This volume, the 21st in the series entitled Studies in South Indian Coins contains twenty five papers on coins of various dynasties of South India, besides a section entitled news and views and an useful index to previous volumes, I to XX.
The first paper deals with ancient coin names from Dharma-sastras and inscriptions and indicates that the change of dynasties resulted in the change in currency system. The next one describes two Roman coins from the Kathanganni hoard lodged in the Fitzwilliam Museum (U.K.) and describes their significance. This is followed by two papers on Satavahana coins – one on a unique copper coin produced jointly by queen Naganika and King Satakarni-I to mark asvameda sacrifice and the other on the comparative study of portrait coins on the basis of chemical analysis. The paper on the coins discovered in Banavasi region is said to point towards gaps in the history of post-Satavahana Period.
The copper coins of Sangam Age, one from Pattanam in Kerala and the other from Periyapattinam in Tamil Nadu also find a place in this volume. A coin of Western Kshatrapa Rudrasena-III from the excavation at Berenike, an ancient port on Red Sea in Egypt, described in this volume attest to Indo – Roman trade during 4th century AD.
The paper on Echi-setti, the mint master of Kalyana Chalukya King Taila-III period, furnishes interesting details. Another useful paper is on much talked about, but less known, coins from Kodur hoard of Telugu Chodas of Andhra region.
This volume also contains description of a few coins ship motif in the State Government Museums in Karnataka and some interesting observations on the Ananthraya varahan and paravai kasu of Kerala.
Discovery of unknown coins and presentation of finer points of the same is the focus of some of the papers included in this volume. The following papers belong to this category: a lead coin from Karnataka; unknown coins of Rajaraja-I and Rajendra-I of medieval Chola dynasty; a coin attributable to Chola Yuvaraja Lankeswara; and interesting gold coin of Yadava Singhana; coins of Tanjore Raghunatha Nayak with chariot motif; unpublished gold coins of Maratha Chief Murari Rao Ghorpade and a 20 Cash coin of Mysore Krishnaraja Wadeyar-III.
Other interesting papers are on a Shah Jahan document about the coins used to weigh Aurangzeb on his twentieth birthday, a new interpretation of legends on Tipu Sultan’s precious metal coins, a note on Kaderi, the mint town in north Canara and coin terms noticed in the epigraphs of Sangama Rulers from the Tirumala – Tirupati temples.
There are no reviews yet.