The coinage was invented in India around 6th-7th century B.C. and it was the ‘Jana padas’ that issued such coins for the first time. These coins were made of silver and contained only symbols. The symbols were marked on them by punching method without any legends. Some of the Jana padas which were scattered around the country issued such coins of varying weights, sizes and symbols. Magadha started as a Jana pada and issued local Jana pada type of coins first. Later it conquered adjacent Jana padas to become an imperial power and issued first national currency of uniform weight of 3.4 grams (32 ratties) with five symbols that included sun and six armed marks on the obverse side and these coins came to be known as Imperial type of punch marked coins. Reverses were blank on these coins except for some marks known as banker’s marks on them. Magadha was succeeded by Nanda and Maurya dynasties and they too issued imperial type of punch marked coins. After the disintegration of Mauryan Empire many dynasties ruled successively in different parts of the country and issued coins first by casting method and later by die-strike method and they contained symbols and in addition displayed legends. The coins with the legends indicating the name of the issuer and sometimes the name of the dynasty appeared in the country around 2nd-3rd centuries B.C. Punching method of making coins was too laborious and this method gave way to casting method and later to the die-striking technique. Die-strike method continued till the medieval period when many dynasties that ruled Deccan issued gold and silver coins by reviving the punching method of making coins again. Imperial type of punch marked coins had about three hundred symbols and they included religious marks too on some of them. ‘Paduka Vandana’ which is the worship of feet of Lord Buddha started off in India early even before Asokan times (Gangoly 1973). The discovery of 291 gold coins in a hoard that included 288 gold coins of Padas’ type coins from a village in Mahbubnagar district of Telangana in 1971 was a very unique and interesting find and they are described in this monograph.

 

IntroductionThe origin of coins in India around 6-7th century B.C. and the birth of Buddhism based on teachings of Lord Buddha (563 B.C.-483 B.C) almost coincided with each other. It was no surprise that symbols representing Buddhism were first depicted in ancient Indian coins and these were followed later by representation of Lord Buddha himself in human form. For many centuries Buddha was not represented in human form in ancient Indian art (Sivaramamurti 1979) and the first dynasty to physically depict Lord Buddha on their coins was Kushan and the king was Kanishka I (Bajpai 1982; Singh 1986; Goyal 1987; Sahoo 1988 and Jongeward et al 2015). Earliest Indian coins namely punch-marked and un-inscribed cast coins had only symbols on them without any legend and the coins followed the same system while representing Buddhism (Das Gupta 1984; Jash 1986). The symbols that represented Buddhist faith were 1. tree and tree in railing, 2. ‘nandipada’, 3. ‘chakra’ and 4. ‘eight spoke wheel’ etc (Jash 1986, 1991, 2007; Meshram 2011). Tree represents the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya under which Siddhartha Gautama is said to have attained enlightenment. The ‘nandipada’ is a mark left by foot of a bull in the ground which evolved and said to represent Buddhist ‘triratna’ symbol. It also looks like lotus flower representing purity of body, speech and mind. Chakra represents the ‘wheel of dharma of Buddhism. Eight spoke wheels represent eight-fold paths (aryastanga-marga) of Buddhist philosophy to achieve spiritual enlightenment and cease from suffering. Arched hill symbol was also present on ancient Indian coins. Some consider arch as a ‘stupa’ and the arches varied in number from 1, 3, 5, 6 and 10. Some arches are surmounted by crescent and others may have symbols of animals such as hare, bull, peacock etc. Some consider three arched hills with a crescent as a Mauryan mark and it is well known that patronage of the Mauryan rulers helped in spread of Buddhist faith in India and abroad. The coins with these symbols were found in Telangana region proving that Buddhism took roots in Telangana and spread fast in this region in ancient times. Kushans introduced various deities on their coins and Kanishka I (127-151 AD) depicted Lord Buddha on his gold and silver coins. Buddhism was very popular and dominating religion during the time of Kushans and this is represented in their coins and inscriptions. This was surprising since Kanishka I followed Hinayana sect of Buddhist faith which is against idol worship. Some consider that Kanishka I followed Mahayana Buddhist philosophy first and later veered around to Hinayana sect and it may be that coins with the images of Buddha came to be issued during his earlier rule. Satavahanas did not issue coins with Buddha images and it is well known to historians that Satavahanas prevented the expansion of Kushan rule into central India and maybe they espoused Hinayana philosophy.

Another Buddhist symbol Buddha-pada which found place in art and even in gold coins was a great revelation. Buddhism flourished in Telangana is evident from the finds in many archaeological sites in Telangana such as those at Nagarjunakonda, Dhulikatta, Phanigiri, Kotalingala, Pashigaon, Sthambhampalli, Mukkaraopeta, Kondapur etc. (Srinivasan 2020). Nagarjuna (150-250 AD) was a great Indian Buddhist monk, philosopher and founder of Madhyamika School is regarded as a contemporary of Satavahana king Yajna Satakarni (173-202 AD) based on his letter known as ‘Suhrllekha’ to the king. It was no surprise that Buddhapada image was found at Phanigiri and Dhulikatta as well. Most significant observation was the find of 288 gold coins with the Buddhapada image from Mahbubnagar area along with three other coins and they were found on 20-9-1971 and were registered with numbers 7022-7312 in the museum. All these coins were made of gold and were of the same type except three. They weighed around 53-55 grains and size was 0.78-0.80 inches. All were made by punching technique with a central punch of two feet with toes except three coins which were of lion type. Peripheral punches were eight in number and consisted of varying symbols including one for the legend in Telugu/Kannada script of that period. Basic designs of the coins from the hoard are noted followed by description of select number of coins. The period of issue of these coins and the possible dynasty that issued these coins is discussed next including stages of spread of Buddhism in Telangana and its total disappearance later on.