Numismatic Gleanings

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The Book

The present work contains thirty-three articles of the authors on some unique, interesting and significant coins and sigils which throw flashes of light on various aspects of the history, culture, religion, art, economy, trade and commerce, science and technology of the people of India in different periods of its long history. It is for the first time that minuscule copper punch-marked coins from Vidisha have been brought to light which acquaint us of the local economy during the later half of the first millennium BCE. The uniface cast copper coins collected from eastern Malwa and Khandesh region establish relationship of the area with the Deccan which has yielded similar coins. Coins of the city-state of Hathodaka indicate the role the city-states played in the development of trade and commerce in the Narmada valley during the early centuries before the commencement of the Common Era. The silver and copper coins from Eran-Ujjayin» region indicate the continued use of the white metal and corroborate the popularity of Vaishªavism in central India evidenced earlier by the discovery of an elliptical temple plan and the Garu©a-dhvaja pillar inscription at Vidisha. The indigenous gold coin confirms the use of this valuable metal for indigenous coinage before the Kush¹ªas. Another coin takes back the antiquity of the auspicious Hindu mythological art-motif of cow suckling the calf to circa third-second century BCE. New Mitra and S¹tav¹hana coins add to our existing knowledge by bits while Kalachuri and inscribed Vishªukuª©in type coins betray the existence of the scions of these dynasties or their allies in central India. Indo-Sassanian, Param¹ra and Y¹dava type coins from the region reveal the political developments of the medieval period while a piece with erotic theme tells of the use of a hitherto unknown motif. The darb of Akbar betrays the erring human nature and a coin-die of the emperor confirms the existence of a mint-town. The tetra-lingual silver seal of Nabha bears evidence to the use and popularity of various languages in the Malwa region of Punjab and the secular outlook of its rulers. All the articles thus help us in our understanding of our history in a better way to enlighten our future course.

The Authors

Devendra Handa is the recipient of Sir Mortimer Wheeler Prize, Maulana Azad and Archaeological Centenary Memorial medals (1964), Lowick Memorial Grant of the Royal Numismatic Society, London (1992 and 2007), Pandit Bhagwanlal Indraji Medal of the Indian Coin Society (2007) and Nelson Wright Medal of the Numismatic Society of India (2010). He was felicitated with Life-time Achievement Award by the NSI and Indian Coin Society in 2008 at Indore and has recently been honoured with Karmayogi Samman by the Haryana Institute of Fine Arts (2012). After his retirement from the Panjab University, Chandigarh he enjoyed Fellowship of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (2000-03), Senior Fellowship (Numismatics) of the Ministry of Culture, GOI, New Delhi (2003-05) and Senior Academic Fellowship of the ICHR, New Delhi (2009-11). He has authored Osian (Delhi, 1984), Studies in Indian Coins and Seals (Delhi, 1985), Jaina Bronzes from Hansi (New Delhi-Shimla, 2002), Buddhist Remains from Haryana (New Delhi, 2004), The Epic Pilgrimage – Pehowa (New Delhi, 2005), Early Indian Coins from Sugh (New Delhi, 2005), Sculptures from Haryana (2006) Tribal Coins of Ancient India (New Delhi, 2007), Coins and Temples (Mumbai, 2007), and Sculptures from Punjab (New Delhi, 2011).
Dr. Major M.K. Gupta, a medical practitioner by profession, served the Indian army during 1972-99. He is an avid collector and a collection of dated coins of each of the six hundred years from AH 818 earned him a place in the Limca Book of Records in 2004. He has a very vast collection not only of coins which range from the earliest to the present day ones but also of all sorts of antiques and curios which include 1500 seals and sealings from fourth to nineteenth century in Prakrit, Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, English and Panjabi languages written in Brahmi, Persian, Arabic, Roman, Devanagari and Gurumukhi scripts. A collection of about 120 coin-dies and nearly 600 images of Ganesh in various metals and stones are his proud possessions. He has been exhibiting his coins and other objects at various places and has won many awards including a gold medal of the Oriental Numismatic Society of London in International Coin Exhibition held at Nagpur in 1990. He has also contributed articles to various numismatic publications.

Description

The Book

The present work contains thirty-three articles of the authors on some unique, interesting and significant coins and sigils which throw flashes of light on various aspects of the history, culture, religion, art, economy, trade and commerce, science and technology of the people of India in different periods of its long history. It is for the first time that minuscule copper punch-marked coins from Vidisha have been brought to light which acquaint us of the local economy during the later half of the first millennium BCE. The uniface cast copper coins collected from eastern Malwa and Khandesh region establish relationship of the area with the Deccan which has yielded similar coins. Coins of the city-state of Hathodaka indicate the role the city-states played in the development of trade and commerce in the Narmada valley during the early centuries before the commencement of the Common Era. The silver and copper coins from Eran-Ujjayin» region indicate the continued use of the white metal and corroborate the popularity of Vaishªavism in central India evidenced earlier by the discovery of an elliptical temple plan and the Garu©a-dhvaja pillar inscription at Vidisha. The indigenous gold coin confirms the use of this valuable metal for indigenous coinage before the Kush¹ªas. Another coin takes back the antiquity of the auspicious Hindu mythological art-motif of cow suckling the calf to circa third-second century BCE. New Mitra and S¹tav¹hana coins add to our existing knowledge by bits while Kalachuri and inscribed Vishªukuª©in type coins betray the existence of the scions of these dynasties or their allies in central India. Indo-Sassanian, Param¹ra and Y¹dava type coins from the region reveal the political developments of the medieval period while a piece with erotic theme tells of the use of a hitherto unknown motif. The darb of Akbar betrays the erring human nature and a coin-die of the emperor confirms the existence of a mint-town. The tetra-lingual silver seal of Nabha bears evidence to the use and popularity of various languages in the Malwa region of Punjab and the secular outlook of its rulers. All the articles thus help us in our understanding of our history in a better way to enlighten our future course.

The Authors

Devendra Handa is the recipient of Sir Mortimer Wheeler Prize, Maulana Azad and Archaeological Centenary Memorial medals (1964), Lowick Memorial Grant of the Royal Numismatic Society, London (1992 and 2007), Pandit Bhagwanlal Indraji Medal of the Indian Coin Society (2007) and Nelson Wright Medal of the Numismatic Society of India (2010). He was felicitated with Life-time Achievement Award by the NSI and Indian Coin Society in 2008 at Indore and has recently been honoured with Karmayogi Samman by the Haryana Institute of Fine Arts (2012). After his retirement from the Panjab University, Chandigarh he enjoyed Fellowship of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (2000-03), Senior Fellowship (Numismatics) of the Ministry of Culture, GOI, New Delhi (2003-05) and Senior Academic Fellowship of the ICHR, New Delhi (2009-11). He has authored Osian (Delhi, 1984), Studies in Indian Coins and Seals (Delhi, 1985), Jaina Bronzes from Hansi (New Delhi-Shimla, 2002), Buddhist Remains from Haryana (New Delhi, 2004), The Epic Pilgrimage – Pehowa (New Delhi, 2005), Early Indian Coins from Sugh (New Delhi, 2005), Sculptures from Haryana (2006) Tribal Coins of Ancient India (New Delhi, 2007), Coins and Temples (Mumbai, 2007), and Sculptures from Punjab (New Delhi, 2011).
Dr. Major M.K. Gupta, a medical practitioner by profession, served the Indian army during 1972-99. He is an avid collector and a collection of dated coins of each of the six hundred years from AH 818 earned him a place in the Limca Book of Records in 2004. He has a very vast collection not only of coins which range from the earliest to the present day ones but also of all sorts of antiques and curios which include 1500 seals and sealings from fourth to nineteenth century in Prakrit, Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, English and Panjabi languages written in Brahmi, Persian, Arabic, Roman, Devanagari and Gurumukhi scripts. A collection of about 120 coin-dies and nearly 600 images of Ganesh in various metals and stones are his proud possessions. He has been exhibiting his coins and other objects at various places and has won many awards including a gold medal of the Oriental Numismatic Society of London in International Coin Exhibition held at Nagpur in 1990. He has also contributed articles to various numismatic publications.

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