________________
JUNE, 1911.]
A SHORT NOTE ON THE COINS
173
A SHORT NOTE ON THE COINS OF THE ANDARA DYNASTY, FOUND AT
BATHALAPALLI, ANANTPUR DISTRICT.
BY Y. R. GUPTE, B.A.; NASIK. The learned Professor E. J. Rapson, M.A., has, in his unique and standard book, entitled A Catalugue of the Indian Coins in the British Museum, assigned a different class to the lead coins found in the Annntpur and Caddapah districts (Southern India). He says :-" The lead coins from Anantpur and Caddapah districts entitle them to be regarded as a distinct class. Like the coins of Falrio B from Andhradeśa, they have a horse' for their obverse type ; but they are of rougher workmanship and they have a different reverse type 1. caitya ; r. tree. This reverse, it may be noticed, connects them with the class which is tentatively assigned in the catalogue to Feudatories of the Andhra dynasty. Indeed it is not improbable that they may belong to the same class."
Specimens of the coins found at Bathalapalli are also noted further in the general description :
- Obverse.-Horse standing r. above, in front, spherical object. Inscription not completely read.
Rererse.-Type (usually obliterated) left, caitya of six arches surmounted by a crescent; r., tree within railing ; both standing on a pediment ornamented with scroll and dots."
Nine of these coins I have purchased through Mr. Henderson, Superintendent, Government Museum, Madras. I am glad to say, tre has placed in my hands two coins, which, in my opinion, enable us to decide that, at least some of the coins found at Bathalapalli belong to the Andbra dynasty and not to their feudatories. They seem to be more regular in form. But so far as I know, no notice of the inscription on them is taken. Prof. Rapson says that it cannot be read. It appears that he was not fortunate enough in securing good specimens. One coin in my possession is covered with some red substance. The substance or colour-call it anything-is thick and fine, and is sufficient to preserve the coin and make it hard, so much so, that it cannot be scratcbed off with a penknife. But when the coating is removed, the lead yields to man's nails.
By applying impure soda (what we call påpadkhár in Marathi), I am able to make out some words. The letters on my coin are rather sruall, but seem to be more carefully formed than any ou the coins of the two feudatories of the Andhras, Chutukadananda and Mulînanda. The first word on it is Ráno and it is very clear. The second is Vasithi putasa or Vasathi putasa (the vowel is uncertain). But the letter thi is not as clear as one could wish, and the va is more ornamental than I have seen on other coins. As regards the remaining word, an eye copy of it is given below :
The first letter seems to be hd, and the second like ta, but the second is indistinct and puzzles me a little. The line that follows is, I believe, a portion of the pedestal on which the horse is standing. Then comes ka. The next letter is half lost, but the lower half that remains can be tolerably made out. The last letter appears like sa but is very indistinct, the vertical.portion only being visible. I would thus like to take the word as Hatakanisa, which, evidently stands for Satakaạisa so that the whole name we obtain is ráno Vásithéputasa Hdtakanisa. The coin probably belongs to Vâsishthiputra-Satakarņi, viz., the Satavahana prince of that name referred to in a Kanheri inscription."
Another coin in my possession, which is a poor specimen, has ud on it. But nothing more can be said about it. By the bye it would not be ont of place to remark that very small lead coins, or perhaps those of mixed metals having a tree on the reverse, are sometimes met with in the Násik district. The tree is just like the one found on the coins of Mulânanda. But the obverse I am still unable to identify. Intro., p. lxxxi.
· P. 25. # The coin is mnoh worn out, and doos not yield any good cast. No illustration of it is, therefore, possible. There can, however, be no doubt about the reading proposed by Mr. Gapte, ex sept in one respect. The initial letter of the third part of the legend is not ha, as he says, but simply with the slanting sido stroko on the proper right being very much worn out.-D. R. B.
+ Arch. Sury. West Ind., Vol. V, P. 78.
