10/06/2020- ANCIENT INDIAN COINS- 74

ഇന്നത്തെ പഠനം
അവതരണം	Augustine Stephen D'souza
വിഷയം	ANCIENT INDIAN COINS
ലക്കം	74

The below collage of Indian coins covering our 2500 years glorious numismatic tradition from 600 BC to 1900 AD, is a small effort to preserve our great nation's cultural heritage.

Row 1 : Punch Mark Coins (PMCs)

Row 2 : Indo-Greeks, Parataraja, Indo-Parthian

Row 3 : Post Maurya Copper coins

Row 4 : Indo-Scythians, Sangam Age, Western Kshatrapas

Row 5 : Kushan, Guptas, Post Guptas

Row 6 : Satavahana, Huns, Hindu-shahi, Medieval Hindu Kingdoms

Row 7 : Islamic Sultanates (Delhi, Bengal, Malwa, Gujarat etc)

Row 8 : Mughal Empire

Row 9 : East India Company - Madras, Bengal, Bombay Presidencies, Uniform Coinage, Portuguese, Danish, French

Row 10 : Princely States, Independent Kingdoms

Row 11 : British India (1857 - 1947 AD)

During the long, rich and varied numismatic history of India, coins were struck in all conceivable metal viz gold, silver, copper, bronze, lead, nickel, brass, aluminium etc; are inscribed in various scripts viz Brahmi, Kharoshti, Greek, Persian, Arabic, Roman, Indian regional languages (Tamil, Telugu, Gurmukhi, Bengali etc); and are known in both regular shapes (square, round) as well as odd shapes (damru, hair clip, U-shape, octagonal, mihrab etc), indicating the curious nature of our ancestors and the wide experimentation on our monetary systems. 

 Collecting coins from each and every region of India based on a broad base and varied theme will brought us closer to the history of our  country and the diversity and variety of our culture.

The hobby transcends the imaginary North-South divide, any religious affiliation, any political connotation and therein lies the beauty in collecting what is quissentially Indian. It is educative, informative, inspiring and humbling to hold these miniature pieces of history in our hands.

The Kaleidoscope collage of these coins tells us about our history and the various cultural influences that shaped us what we are now today. Indian coins are distinct and retain their unique look and feel through a long period of 2500 years of coinage history.

The message is clear and obvious - like the coins that are individually unique and different in design, shape, metal, legends etc but overall retain their collective identity as Indian, similarly we all are individually different as an individual, the region we come from, our taste, culture, cuisine, dress, language etc, yet collectively we are all Indians.

 The collective wisdom in the ancient Upanishads state वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam) "The World is One Family".

Save Coins, Save Heritage.

സുഹൃത്തുക്കളെ,

കഴിഞ്ഞ 73 ആഴ്ച്ചകളായി തുടരുന്ന ഈ പംക്തി ഇവിടെ അവസാനിക്കുകയാണ്. നമ്മളില്‍ കുറേപ്പേര്‍ക്കെങ്കിലും ഇത് ആസ്വാദ്യകരവും വിജ്ഞാനപ്രദവുമായിരുന്നു എന്ന് കരുതുന്നു. സഹകരിച്ച എല്ലാവര്‍ക്കും നന്ദി. മറ്റൊരു വിഷയവുമായി വീണ്ടും കാണാം എന്ന് വിചാരിക്കുന്നു.

മലയാളി കളക്റ്റേഴ്സ് എന്ന നമ്മുടെ ഈ കൂട്ടായ്മ വിവിധങ്ങളായ വിഷയങ്ങളുമായി കൂടുതല്‍ ഉയരങ്ങളില്‍ എത്തട്ടെ എന്ന് ആശംസിക്കുന്നു.

അഗസ്റ്റിന്‍ സ്റ്റീഫന്‍ ഡിസോസ,

തിരുവനന്തപുരം.