COINS IN ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA

Question 1

Coins of Vardhanas?

Answer 1

Silver coins of the Vardhanas had on one side the head of the king and on the other side, the figure of a peacock.

Question 2

Coins of the Western Chalukyas?

Answer 2

One side has image of a temple or a lion and legends and the other side is left blank.

Question 3

Coins of Eastern Chalukyas?

Answer 3

Had symbol of the boar at the centre, around which, each letter of the king’s name was inscribed by a separate punch. The other side here also was left blank.

Question 4

Material used for coins by Rajput dynasties?

Answer 4

Mostly gold, copper or billon (an alloy of silver and copper) but very rarely silver.

Question 5

Types of Rajput coinage?

Answer 5

1. One type showed the ‘name of the king in Sanskrit on one side and a goddess on the other side. The coins of the Kalachuris, the Chandellas of Bundelkhand, the Tomars of Ajmer and Delhi and of the Rathores of Kannauj were of this type.
2. The kings of the Gandhara or Sindh introduced the other type of silver coins that had a seated bull on one side and a horseman on the other.

Question 6

Shape of the coins issued by Pandya kings and the symbols used?

Answer 6

• Square shaped with an image of elephant in the early period.
• Later, fish became a very important symbol in the coins.

Question 7

Language of inscriptions on Pandyan coins?

Answer 7

The gold and silver coins had inscriptions in Sanskrit and copper coins in Tamil.

Question 8

Coins of Chola King Raja Raja 1?

Answer 8

Standing king on one side and seated goddess on the other side with inscriptions generally in Sanskrit.

Question 9

Coins by Rajendra 1?

Answer 9

His coins had the legend ‘Sri Rajendra’ or ‘Gangaikonda Chola’ inscribed with the emblems of tiger and fish.

Question 10

The coins of the Pallava dynasty had the figure of?

Answer 10

Lion.

Question 11

Turkish and Delhi Sultan coins?

Answer 11

• The coins had inscriptions in the form of king’s name, title and the date as per Hijri calendar.
• The coins did not bear any image of the issuing monarch as there was a prohibition of idolatry in Islam.
• For the first time, the name of the mint was also inscribed.

Question 12

The Sultans of Delhi issued gold, silver, copper and billon coins. Silver Tanka and Copper Jital was introduced by?

Answer 12

Iltumish.

Question 13

_______ changed the existing design by dropping the name of the Khalif and replaced it by self praising titles.

Answer 13

Alauddin Khilji.

Question 14

Sher Shah Suri (1540-1545) introduced two standards of weight- one of 178 grains for silver coins and one of 330 grains for copper coins. These were later known as the rupee and the _____ respectively.

Answer 14

Dam.

Question 15

The Vijayanagara Empire (14-17” century) issued large quantities of gold coins; other metals used in their coinage were pure silver and copper.
Their names?

Answer 15

1. Pagodas– higher denomination– figures of running warrior along with dagger symbol.
2. Gold fanams– fractional units.
3. Silver taras– fractional units.
4. Copper coins– day to day transactions.

Question 16

The earlier Vijayanagara coinage were produced in different mints and were called by different names such as?

Answer 16

• Barkur gadyanas
• Bhatkal gadyanas etc.
  The inscriptions were in Kannada or Sanskrit. Images found are a double-headed eagle holding an elephant in each beak and claw, a bull, an elephant and various Hindu deities.

Question 17

Features of the Gold varaha coin issued by Krishnadeva Raya?

Answer 17

The gold varahan coin issued by Krishna Deva Raya (1509-1529) had a seated Vishnu on one side and a three-line legend Shri Pratap Krishna Raya in Sanskrit on the other side.

Question 18

The standard gold coin of the Mughals was the?

Answer 18

Mohur. Abul Fazl in his ‘Ain-i-Akbari’ indicated that a Mohur was equivalent ro nine rupees.

Question 19

1. The silver rupee which was an adoption from Sher Shah’s currency, was the most famous of all Mughal coins.
2. The Mughal copper coins was adopted from Sher Shah’s dam.
   True/false?

Answer 19

Both are true.

Question 20

Shape of coins issued by Akbar?

Answer 20

Square and round.

Question 21

In which year did Akbar issued Ilahi coins?

Answer 21

In 1579, he issued gold coins called Ilahi coins to propagate his new religious creed ‘Din-i-Ilahi’.
On this coin, it was written ‘God is great, May his flory be glorified.
The value of Ilahi coin was 10 rupees.

Question 22

What was the largest gold coin from Mughal coinage called?

Answer 22

Sahanshah. These coins bore the names of the persian solar months.

Question 23

Who showed the legend in a couplet in the coins?

Answer 23

Jahangir showed the legend in a couplet in the coins. In some of his coins he added the name of his wife Noorjahan. The most famous of his coins had images of Zodiac signs.

Question 24

_______ kings stamped their given names on the front of their coin and assumed names ending with “aditya,” or sun at the back side of the coin.

Answer 24

Gupta.

Question 25

Coins issued by Chhatrapati Shivaji?

Answer 25

Gold huns and copper Shivarais with his title in the Nagari script.

Question 26

Coins of Wodeyar dynasty?

Answer 26

The Wodeyar dynasty coins of King Kanthiraya Narasa bore the image of the Narasimha avatar of Vishnu and weighed six to eight grains.

Question 27

Coins by Haider Ali?

Answer 27

Haidar Ali who overthrew the Wodeyar dynasty for some time continued their coinage with the figures of Shiva and Parvati on the earlier gold pagodas.
Tipu Sultan used two eras in his coins.

Question 28

What was the standard unit of coin during Vijayanagara Empire?

Answer 28

The standard unit of coin issued by the Vijayanagara Empire was the gold Pagoda in English or Varaha of 3.4 gr. The Varaha was also called the Hon, Gadyana or a Pon and came in the Ghattivaraha, Doddavaraha and Suddhavaraha coin.

Question 29

What was the standard unit of coin during Vijayanagara Empire?

Answer 29

The standard unit of coin issued by the Vijayanagara Empire was the gold Pagoda in English or Varaha of 3.4 gr. The Varaha was also called the Hon, Gadyana or a Pon and came in the Ghattivaraha, Doddavaraha and Suddhavaraha coin.