagar (modern Vidisha) in eastern Malwa.[18]
The script used by the Shunga was a variant of
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Bronze coin of the Sunga period, Eastern India. 2nd–1st century BCE.
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Another Sunga coin
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Sunga coin circa 150 BCE-100 CE.
Central India: coinage of the Satavahanas
The
Later, in the 1st or 2nd century CE, the Satavahanas became one of the earliest rulers to issue their own coins with portraits of their rulers, starting with king
Satavahana coins give unique indications as to their chronology, language, and even facial features (curly hair, long ears and strong lips). They issued mainly lead and copper coins; their portrait-style silver coins were often struck over coins of the
The coin legends of the Satavahanas, in all areas and all periods, used a
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Coin of GautamiputraYajna Satakarni(r. 167 – 196 CE).
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Indian ship on lead coin ofVasisthiputra Sri Pulamavi, testimony to the naval, seafaring and trading capabilities of the Satavahanas during the 1st–2nd century CE.
Southern India
Roman coinage
Numerous hoards of Roman gold coins from the time of Augustus and emperors of the 1st and 2nd centuries CE have been uncovered in India, predominantly, but not exclusively, from southern India. A large number of Roman Aureii and Denari of Augustus to Nero spanning approximately 120 years found all along the route from about Mangalore through the Muziris area and around the southern tip of India to the south eastern Indian ports. These Roman coins were in circulation in southern India for a long time.[23]
See also
References
- ^ "A Maharaja named Amoghabhuti, who was the Raja of the Kunindas, is known from coins of the Indo-Greek module with legends sometimes in both Brahmi and Kharoshthi, but in some cases in Brahmi only." in The History and Culture of the Indian People - Volume 2 by Ramesh Chandra Majumdar - 1951 - Page 161
- ^ The Coins Of India, by Brown, C.J. p.13-20
- ^ a b c d e f The Coins Of India, by Brown, C.J. p.13-20
- ^ Ancient Indian Coinage, Rekha Jain, D.K. Printworld Ltd. p.137
- ^ Recent Perspectives of Early Indian History Book Review Trust, New Delhi, Popular Prakashan, 1995, p.151 [1]
- ^ CNG Coins notice
- ^ a b c d e Ancient Indian Coinage, Rekha Jain, D.K.Printworld Ltd, p.114
- ^ CNG Coins coin notice
- ^ CNG notice
- ^ a b c Taxila, Amanda Gosh, p.835, Nos. 46-48
- ^ a b Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques, Bopearachchi, p.176
- ^ Geography from Ancient Indian Coins & Seals, Parmanand Gupta, Concept Publishing Company, 1989, p.126 [2]
- ^ Bopearachchi 4A and note 4; Bopearachchi & Rahman -; SNG ANS
- ^ a b c Ancient Indian Coinage, Rekha Jain, D.K. Printworld Ltd. p.119-124
- ^ Ancient India, from the earliest times to the first century, A.D by Rapson, E. J. p.154 [3]
- ^ Alexander Cunningham's Coins of Ancient India: From the Earliest Times Down to the Seventh Century (1891) p.70 [4]
- ^ a b The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans, by John M. Rosenfield, University of California Press, 1967 p.135 [5]
- JSTOR 3250214.
- ^ "Silabario Sunga". proel.org.
- ISBN 978-1-136-81808-0.
- ISBN 0-5202-4500-8.
- ^ Rapson, CLXXXVII
- ^ Ancient Indian Coinage, Rekha Jain, p.88