A Literary and Historical Atlas of Asia. J. G. Bartholomew
V. 11).
Mediaeval Hindu Dynasties.—The later Kushan type (Plate V. 6, gold, c. 250 A.D.), with a king standing, sacrificing at altar on the obverse and a goddess enthroned facing on the reverse, survived for centuries on the base gold and rude copper coins of Kashmir (Plate VI. 1, gold, Yasovarman, c. 730 A.D.), and the seated goddess remains a familiar type on the gold coins of the mediaeval Hindu dynasties of the present United and Central Provinces, and even survived on the coins of Mohammadan invaders (Plate VI. 4, gold coin of Hallakshanavarman, 1097–1110 A.D., of Jejahuti). Among the commonest of Indian coins are the silver "Bull and Horseman" coins of the Brahman kings of Kandahar (Plate VI. 2, Spalapatideva, c. 875 A.D.), the types of which were copied by various Hindu kings (e.g. Plate VI. 3, Prithvi-Raja of Delhi, 1166–1192 A.D.) and retained by their Mohammadan conquerors.
South India.—In South India the primitive punch-marked coins remained much longer in circulation than in the north, and from the frequent finds of Roman gold and silver coins, it is probable that these formed the major part of the currency in the early centuries of the Christian era. Many of the Hindu coins of South India are uninscribed, and their attribution is still uncertain. To the Chera dynasty of Malabar are attributed certain gold coins having an elephant on the obverse (Plate V. 13, thirteenth century). Copper coins, having on the obverse a figure of the king standing and on the reverse the king seated, were introduced by Rajaraja of the Chola dynasty (c. 1030 A.D.); this type spread through South India, was introduced into Ceylon on the Chola conquest, and adopted there by the independent kings of Kandy (Plate VI. 7, Parakramabahu, 1153–1186 A.D.). Thick gold cup-shaped pieces are attributed to the Western Chalukyas of the Deccan (eighth century A.D., Plate VI. 6), while large thin gold coins were struck by the eastern branch of the family (Plate VI. 8, Rajaraja, 1021–1062 A.D.); both bear the Chalukya emblem, the boar. Certain cup-shaped gold pieces bearing a lotus were struck by the Kadambas of Northern Mysore (Plate VI. 9). The great mediaeval Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagara (Mysore) has left an extensive series of gold and copper coins. Its small gold coins called pagodas (Plate VI. 5, Venkata Raya, c. 1530–1542 A.D.), bearing one or more deities on the obverse, formed the pattern for later coinages not only of the native states but also of various European invaders of South India.
Sultans of Delhi.—When Mohammad bin Sam (1193–1205 A.D.) defeated the allied Hindu forces on the plain of Thaneswar in 1193 he became master of India and founded the dynasty known as the Sultans of Delhi, which survived till the Moghul conquest. In addition to striking coins of the usual Mohammadan type he copied the coins of his Hindu predecessors (e.g. Plate VI. 10, copper, cf. 2 and 3; VI. 11, gold, cf. 4). The coins of his successors are the tanka (about 175 grains) in gold and in silver, in addition to smaller coins of copper and billon. Plate VI. 13 may be taken as typical; it is a gold tanka of Mohammad III. bin Tughlak (1324–1351 A.D.); on one side it bears the name of the Sultan, "Mohammad Shah Sultan who trusts in the support of the Merciful One," with a marginal inscription giving the date and mint (Delhi, 726 A.H. (1326 A.D.)); on the other side is a form of the Muslim creed. Plate VI. 12 is one of the remarkable brass tokens with which the same Sultan sought to displace gold and silver money. It bears a legend giving the value at which it was to pass, and an appeal to the piety of his subjects in a legend from the Koran, "He that obeys the Sultan obeys the Merciful One." Though no fraud was intended, this token currency was a failure. Plate VI. 14 is a silver tanka of Sher Shah (1539–1545 A.D.), one of the last and one of the greatest of the Sultans of Delhi. The obverse bears the Mohammadan creed and the names of the first four caliphs on the margin, a type which survived for two centuries longer in the Moghul coins. The coins of the various Mohammadan states which became independent of Delhi in the fifteenth century cannot be detailed here. Plate VII. 1, a silver tanka of Ghiyas-al-Din of Malwa (1468–1500 A.D.), may be taken as typical of them.
Moghul Emperors.—The Moghul Emperors made but little change in the types and standards of the coins of their predecessors, but gave the standard gold coin the name mohur, while the silver was called the rupee. Plate VII. 2 is a mohur of Jalal-al-Din ("Glory of the Faith"), Mohammad Akbar (1556–1605 A.D.), struck at Agra in 976 A.H. (1568 A.D.), similar in type to Sher Shah's tanka (Plate VI. 14). The coins of his son Nur-al-Din ("Light of the Faith"), Mohammad Jahangir (1605–1627 A.D.), are the most remarkable of the series. Plate VII. 3, a mohur of Jahangir, is a fine specimen of calligraphy (obverse, Mohammadan creed; reverse, titles and mint; Lahore, 1015 A.H.), while Plate VII. 4 is the obverse (Ram) of a mohur of the remarkable series issued by him bearing the signs of the zodiac. Jahangir was, like many of the Moghuls, a heavy drinker, and went so far as to portray himself with the wine cup in his hand on a well-known mohur (Plate VII. 5). Plate VII. 6, a mohur of his successor Shihab-al-Din ("Flame of the Faith"), Shah Jahan (1628–1659), is typical of the coinage of the period (obverse as Plate VII. 2, reverse, titles; Agra, 1050 A.H. (1640 A.D.)). His successor, Aurangzib (1659–1707 A.D.), replaced the religious legends on the obverse by the mint and date, and this remained the usual type to the end of the series. (Plate VII. 7, mohur of Shah Alam II. 1759–1806 A.D.; Delhi, 1205 A.H.).
At the end of the eighteenth century numerous states became practically independent of the Great Moghul, but struck coins which still bore his name. When the last Moghul Emperor was deposed in 1858, the name of Queen Victoria began to appear on the coins of such native states as were allowed to continue issuing coins. To attain uniformity in the currency of the empire this right has been gradually curtailed by the British government, and is now exercised only by a few of the more important states, such as Hyderabad, which issues coins struck by modern European machinery.
Assam and Nepal.—Two important Hindu kingdoms, Assam and Nepal, were never subject to the Moghuls. The kings of Assam issued an extensive coinage (octagonal in form) till their territory was acquired by Britain (Plate VII. 8, rupee "of the divine king Siva Sinha (1714–1744 A.D.) a bee on the lotus feet of Hara and Gauri"). Plate VII. 9 is a silver mohur of Prthvi Vira Vikrama (1881) of Nepal, the reigning Maharaja of Nepal.
Bibliography.—E. J. Rapson, Indian Coins (Strassburg, 1897); Sir A. Cunningham, Coins of Ancient India (London, 1891), Coins of Mediaeval India (1894); British Museum Catalogue of Indian Coins, Greek and Scythic Kings (1886), Andhras and Western Ksatrapas (1908), Sultans of Delhi (1885),