________________
SEPTEMBER, 1891.]
COINS OF THE KINGS OF VIJAYANAGARA.
309
Venkatapati-mahârâya (of Chandragiri) at the request of Tirumala (Nayaka of Madura), whose pedigree is given as follows:
Någa of the Kiśyapa (gộtra).
Viśvanátha.
Krishṇapa Nayaka.
Virapa.
Viśvapa Nayaka.
Muddu-Krishna.
Muddu-Vira.
Tiruinala. According to Mr. Sewell, 20 Muddu-Krishna, whose name occupies the reverse of the coin, reigned from A. D. 1602 to 1609. The obverse of the coin corresponds to the colophon of the copper-plate inscription, Sri Venkatesa, the name of the patron saint of the princes of the third dynasty of Vijayanagara, whose sovereignty was nominally acknowledged by the Madura Nayakas.
No. 39. Copper.
(Elliot, No. 89.)
Obv. Same as No. 28.
Rev. SUB Vemkata. In conclusion, I avail myself of this opportunity for correcting Mr. Thomas' remarks on Elliot's Nos. 101 and 102. On the obverse of this half pagoda are, not Siva and Parvati, bat Narasimha and Lakshmi, and the legend on the reverse has been successfully deciphered by my assistant, Mr. V. Venkayya, M. A., as follows:
श्रीकंठी ['Srij-Komh[1]. रवनर
[ra]va-Naraसराय
[sa]r[âya). Colonel Wilks 31 states that Kanthirava-Narasaraya (A.D. 1638 to 1658) was the first ruler of Maisûr who established a mint. Hawkes, p. 2 f. attributes to him the first issue of the Kanthirava fanam, which bears on the obverse a seated figure of Narasimha. The legend of the half pagoda and its Narasimha type leave no doubt that it is an issue of the same Mairúr sovereign. At the beginning of the present century, accounts were still kept in Kanthirars pagodas, though these coins themselves had entirely disappeared and were considered by Dr. Buchanana2 as "an imaginary money." The Kanthirava fanam was, according to Hawkes, pp. 3 and 8 f. re-coined by Diyan Purnaiya during the minority of Krishnaraja. An examination of a number of picked specimens enables me to add, that the reverse of the fanan reads :
Sriकठी Kanth[i]
råva.
3o Lists of Antiquities, Vol. II. p. 200.
11 History of Myagor, Madras reprint, Vol. I. p 32 11 Journey through Mysore, Madras reprint, Vol. I. pp. 89 and 134.
