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BULLETIN OF THE .M ADRAS GOVERNMENT MUSEUM Edited by The Superintendent '. ,. ~ SELECT SATAV AHANA COINS IN THE GOVERNMENT MUSEUM, MADRAS '.' By: M. RAMA RAO, M.A., PH.D. Nizom College, Osmania University, Hyderabad-Oeccan NEW SERIES - General Section Vol. VII No.2. ... Published by: The Commissioner of Museums, Government Museum, Chennai - 600 008. 2000 BULLETIN OF THE MADRAS GOVERNMENT MUSEUM Edited by The Superintendent SELECT SATA V AHANA COINS IN THE GOVERNMENT MUSEUM, MADRAS By: M. RAMA RAO, M.A., PH.D. Nizom College, Osmania University, Hyderabad-Deccan NEW SERIES - General Section Vol. VII No.2. Published by: The Commissioner of Museums. Government Museum. Chennai - 600 008. 2000 First Edition : 1959 Reprinted : 2000 © Commissioner of Museums Government Museum, Chennai - 600 008. Price: Rs. 20/- Printed at: The Chennai Printers Industrial Co-operative Society Ltd., 118,/Big Street, Triplicane, Chennai - 600005. Phone: 8546287 Dr. R. Kannan, B.Cpm., M.BA, CAI.I.B., B.L., Government Museum, M. Social Science (Birmingham, U.K.), Ph.D., lAS, Chennai - 600 008. Commissioner of Museums, PREFACE The Catalogue on Satavahana coins prepared by Prof. M. Rama Rao with the description of six major types of Satavahana coins was first published by this Museum as its Bulletin in 1959. The Andhra Satavahana rulers (C.200 BC - 250 AD) are the first strong political power to have emerged in the Deccan. In power and territorial expan.se they were equal to the Mauryas of Magadha, the first great Indian power recorded in history. Their power and fame is reflected in literature, legend and historY. The coins issued by them bear some special characteristic features. They are the first Indian rulers who issued their coins in lead. They used with lead, copper and patin an alloy of copper, lead and tin for their coins. The Chennai (Madras) Government Museum has a huge number of Satavahana COins, collected mostly during excavations conducted in the Andhra coastal areas. But the exact spots where they were found with the exception of a few coins from Anlaravati, are not recorded. In 1953 Prof. Rama Rao of Nizam College, Hyderabad examined these coins and selected 223 for preparing the Catalogue on Satavahana Coins of this Museum. The observations made by Prof. M. Rama Rao on Satavahana coins still hold good for the comparative study of Indian Numismati~, particularly of the ancient period. Therefore, this republication has been done to help numismatists in their studies and research. r R-<.!)vV-yJ· / 2000 AD (R. Kannan) SELECT SATAVAHANA COINS IN THE GOVERNMENT MUSEUM~ MADRAS. L.""ITRODUCTION 1 examined over 6,000 Satavahana coins in the Government Museum, Madras, in JWle 1953. Most of them are copies and many are worn out. I selected 223 of them for * inc:usion in this Catalogue. Twenty-four of these coins were obtained from Amaravati, in the Guntur district. The find spots of the other coins are not known, but it is certain that almost all of them were obtained during the course of the excavations conducted on ancient Buddhist sites in coastal Andhradesa. Most of the· coins are of lead and a few of potin. TYPES The coins inCluded in this Catalogue are of six main types-Caitya 51, Lion 24, Horse 49,. Elephant 94, Ship 2, Bull 1 and Camel!. DISTRIBUTION BY REIGNS Ninety-six of these coins, belong to eight Satavahana kings as follows-Gautamiputra. Sii.takarJ).i 41, Vasi~thiputra Pulumavi 17, Satakarn.i IV 5, SivaSri 2, Candra Satakal'I)i 1, Skanda Satakal'I)i 1, Sri Yajiia Satakal'I)i 28, Karn,a Satakal'I)i 1 and Saka Sada 2. The remaining coins do not contain legends and cannot, therefore, be ascribed to any king. with certainty. I am discusSing below the importance of these co~~y their types. CAITYA TYPE COINS Oaitya of two arches-Coin No.1 of this Catalogue is a unique coin, of an unknown variety of this type. The caitya of three, six and eight arches, figures on Sii.tavihana co:ms and the caitya of eight arches, is to be found on the coins of the Maharathis (1) and the coins ·of the Ananda dynasty (I). There are two broad arches on this coin, and no traces of an arch above them. The two letters, Vas (i), found below the caitya, add to the impor tance of this coin. These two letters may be taken to be an abbreviation of Vasa#hi or . ¥asa1hipula. Four later Sii.tavahana kings, Pulumavi II, Satakal'I)i IV, Sivaari and Candra Sii.takarn.i, hacJ. the matronymic, Viisi§1hipulra. It is not possible, therefore, to ascribe this coin to any ot;te of them with certainty. "'-'.-6,7,8, 12. 13, ·15, 18.21,26,27,28,29,32,38,40,41,42,44,47,48,49, 102, 133, and 219 of thiB Catalope.' 1 Ancient India, No.4, pl. CXXVII and CXXVIII• .• BMO, pl. VIII, NOB. G.P. 2, 235, G. P3, 236 and G.P. 4. Bulletin, Madras Government Museum [G. VII, 2 Oaitya of three arches-Out of the twelve coins of this variety, included in this Catalogue, e). three have the plain caitya and contain no legend Coins Nos. 5-9 fall into one group. There is a gap of four letters in the legend on coin No.7 and this may be filled by the addition of the four letters, tasa siri. The complete legend would then read as Rano Gotamiputasa Siri Sataka!lisa and would resemble the full legend found on coins of .other types. (4) Coins Nos. 5 and 6 contain incomplete legends, which suggest the fnll forms, Gotamip!uasa Rano Sataka!lisa and Satakap,isa Rano Gotamiputasa. Coins Nos. 8 and 9 seem to contain the alter native legend of the monarch. I have suggested long ago, that the use of the caitya of three arches and the legend Rano Gotamiputasa Siri Sataka1Jisa by the celebrated Sl1tavahana king, Gautamiputra SatakaI1li, in restriking the silver coins ofNahapana (5) indicates the existence of independent coins of this variety of caitya coins in his other dominions in central and eastern Dakkan. This suggestion is justified by the find of this variety of coins, published by me elsewhere (6). The five coins included in this Catalogue, are thus a welcome addition to our meagre stock of this variety of caitya coins of Gautamiputra SatakarJ).i. Coins Nos. 10, II and 13 which belong to Pulumavi, Sivasri and Candra SatakarJ).i, resemble coins previously published C). Coin No. 12 is of particular importance. Martin has previously published a coin of this variety (8), but the legend on that coin is partly worn out. Poof. Mirashi has published another coin of Siva.~ri, but the legend on that coin does not contain the matronymic. This is therefore, the only coin of Sivasri e), which contains his full name, matronymic and title. Oaitya of six arches-Of the twenty-one coins of this variety, included in this Catalogue, nine belong to Gautamiputra SatakarJ).i, one to his son, PuJumavi, and eleven to Sri Yajfia. Nos. 14 and 15 seem to contain the legend in the form Rano Gotamip71tasa Sataka1Jisa. No. 16 has the form Rano Sataka!lisa Gotamiputasa. Nos. 17, 18 and 19 have the form Sataka!lisa Rano Gotamiputasa. No. 24 has the form Gotamiputasa Sil'i Satalca!lisa. Nos. 20 and 21 contain abbreviated forms. All these coins belong to Gautamiputra SatakarJ).i. Rapson has published a number of coins, of this variety of the caitya type, but ascribed ( / all of them to Sri Yajfia. He presumed that Sri Yajfia had his name abbreviated as Gotami- putasa and Sataka!lisa on these coins, and that there wasa change of type from the caitya • Nos. 2, 3 and 4 . .. ABORS, XXII, pages 171-185 and pl. XVI, No. 16. 5 BMO, pI. IX, Nos. 253-258. 6 JDHO, I1-2, p. 81. Some Siitaviihan coins Nos. 2-5. 7 For coins ofPu!umiivi see BMf!, page 20 and pI. V, Nos. 88, 89, GP. 1 ; Rea-SIBA, pI. XIII, Nos. 2, 3, 5 ; Smith-ZDMG, 1906, page 619; Elhot-OSI No.7 b; Some Sat. coins Nos. 6-8; For coins of Sivasri see BMO page 29, and pI. V. Nos. 11.5-116; Rea-SIBA pI. .XIII, No.4; Smith-~DMO 1906, page 620; Thomas ~ Ind. Ant. IX, No. 12;. Elh0t--:-0SI No.7; for coms of Candra SiitakarQI see BMO, pages 30--31 and pl. VII, Nos. 117.119 and G.P. 1; Smlth-ZDMO 1906, page 623; Thomas-Ind. Ant. IX, page 13; Elliot-OSI .No. 7 a and Some Sat. coins No.9. B Num. Suppl. 1934, page 61, coin 2. I JNSI, II, p. 88; pl. VIII, Nos. 13 and U. 1958] Select Satavahana Ooins of three arches to the caitya of six arches in his regin eO). As I have shown elsewhere, many coins bearing the caitya of three arches, on the obverse, were issued by Gautamiputra SatakarJ)i, PuJumavi and Candra Satakar¢ (11). The BMC contains coins of this vaIiety, issued by Pulumavi, SivaSri, Candra Satakaqli, Sri Yajiia and Sri Rudra C2). Of these' Candra SatakarJ)i flourished after Sri Yajiia and not before him. Hence Sri Yajiia could not have changed the tyPe. Coin No. 23 of this Catalogue, contains on the obverse, a caity.a of six arches and the legend of Vasil?thiputra, who flourished several generations before Sri Yajiia. Further, Rev. Scott who examined the hoard of Nahapana's silver coins restruck by Gauta miputra SatakarJ)i, has stated long ago that in restriking these coins SatakarJ)i tised, along with other devices, the caitya ()( six arches, both with and without the surmounti~g crescent, and in some cases the caitya with pellets in the arches and in the surmounting crescent. The monarch also used the caitya of three and ten arches eO). Coins of these two descrip tions have been found. It is certain, therefore, that coins bearing the caitya of six arches, were also issued by this king (14) long before he conquered the Kl?aharatas. Moreover, a great king l;ke Sri Yajiia must have been prudent enough to realise that if his own legend was abbreviated as Gotamiputasa and Sataka'(lisa these forms could easily be mistaken to be those of the legend of his greater ancestor, Gautamiputra SatakarJ)i. Yajiia or YaJ)a was his personal name and this could not have been omitted in any case. His known coins show that his personal name was invariably used on his coins. For these reasons Rapson's pre sumptions become untenable and his ascription of all caitya coins of the six-arched variety to Sri Yajiia, restoring the legends, irrespective of the availability or otherwise of the letter space on them, becomes unjustifiable. Only those coins which contain the distinctive personal name Yajiia or YaJ)a alone should be ascribed to him. I would, therefore, ascribe coins Nos. 14---22 of this Catalogue to Gautamiputra SatakarJ)i. Solid caitya-Out of the nine coins of this variety included in this Catalogue, six belong to Gautamiputra SatakarJ)i, and three to Sri Yajiia. Three coins of this variety have been published previously (l&). Two of them, bigger in size, have been ascribed to Sri Yajiia after the addition of Siri Y a~a to their legends. The third coin contains a defective and abbreviated legend and its ascription to the same monarch is unwarranted (,6). Of the coins included in this Catalogue, the legends on Nos. 35-39 are absolutely clear, and there is no space on them for the insertion of any other name. Nos. 41-43 show that all coins of Sri Yajiia, contain his personal name which is the only basis of distinction between his coins 1. BMO, Intro. p. lxxiii. 11 Some Sat coin8, Nos. 2-9. 1$ BMO, Intro. p.lxxii. ,. JBBRAS, XXII, pages 223-243 and pI. I and IV. 14 Some Sat. coins Nos. 10.-:14. 15 BMO, pI. VI, Nos. 132, 133 and No. 134. 16 Even according to Rapson the legend can be restored as (Ratio Gotamipu) ta (kani8a) and there is no room for the addition of 8a Siri Yana Sata to the legend. See Catalogue page 34, coin No. 134. S.S.O.-lA 4 Bulletin, Madras Government Museum [G. VII, 2 and those of Gautamiputra Satakal'I)i. Further, the legends on coins Nos. 35-~9 resemble the legends of this king's coins of other types and varipties. I have no hesitation in ascrib ing these coins to Gautamiputra SatakarQi. Coin No. 40 whose legend is dubious, may also be tentatively ascribed to this monarch. Three special features of the coins may be noticed here. The coins published hitherto have the caitya in the centre while on the coins included in this Catalogue the caitya is to be found both to the right and left of the coin. Secondly, the caitya on the published coins has the lotus and conch on either side while on the coins included in this Catalogue there is the combination of the svastika and the glass-shaped symbol and the svastika and lotus, in addition. Thirdly, some of these coins have the caitya without any symbols on either side. For these reasons these coins are a welcome addition to the existing stock. Caitya of six arches in sq1tare-Coin No. 51 of this Catalogue contains the caitya on the obverse, and lotus design on the reverse. It does not contain any legend and cannot be assigned to any king. It is an unknown variety, of the caitya type of Satavahana coins. Caitya often arches-This is a variety hitherto unknown and till recently unpublished (17). Seven coins of this variety have been included in this Cataloglie C'). Of these No. 44 contains the familiar legend of Gautamipuira SiltakarI)i. Since this monarch is known to have used the caitya of ten arches in restriking the coins of N ahapana there necd not be any doubt about the issuer of these coins. No. 45 has the peculiar and abbreviated form, Satasa, which appears on the published coins of Satakarl).i I and stands for Satakat),isa. It may be tentatively ascribed to Gautamiputra Satakarl).i. LION TYPE COINS e Many coins of this type have been puhlished previously by Thomas 9), Rea (20), e e Rapson 1) and the present writer 2). These coins are of t.wo main varieties, lion facing left and cait.ya and lion facing . left and ujjaill 8ymhol. Coi118 of the8e two varieties have been included in this Catalogue besides new and 111lknown varieties, viz., lion facing left and blank; lion facing right and blank; lion facing l'ight, and caitya and lion facing left and tree and caitya. Of the two coins of tlle lion qJl(l ujjain symbol variet.y published by Rapson, in the BMC, one is said to have the legend Sil'i. . . . . . . . Sami.sa but actually on the coins Bamisa Si1·i (Pu) is visible. The other coin is said to contain many letters, of --------------------- " See my paper entitled" Siitaviihana eo in of the ten·archcd caitya type" read at the AIOC, Ahmcdabad or 8CssiGll tIu Ind. Hist. Congo 18 Nos. 44-50• • 0 Ind. Ant. IX, pages 61-65, No. lR. 20 SIBA, pl. XII, Nos. 45-50. 2' JRAS, 1903, page~ 285-312, No. 13; BMO Cat, pages 10-12 and pI. III, G.P. 2, G.P. 3, 36-38, 42, 43. ;(Jat. page 24; pI. V, Nos. G.P. 2 and G.P. 3. n JNSI, XV-I, page 74 and pl. I-19. 1958] Select Satavanaoo Coins which Pu is clear and /u possible. Rapson has conjecturally attributed these coins to e PuJuma.vi a). Five coins of this variety are included in this Catalogue. Of these Nos. 52 and 53 do not contain any legends, and cannot therefore be ascribed to any king. No. 55 resembles one of the coins published by Rapson. The legend Samisa is common to both. This title is to be found on the.ten-arched variety of the caitya coins of PuJumavi. Hence this coin has to be ascribed to PuJumavi and becomes the third known lion coin of this king. Coin No. 56 contains the familiar legend of Sri Yajiia. Only one lion coin of this king has e') been known so far and this becomes the second coin of its kind. Coin No. 54 contains part of the legend of Gautamiputra Satakarvi. I ha.ve previously published a lion coin of Satakarvi IV. We are now in a position to state that the lion device was introduced by Sata karvi I and continued by his succeS.3ors and that among the latter Satavahanas, Gautami putra Satakarvi, Pu~umavi, Satakarvi IV and Sri Yajiia issued coins of this type. Rapson has included in the BMC, several coins with the lion facing left on the obverse and the caitya of six arches in a double line square surmounted by a row of dots and a crescent on the reverse. Most of these have traces of a legend read as Sakasena and have been assigned to Maghari putra Svami Sakasena of a Kanheri ,inscription . Nos. 63 and 65 of this Catalogue resemble e the above r coins and may be conjecturally assigned to Sakasena 5) though they do not have legends. No. 71 of this Catalogue is of the same type but of a different and new variety. I have published elsewhere a similar coin belonging to Satakarvi IV (2il), the immediate successor of Pulumavi. This coin may also be ascribed to the same king. These two coins constitute a new variety of the coins of the lion and caitya type. Many other coins included in this Catalogue have the lion facing right or left on 'the obverse and their e e reverse is plaine 7). A few coins of this variety have been published by Rea S) and the present writer 9). No. 75 of this Catalogue is a peculiar coin. On all the lion coins, known so far, the animal stands either by itself or before an ~ltar or tree, but on this coin it has symbols both before and below and no altar. The tree and caitya on the reverse do not figure on any other coins of the Satavahanas. The tree and. caitya are the familiar reverse device of the coins of the' Kura' kings and the Maharathis of Chittaldurg (30). Since the' Kura ' kings used the bow and arrow device on the obverse of their coins, and the Maharathis used the bull, this coin cannot be ascribed to either of the two families. The lion is the favourite device of the Satavahanas. This coin which contains the Satavahana symbol on one side and the symbol of the Kolhapur and Chittaldurg rulers on the other, is thus a peculiar coin. ~. Gat. page 24/ff. 1 and 2. 2' Some Sat. coins No. 40. >5 cr. Ibid N 08. 35 and 36. 26 Ibid No. 37; JNSI, XV-I, page 74; pI. 1, No. 19. 27 See varieties Band D under Lion Type Coins in this Catalogue. 28 SIBA, pI. XII and XIII, Nos. 45-51. .9 Some Sat. coins No. 34. 3. Anc. Ind. No.4, pI. XXVII, No. 19.