ARCHEOLOGICAL HERITAGE

Coins

VENAD CHERA COINS

The Coinage of India began between early 1st millennium BCE to the 6th century BCE. The coins of this period were Karshapanas or Pana. The kingdoms that minted their own coins included Gandhara, Kuntala, Kuru, Pancha la, Magadha, Shakya, Surasena, Surashtra , Chola, Chera, Pandya etc. The coins of the Chola Empire bear similarities with other South Indian dynastic issue coins.

Early Chola coins

Archaeological excavations at Kaveripattanam reveal that Chola coins were found in square and some other shapes which are classified as unique coins of India. These coins were characterised by the emblem of the Cholas which features a standing tiger with its tail upraised on one side and an elephant on the other side. Some circular lead coins dated to ‘circa’ second century A.D were influenced by Satavahana, bore a unique symbol and the legend ‘Atinan etiran Chandan’ meaning Atinan, the successor of Chanda on one side. The other side bore the regular emblem.

Later Chola coins

Coins struck by the Chola ruler, Raja Raja Chola during their second regime in medieval India differed in fabric, style and in the gold purity. The coins of Chola Empire are considered as some of the most unique coins of India that were issued in gold, silver and copper. The Chola ruler, Uttama Chola struck silver coins with the royal emblem of “Tiger facing two fishes” on the obverse side. The coins also contained the Nagari legend “Uttama Chola”. During his reigning period, Raja Raja struck gold fanams that bore the legend Yuddha Malla on the obverse. Apart from these coins, silver and gold ‘kahavanus’ were also struck by the king. This type of coins bore the standing king on the obverse and the seated king on the reverse side of the coin. Rajendra Chola struck coins including the legend “Sri Rajendrah”. The succeeding generations followed an identical pattern “Standing King on the obverse” and “Seated King on the reverse”. The coins sometimes bore the legend “Raja Raja” and sometime the legend “Ku“. Chola coinage also extended to some parts of Sri Lanka in 993 when Raja Raja Chola sent a large Chola army which conquered the Anuradhapura Kingdom, in the north.

Pandya Coins

Silver punch marked and die struck copper coins were issued by the Pandyas in the early period. There were constant tiffs between Pallavas and Pandyas in the area of Tanjore district. They ruled for some time in the ninth century A.D and then were conquered by the Cholas again during the eleventh twelfth centuries A.D. A few gold coins were issued by Pandya rulers in the 13th century. These coins of India bore the image of a fish, sometimes singly, sometimes in pairs along with symbols like a bow, a conch, a discus etc. Some of the coins had the inscription of the words ‘Pandava Narapa’ in Kannada attributed to Maravarman Sundara Pandya I (1216-1235 A.D.) or to Jatavarman Sundara I (1215-1270 A.D). Coins with the inscription ‘Sri Pandya Dhananjaya’ in Nagari or in Telegu were attributed to Maravarman Sundara Pandya II (1238-1253 A.D). The inscription on the silver and gold coins during the Pandyas, were in Sanskrit and the copper coins had the Tamil legends. Besides the fish emblem, the copper coins of the Pandyas, also featured the Chola standing figure or the Chalukyan devices associated with a fish. The constant variations in symbols as per different dynasties probably indicated the conquests and defeats of the Pandiyan Empire.In the 7th-10th centuries, after the revival of the Kingdom, the predominant symbols used were one or two fishes, and the Pandyan bull. The inscription on the silver and gold coins is in Sanskrit, and most of their copper coins have Tamil legends.

Coins of Chera Dynasty

In the 12th century, the copper coins of the Venad Chera are reminiscent of the “Octopus king” coins of Raja Raja Chola. However the most distinguishing feature of these coins of India is that the king is flanked by a battle axe. Kerala coinage starts with Gold Parasuraman Panam. Kashapanam of Maghadha Maouryan period had been transacted in Kerala as evidenced from ancient records.

The honey pot for trading

Popularly known as the land of spices, Kerala was a major attraction for Babylonians, Assyrians and Egyptians as early as 3000 BC. The Malabar Coast was used extensively for exporting spices across different parts of the world. This fact is proved by the hoards of Roman Gold and silver coins and finds of Greek, Chinese and Arab coins that were discovered. A rare hoard of Roman silver from Nedumkandam and an AKSUM copper coin from Karur, the capital of Chera empire were also unearthed. Kaarshapanam coins are some of the ancient coins of India that were excavated at Kottayam, Eyyal and Ankamali prove Kerala’s connection with the of Magadha Mauryan period.

Named by Ashoka the Great

The unknown Greek Mariner and author of ‘Periplus’ discovered the earliest gold coins of Kerala, called Parasuraman Panam. These coins of India had a unifaced hold spherule and they resembled the coinage of ancient Tamizhakam. Vellichakram (silver Chakram) had been in circulation throughout Kerala right from the last phase of 16th century, which is evidenced by the hoard obtained from the Siva temple at Kasaragode.
The coins named "Ponnachu", "Panam", "Kashu", "Azhakachu" and "Thiramam" were popular in Kerala between the ninth and 13th centuries. There were separate coins for the Kolatihiri kings and the Zamorins. The "Pazhaya Panam" was issued by the Kolathiris while the "Veeraraman Puthiya Panam" was of the Zamorins. The gold coins of Travancore kings were called "Anantharaman Panam" and "Ananthavarahan Panam". The coins of Kochi kings were called "Puthan". Kozhikode Gold Panam, Kannur Silver Panam, Kochi Silver Puthen represent regional heritage of Kerala.

Travancore Coins

State of Travancore minted a special Travancore rupee from 1600 to 1946, which unlike the other coins of India minted by the British, was subdivided into 7 panam, each of 4 chakram, each of 16 cash. Different denominations of silver coins were issued like 2 chakrams, 4 chakrams etc. in 1901. This coinage continued until 1949, after which the Indian rupee took over. The gold coins of Travancore kings were called "Anantharaman Panam" and "Ananthavarahan Panam". The coin of Kochi kings were called "Puthan". Some coins of the Roman Empire were discovered from Kannur in 1851. 13 gold coins and and 71 Roma Denarius were discovered from Eymal. The coins of Khalifas between AD 661 and 750 were discovered from Kothamangalam during 1960-61. Roman, Arab and Sree Lankan coins were also discovered.

The Numismatics Museum at the Koyikkal Palace

Koyikkal Numismatics Palace museum exhibits some of the oldest coins like – Ottaputhen, Erattaputhen, Kaliyugarayan Panam etc. The place also houses a Venetian coin named Amaida which is believed to have been presented to Jesus Christ. Other coins displayed include Karsha which are nearly 2500 years old and are considered as rare coins of India. You can also take a look at the world’s smallest coins Rasi, out of which Sreekrishna Rasi, is the one issued by the local kings of Kerala around the 10th century. The Anantharayan Panam is the first modern gold coin of Travancore which was circulated in the 15th and 17th centuries, Kochi Puthen are coins minted by the Kochi Kingdom which also had Indo-Dutch Puthen (1782 AD) as variations. Apart from that, the silver coins minted in Travancore Lekshmi Varaham, a wooden board with small niches used to count small coins called Rasi Palaka etc are also exhibited here.

Source: https://www.mintageworld.com/blog/coins-of-india-exploring-history-and-coinage-of-kerela/