History is a study of our past and coins contributed a great deal to it. It may be pertinent to point out that our ancient Indian script Brahmi was deciphered by James Prinsep in 1837 AD on the basis of study of Indo-Greek bilingual coins, the same way the Egyptian hieroglyphic script was analysed by French scholars after studying the multilingual inscription found on Rosetta stone.
The study of ancient and medieval Indian coins brought to light the names of many kings about whose existence there was no literary or inscriptional evidence. For example the recent discovery of Kotalingala coins in the Karimnagar district of Andhra brought out the coins of unknown Kings namely Gobada, Narana, Kamvayasa , Sirivayasa and Samagopa. These kings ruled part of Andhra after the fall of Mauryan empire and they preceded Satavahanas. It is also true of medieval period when kings like Yildis and Qubacha ruled parts of Northwestern India during the rule of some Delhi sultans. These kings were known to the historians as governors of those provinces but their coins prove that they were independent rulers. Same is true of many such kings in different parts of India who came to be known through their coin finds.
The coins also helped in corroborating the information provided in puranas. Vayu, Vishnu, Brahmanda, Baghavata and Matsya puranas mention about Satavahana kings and coins of some of those kings found in different parts of Deccan support the puranas. But facts provided by coins seem to be more accurate than puranas. For example name of the first king of this dynasty is mentioned variously as Chismaka, Sindhuka, Balyhita, Simuka etc in different Puranas but coins name him as Chimuka which must be correct since they were issued during his rule while puranas were written centuries later and hence many inaccuracies crept into them. Coins of some rulers of the family were found which were missed out in the Puranas namely Kumba and Karna. Hence coins help in reconstructing our ancient history much more accurately than what is possible from other sources.
The coins also help historians in ascertaining the religious leanings of those kings. Though Kushan kings helped Buddhism, their leanings were towards Hinduism, much more so with Shaivism. Their coins depict Siva, Bull and Trisula. The symbols on coins such as tree in railing, arched hill and elephant suggest the ruler was a Buddhist. Such symbols on some of the Satavahana kings clearly demonstrate their faith. Though majority of later rulers of Vijayanagara dynasty favoured Vaishnavite faith and some kings even used 'namam'symbol on their coins, the early rulers leaned toward shaivism. The first dynasty kings of Vijayanagar namely Sangama were shaivites and their coins depicted Bull, Umamaheshwara and Durga. Vaishnavite symbols found on coins of Vijayanagara rulers were: Hanuman, Garuda, Venkateshwara , Balakrishna, Srirama etc. It was no surprise that Tirupathi became very popular during the rule of later Vijayanagar kings and continues to be so.
The coins also point out the economic conditions of those times. Delhi sultans namely Alauddin and Qutbuddin of Kalji dynasty issued a wide variety of gold and silver coins in large numbers due to their treasury being full with the loot and plunder of southern kingdoms. Whereas scanty coins of base metals issued by their successors suggest chaotic economic conditions of that period. Coins found in hoards and excavations reveal the trade of those times. For instance punch marked coins discovered in hoards in Andhra revealed that a significant proportion of those coins belonged to the north suggesting that there was a brisk trade between north and south in the country more than two thousand years ago. Similarly Roman coins were found in Andhra and other areas mixed with coins of local kings implying that there was maritime trade during those years with Rome.
Coins also help in finding out the personal traits of individual kings who issued them. For instance Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, who was ahead of his times, issued coins in the name of his dead father whom he killed in remorse in his early years of rule. His successor Firoz brought out coins in the name of his dead son. Some Delhi sultans were megalomaniacs, for example Alauddin called himself the second Alexander and Qutbuddin declared his faith in Islam in grandiose terms and called himself ' the supreme head of the religion of Islam, Khalifa of the lord of heaven and earth'.
Some kings issued coins of his predecessor by putting a counter mark on it which helps in finding out who followed whom. For example Gautamiputra Satakarni issued coins of Nahapana with his counter mark corroborating the historical evidence which suggested that he defeated him.
All of us now use only token currency but in India such token currency was issued by Muhammad Bin Tughlaq 700 years ago. It was of course a failure since people would not accept it. This was a token coin made of brass and he wanted people to accept it as equivalent to silver which was 50 times costlier than brass. The idea of token currency then was brilliant but being way ahead of times ended in a fiasco.
The chemical analysis of the coins reveal the metals which were available then. Billion coins were issued by many medieval kings and this is an alloy of silver and copper. Lead coins were issued by Andhra Kings more than 2000 years ago and they look well even today proving that our ancestor’s metallurgical knowledge of lead alloys was commendable.
To conclude the study of coins is very useful for the reconstruction of our ancient Indian history. The coins reveal many interesting facts about the kings, their dynasties, religious beliefs, personal traits and economic conditions etc of those times.
Description of the coin of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq:
Obverse: Muhr shud tanka raizdar ruzgari banda ummidwar Muhammad Tughlaq (Minted tank a currency during the days of Muhammad Tughlaq who hopes for divine favour).
Reverse: Manate arrehman faquad altar Rehman (He who obeys the sultan obeys the god, the prophet).
Photographs of ancient coins with symbols.
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Elephant
Symbols denotes the Buddhist emperors. The coins shown below belongs
to the Satavahana era.
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