Malayaman Dynasty and Coins

 

The Malayaman were chieftains who ruled Miladu Naadu, the area around Tirukoyilur of Tamilakam, during the Sangam period (300 BC to 300 AD) . Chiefs of this dynasty readily took the title Chedirayan, and ruled the hill areas. A dynasty with Kallar family name, they worked closely with the early Cholas and the Chera dynasties. This clan's most famous king was Malayaman Thirumudi Kaary. 

                                              

Malayaman Dynasty coin, 1st century AD

Their capital was at Tirucoilur, on the river of Ponnaiyar/ Pennai. Tirucoilur was situated on the early trade route from north to south and enjoyed trade with the Satavahanas. 

                                              

Tirukovalur or Thirukkovalur, also known as Tirukoilur, Tirukoyilur, Tirucoilur or Tirukovilur, is located on the banks of Pennai river

The principal port was at Arikamedu on the east. 

                                         

Map showing the port Arikamedu

Their royal emblem featured a horse, depicted on their coins. Malaiyamans descended from the pastoral shepherd tribe in the Mullai (forest) region. Vanavan Mahadevi, the mother of Rajaraja Chola I, Vanavan Mahadevi, was a princess of Malayaman family. She committed sati at the king's death and her image may have been installed at the Thanjavur temple by her daughter, Kundavi Pirattiyar. There are many records pertaining to this dynasty in Tamil literature.  Many castes today claim their descent from Malayaman. 

                                             

Veeratteswara temple,Tirukoyilur

                                           

Ulagalantha Perumal Temple, Tirukoyilur
   

The Malayamans issued copper coins of quadrilateral shape which bore their royal emblem, a horse (facing left and sometimes right). In some of the earlier coins, the legend ''Malayaman'' above the horse motif decorated the obverse of the coins. Most of their coins carried the symbolic map of their territory on the reverse. A wide curved river with fishes flowing in it, and a hillock on the side of the river. They weighed about 2-4 gm and were thin, unlike the contemporary Chera coins.

Coins of Malayaman

                                               

Malayaman, 100 AD, copper, weight 2.9 gm

Obverse: Horse standing to right, altar in front, trident on top

Reverse: River flowing from mountains with fishes

                                              

Malayaman, 1st century AD, weight 4.2 gm

Obverse: Horse facing right, before altar

Reverse: River flowing from three hills, ankusa and symbol to left

                                            

Malayaman, 1st to 3rd century AD, copper, weight 3.3 gm

Obverse: Horse standing right, 

Reverse: Map illustrating the location of Tirucollur, the capital, river Ponnaiyar flowing

                                            

Malayaman, 1st century AD, copper, weight 2.5 gm

Obverse: Horse standing facing right, altar in front

Reverse: Map showing three peaked hill, curved river with fishes and hillock on side of river

                                            

Malayaman, 1st century AD, copper, weight 3.0 gm

Obverse: Horse standing facing right, altar in front

Reverse: Map showing three peaked hill, curved river with fishes and hillock on side of river

                                            

Malayaman, 1st to 3rd century AD, copper, weight 2.7 gm

Obverse: Horse standing right, 

Reverse: Map illustrating the location of Tirucollur, the capital, river Ponnaiyar flowing

                                           

Malayaman, 1st century AD, copper, weight 2.0 gm

Obverse: Horse standing facing right, altar in front

Reverse: Map showing three peaked hill, curved river with fishes and hillock on side of river

  

                                           

Malayaman, 100 AD, copper, weight 3.2 gm

Obverse: Horse standing to right, altar in front, trident on top

Reverse: River flowing from mountains with fishes

Malayaman

Tirukoyilur

Coins of Malayaman

The Journey of the World's Rarest and most Valuable Stamp, ''One Cent'' Black on Magenta, British Guiana

 

There are a number of ''rare'' and ''unique'' philately items, but only one which is accepted as being ''The World's Rarest Stamp''. It is the 1856 British Guiana ''One Cent'' black on magenta. The story of the ''One Cent'' black on magenta has indeed become part of philately history and has been dubbed as the ''Mona Lisa of the stamp world''. The recently paid value in 2021 is US$9.5 million, and now in November 2021, the present value is US$10,364,000.

                                       

 One Cent Black on Magenta

It is the only survivor of a small batch of temporary printed stamps by the British Colony's postmaster, British Guiana now known as Guiana, in 1856, after a ship from England, thought to be carrying 50,000 stamps, arrived with just 5000. 

                                           

    The story begins in 1856
  

Short of 90 percent, the local post officials found themselves in a tight spot. If the colony's letters and newspapers were to be delivered, they needed some way to show the transaction of postage paid. So they decided to issue provisional stamps to keep the mail moving until more postage could arrive from overseas. The only place that could create something with enough official cache to do the job in 1850s British Guiana was the local newspaper, the Royal Gazette.

Using movable type, the printer of the  Gazette produced a stock of one cent stamps(for newspapers) and four cent stamps (for letters), attempting to imitate the design of government issued postage, adding a stock illustration of the ship and the colony's Latin motto '' 'DAMUS PATIMUS QUE VICISSIM'', meaning, ''we give and expect in return'', and the country name and value. They were trying, very crudely and on a different type of press in the middle of the colony, as closely as they could to replicate the engraved stamps that were coming from Great Britain. They were removed from circulation after about eight to ten weeks after they served their purpose. Most disappeared thereafter.

                                           

 4 Cent stamp, British Guiana
 

Background. The first stamps of British Guiana were crudely printed at the offices of the Royal Gazette in Georgetown. To aid identification each value was printed on a different coloured paper and, due to the fear that the stamps would be copied, each had to be initialed by a postal official. The stamps were in use from 01 July 1850. Two print values of 1 cent and 4 cents were designed in a basic design, consisting of a three-masted sailing ship with the Colony's motto 'DAMUS PATIMUS QUE VICISSIM'', meaning, ''we give and expect in return'', and the country name and value. The sailing ship remained a key element of British Guiana stamps until 1934. Waterlow and Sons of London were engaged to print these. On 1 January 1852, the requirement to sign each stamp was dispensed with, however the coloured paper was retained, magenta for 1 cent and deep blue for 4 cents. In 1860, the design was replaced by showing the ship sailing towards the right instead of left.

The first-time supplies ran short at the British Guiana Post Office was in 1865, when the authorities were forced to print a provisional issue. The design was similar to the 1852 production, although the 4 cent was initially printed on red (magenta) paper and later on blue. For fears of counterfeiting, postal officials were instructed to initial all. The 4-cent value was known but somehow the one cent black on magenta was not recognized, its story becoming one of the best known in Philately

The unique stamp, it has to be admitted is not in a finest condition, the magenta paper having darkened. It was signed at the left, with the initials EDW (Edmond D Wight from postal clerk Edmond D Wight) and postmarked ''Demerara ap 4 (a county in British Guiana), 1856'', the four corners cut off, as occurred with many 1856 Provisionals. The stamp measures 29 x 26 mm. 

                                      

The 1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta with its three-masted sailing ship, carries the postal clerk Edmond D Wight's initials to deter counterfeiters, Smithsonian's National Postal Museum  

                                           

Seen with an infrared, the motto ''Damus Petimus Que Vicissim'' meaning ''We give and we ask in return'' 

                                            

The reverse of the stamp which includes markings from the previous owners, Count Philipp von Ferrary and John E. du Pont

                                           

On the back of the stamp, IR pictures show a four-leaf clover beneath the 17-point star

The Story of the Stamp. For the past about 150 years, the stamp has been exchanged from one collector to another, a total of 12 collectors have owned it so far. It was first discovered by a local schoolboy, 12-year-old L Vernon Vaughan, amongst some family papers in 1873. He placed it in his collection, before selling it to a local collector Neil R McKinnon for the sum of six shillings. Vaughan was convinced he would find a better example of the stamp, but no one ever has. A few years later McKinnon sold his collection to a Liverpool stamp dealer Thomas Ridpath, for 120 pounds and Ridpath sold the ''one cent'' to the renowned collector Philipp la Renotiere von Ferrary, an Austrian living in Paris, for an undisclosed sum, believed to be around 40 Pounds. Ferrary died in 1917, intending to leave his collection to the Postal Museum in Berlin. 

                                                    

Thomas Ridpath, 

                                           

 Philipp von Ferrary, (11 January,1850- 20 May,1917)

However, it was confiscated by the French Government as part of Germany's war reparations and sold in a series of auctions between 1921 and 1925, with the ''one cent'' going under the hammer on 6 April 1922, bought by Arthur Hind, a British born American millionaire for 7343 Pounds, making it the highest price paid for a postage stamp.

                                           

Arthur Hind and signatures from the 1935 auction catalogue (1856-1933)

Hind died in 1933, and the stamp passed on to his wife, who sold it for 45,000 Pounds in 1940 to Fredrick Small, an Australian living in USA. The stamp was sold in 1970 for $280,000, to an investment dealer Irwin Weinberg. Ten years later it was sold to John E du Pont at Robert A Siegel, New York for $935,000. In 1997 du Pont was convicted of murder and spent the rest of his life in prison, dying on 9 December 2010. For these 30 years the stamp was in storage.

                                             

John E du Pont at his trial in 1997. Chris Gardner/Associated Press

In 2014, it again went under the hammer. This time the selling price was more than ten times its previous peak, the buyer paying $9,480,000. The new owner was shoe designer Stuart Weitzman. 

                                           

         Stuart Weitzman

After seven years the stamp returned to the auctioneer's rostrum, at Sotheby's in New York on 8 June 2021, when it achieved a total price of $8,307,000. The buyer was Stanley Gibbons Ltd. 

 The stamp for 8.3 million (US) Dollars (6.3 million British Pounds) is on display till 18 December at Stanley Gibbons store in London now. As the chief executive of Stanley Gibbons, said, ''The British Guiana 1 cent magenta really is the Holy Grail of philately''. 

                                         

The stamp on display at Stanley Gibbons, London 
 

                                           

The stamp is now on display to the public

One Cent Black on Magenta, British Guiana Stamp

World's Rarest Stamp

The forgotten, once glorious Karkota Empire of Kashmir (625-855 AD) and Coins

 

The Kashmir Valley was under Ashoka during the Mauryan Empire. It remained under the Kushans, under Kanishka and Huvishika. There are many glorious empires Kashmir has witnessed and recorded, but many of them have been forgotten over the ages. One such forgotten empire is the Karkota empire. The first people with local origin who ascended the throne of the land and authentic history of Kashmir began, were the Karkotas. The Karkota Dynasty (625-855 AD) ruled over Kashmir during the 7th and 8th centuries. The Karkotas were Vaishnavas and constructed several Vishnu shrines in their dominions.

                                         

       Karkotas, Vighara, gold-based coin

Karkotas are unique as they claim decent from ''karkota'', one of the great Naga or Serpent kings in the Hindu religious tradition. ''Nilamata Purana'' is an ancient text composed in the 7th century AD, in the early days of the karkota dynasty. It is a mythical account of the origins of Kashmir. According to this text, Kashmir was once a great lake known as ''Satisar''. Lord Vishnu granted the Kashmir Valley to the Nagas (serpents). 

A plateau, 22 km north-west of Srinagar, overlooking the Jhelum River, locals call ''Kani Shahr'' or ''City of Stones'' was once ''Parihaspora'' or the ''City of Smiles'', the capital of Karkota Empire.

                                                 

     Karkota Empire, 8th century BC

Durlabhvardhana was the founder of the Kakota dynasty (625-855 AD). He was the son- in- law of King Baladitya of the Gonanda dynasty, and ascended the throne in 527 AD. According to Hiuen-Tsang who visited Kashmir and stayed in the Karkota kingdom for more than a year, the king ruled over parts of western and northwestern Punjab as well. Durlabhvardhana claimed descent from the great serpent King Karkotaka, giving the dynasty he founded, its name.  

This period has references to some festivals, music and dance. The remains of the Harwan monastery depicts musicians playing instruments on the tiles, dated back to the 4th century AD. Activities of sports, wrestling and hunting are also depicted.

                                         

Sculpture of the Buddhist Bodhisattiva Vajrasattva, Kashmir, 8th century AD

 

Durlabhavardhan was succeeded by his son Pratapaditya (662-712 AD). He founded the new town of Pratapapura, present day Tapar, 29 km west of Srinagar. Pratapaditya was succeeded by his son Chandrapida (713-720 AD). During this time Chandrapida sought help from China to repulse the Tibetans who had entrenched themselves forcefully. Chandrapida's younger brother Lalitaditya Muktapida also called the ''Napoleon of Kashmir'' acceded the throne in 724 AD.

                                               

Vairocana Buddha performing the dharmachakra-pravartana mudra, 725-750 AD, Kashmir

Lalitaditya ruled for 37 years from 724-761 AD. His rule is considered the Golden Age of Kashmir, when art, culture, learning and architecture flourished. The 12th century chronicler Kalhana characterizes Lalitaditya with extensive conquests into the eastern and southern parts of India as well as present day Afghanistan. He is accepted as the most powerful king of his dynasty. He established his capital at Parihaspora, although he also maintained the dynasty's traditional capital at Srinagar.

                                           

Parihaspur stupa, built during the reign of Lalitaditya Muktapida, 8th century AD

 He founded Suniscatapur and Darpitapur, two towns, as also Lalitpura, presently called Letapur, near Pulwama. It is claimed that a Vishnu statue weighing 36,000 kg of silver and a Buddha statue weighing 62,000 kg of copper were erected in Parihaspora. Martand Sun Temple in Anantnag district was built by him. The scale of temple ruins even today suggests that the temple central shrine was surrounded by 84 small shrines and were a blend of architectural styles of the Gandhara, Gupta, Chinese, Roman and the Greek.

                                           

          Ruins of the Martand Sun Temple

                                           

Central temple of the Martand Sun Temple built by Lalitaditya Muktapida

                                             

Lalitaditya died around 760 AD and was succeeded by a series of weak and ineffective kings, Kuvalayapida, Vajraditya and Prithivyapida.

Later Jayapida, who ruled for 31 years, conquered upto Allahabad, built many towns namely Jayapura near Wular lake and Malhanpur, present day Malur, on the bank of Jhelum, and Kalyanpura, present day Kalampur and Kamlapura. He was also known as Vinayaditya

                                        

Vaikuntha Vishnu, Kashmir, 775-800 AD, Metropolitan Museum of Art

His son ruled for 12 years and lost a lot of wealth. The last ruler was a boy Cippatajayapida. He was murdered around 840 AD and with him came an end of the dynasty. In 855 AD, the Utpala kings were the last Hindu dynasty of Kashmir, before the advent of Islam

Karkota coins kidarite

  Note: Goddess Ardoksho depicts Lakshmi, on the coins                                          

                                            

Pratapaditya II, 5th century AD, Base dinar, weight 7.0 gm

Obverse: Kushan style king standing left

Reverse: Goddess Ardoxsho seated facing

                                           

Kidarite, Namvihakya, 5th century AD, base gold, Dinar, weight 7.9 gm, standing figure, srinamvi to right, hakya to left

                                         

Vigraha Deva, 5th century AD, weight 7.7 gm, figure of king standing left ''kidara'' under right arm ''ka'' in left field, reverse, figure of goddess facing ''Sri Vigraha'' right, ''Deva'' left

                                             

Vinayaditya, late 5th century AD, base gold, weight 7.6 gm

Obverse: figure of king standing left ''Kidara jaya'' under right arm, ''ka'' in left field

Reverse: Figure of goddess facing, ''sri vinaya'' right, ''ditya'' left

                                              

Pratapaditya, 5th century AD, gold base, Dinar, king standing left on reverse Ardoksho seated on a throne

      

                                             

Mamvihakya, 5th century AD, Dinar, weight 7.9 gm

Obverse: King standing left, ''ka'' in Brahmi to left, monogram of Kidara and Jaya in Brahmi to right

Reverse: Ardoxsho seated facing holding filleted investiture garland and cornucopia, ''hakya'' in Brahmi to left, ''sri namvi'' in Brahmi down right

                                             

Pratapaditya II, 5th century AD, debased gold dinar, weight 7.0 gm

Obverse: king standing facing at altar at left, Brahmi legend under arm ''Kidara'' additional letter ''ka'' at left

Reverse: Goddess Ardoksho enthroned, Brahmi legend at right ''Sri Pratapa'' 

                                             

Karkotas, Vinayaditya, gold debased (17 percent of gold), weight 7.6 g

Obverse: Highly stylized Kushan type king standing with legends in the right field''Jaya''

Reverse: Seated goddess Ardoksho with legend in the right field ''Shri Vinaya'' and ''Di Tya'' on left

 
 

                                          

Durlabhavardhana coin, debase gold

Obverse: Kushan style king standing, with legend Jayati Kidara

Reverse: seated goddess Ardoxsho, holding garland and cornucopia, legend Sri Durla and Deva

Karkota Dynasty

Karkora coins Kidarite

Lalitaditya

  
 
 

Swastika and Coins

 

The Swastika symbol, is an ancient religious icon in the cultures of  Eurasia. In various styles, it is found in numerous cultures. It is used as a symbol of divinity and spirituality in Indian religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The symbol is also used as a symbol of good luck and prosperity in India, Nepal, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, China and Japan.

                                           

 Indo-Scythians, Parata Rajas, mid-1st century BC - 1st century AD coin with swastika symbol

                                   

The word ''swastika'' comes from Sanskrit, meaning ''conducive to well - being''. From ''su'' meaning ''well'', and ''asti'' meaning ''to be''. With the suffix ''ka'', it becomes ''thing associated with well-being or an auspicious thing.The word was first recorded by the ancient linguist Panini in his work Ashtadhyayi. Panini lived in or before 4th century BC, possibly in 6th or 5th century BC. 

                                              

17th century Birch bark manuscript of Panini's grammar treatise from Kashmi

The word ''swasti'' occurs frequently in the Vedas. A majority of scholars consider it a solar symbol. The right facing symbol symbolizes surya (sun), while the left facing symbol is called ''sauwastika'', symbolizes night or tantric aspects of Kali.

                                           

Left: the left facing sauwastika is a sacred symbol in the Bon and Mahayana Buddhist traditions, Right: the right facing swastika appears commonly in Hinduism, Jainism and Sri Lankan Buddhism

In Jainism, a swastika is a symbol for Suparshvanatha, the seventh of 24 Tirthankaras, while in Buddhism it symbolizes the auspicious footprints of the Buddha. 

                                               

 Jain symbol (Prateek) containing a swastika

                                                   

Swastika with 24 beads, used in Malaysian Buddhism. The left facing swastika is often imprinted on the chest, feet or palms of Buddha images and is homologous with the dharma wheel.

In several major Indo-European religions, the swastika symbolizes lightning bolts, representing the thunder god and the king of the gods, such as Indra in Vedic Hinduism, Zeus in the ancient Greek religion, Jupiter in the ancient Roman religion and Thor in the ancient Germanic religion. 

                                            

Pot from the sanctuary of Zeus on Mount Hymettos from 7th-8th century BC, at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens 

The swastika is an icon widely found in both human history and the modern world. In various forms, it is known (in various European languages) as fylot, gammadion, tetraskelion or cross cramponnee (a term in Anglo-Norman heraldry). In German it is Hakenkreuz, in French, croix gammee, in Italian, croce uncinata. In Mongolian it is called Xac (Khas) and used in seals.

                                           

The Gammadion on the left and the Fylfot on the right. Gammadion is associated with Byzantine, Rome and Graeco-Roman culture and the Fylfot with Celtic and Anglo-Saxon culture 

  

In Chinese, it is called wanzi, meaning ''all things symbol'' pronounced manji, in Japanese, manja in Korean and van tu/chu van in Vietnamese. The symbol is found in the archeological remains of the Indus Valley Civilization and Samara, as well as in early Byzantine and Christian artwork. 

                                           

Mosaic swastika in an excavated Byzantine church in Shavei Tzion, Israel                             

In the Western world, it was a symbol of auspiciousness until the 1930s when the right-facing tilted form became a feature of Nazi symbolism. As a result of World War II and the Holocaust, many people in the West still strongly associate it with Nazism.

                                            

The adoption of the swastika by the Nazis and neo-Nazis is the most recognizable use of the symbol in the Western world

  

It is a symbol of life, of the vivifying role of the supreme principal of the universe, the absolute God, in relation to the cosmic order. It represents the Hellenic Logos, the Hindu Om, the Chinese Taiyi in the formation of the world. According to the scholar Reza, the Swastika represents the north ecliptic north pole. The symbol was later attested as the four-horse chariot of Mithra in ancient Iranian culture. They believed the cosmos was pulled by four heavenly horses who revolved around a fixed center in a clockwise direction. This notion later flourished in Roman Mithraism as a symbol in their iconography. According to Russian archaeologist Gennady Zdanovich, in Sintashta culture, the swastika symbolized the universe, representing the spinning constellations of the celestial north pole centered in the Ursae Minoris.

                                          

Tian refers to the northern celestial pole, the pivot and the vault of the sky with its spinning constellations in the four phases of time with Ursae Minnoris as the pole star, 

The Han dynasty Book of Silk (2nd century BC) depicts a rotating comet with a four-pronged tail as early as 2000 years BC.

                                               

Depiction of comets from the Book of Silk, Han dynasty, 2nd century BC

The earliest known swastika is from 10,000 BC, part of an intricate meander pattern of joined-up ''swastikas'' found on a late paleolithic figurine of a bird, carved from mammoth ivory, found in Mezine, Ukraine.

In the mountains of Iran, swastikas inscribed on stone walls are estimated to be more than 7,000 years old.

                                           

            Pre-historic stone in Iran

It is believed that Swastika moved westwards from India to Finland, Scandinavia, the Scottish Highlands and other parts of Europe. In England, Neolithic or Bronze Age stone carvings of the symbol have been found on Ilkley Moor, in West Yorkshire, England such as the Swastika Stone.

                                          

  Photograph of the original swastika stone

                                           

The Camunian rose is the name given to the symbol found among the rock carvings of Camonica Valley (Brescia, Italy). It is engraved in the form of swastika

 

Other Iron Age attestations of the swastika are associated with Indo-European cultures such as the Illyrians, Indo- Iranians, Celts, Greeks, Germanic people and Slavs. In Egypt it has been seen during the Coptic period. 

The symbol has been found in the Gegham mountains in Armenia.                                          

The petroglyph with swastikas, Gegham mountains, Armenia 

In the Indus Valley Civilization, in 3000 BC, the swastika symbol appears very often. 

                                           

Swastika seals from the Indus Valley Civilization, at the British Museum

The swastika shape appears on various Germanic Migration Period and Viking Age artifacts, such as the 3rd century AD, Vaelose Fibula from Zealand, Denmark

                                           

Detail of the Elder Futhark runic inscription on the pin holder of the 3rd century AD Vaelose Fibula followed by a swastika

 

In the Zoroastrian religion of Persia, the swastika was a symbol of the revolving sun, infinity, or continuing creation. It is the most common symbol on Mesopotamian coins.

East Asia. The paired swastika symbols are included, at least since the Liao Dynasty (907-1125AD), as part of the Chinese writing system and are variant characters in Korean, Cantonese and Japanese.

                                         

       Mongolian Shamanism ''Khas'' symbol

                                             

Goa Lawah Hindu temple entrance in Bali, Indonesia

Coins with Swastika

                                          

Merovingian Francia, 675-750 AD, silver, weight 1,2 g

Obverse: Cross pommee with diagonal rays in beaded standard, pellets in margin

Reverse: Reversed swastika below pellet filled curve, beaded border above, bar below

                                           

Anglo Saxon-England, Continental phase 695-740 AD, Sceat series, weight 0.8 g

Obverse: Quilled serpent-headed crescent coiled right, enclosing line of pellets, like a clock face and annulet right

Reverse: Beaded standard enclosing disjointed asymmetrical swastika around central pellet-in-annulet 

                                          

Germany, Third Reich, 2 Reichsmark, 1939, silver, weight 8.0 g

                                            

Syriam, AR 80 ratti, weight 9.1 g

Obverse: Shankh shell, open to the right, border of pellets around, no celestial symbols

Reverse: Srivatsa, bhadrapitha left, swastika right, 

                                           

Kuninda, Amoghabhuti, late 2nd century BC, weight 2.1 g

Obverse: Deer and Lakshmi, Brahmi legend around

Reverse: 11 arched hills, nandipara, railed tree, swastika and Indradhvaj

                                            

Taxila, 2nd century BC, weight 7 g

Obverse: Lion right with hill and swastika

Reverse: Elephant right, hill above

                                            

Kuninda, Amoghabuti, 150-80 BC, Drachm, weight 2.1 g

Obverse: Deer standing right, Srivatsa, pair of snakes, three arched hill symbol between legs of Deer, Lakshmi standing right holding flower

Reverse: Six arched hill, swastika, Indradhvaj, railed tree, river below, Srivatsa

                                           

Taxila, 2nd century BC, weight 9.3 g

Obverse: Lion left, swastika above, arched hill to left

Reverse: Elephant to right, part of hill above 

                                      

                                           

Saurashtra Janapada, 300-250 BC, weight 0.8 g

Obverse: Buffalo with horns in center, swastika, taurine and annulets around, fishes in a pond below

Reverse: Traces of an under type

  

                                            

Paratarajas, 230-270 AD, Drachm, weight 1.7 g

Obverse: Bust facing left with turban

Reverse: Swastika, Kharosthi legend around

                                           

Satavahanas, Mahagamika of Sangama, copper, weight 7.5 g

Obverse: Elephant with raised trunk to right, swastika on the back Brahmi legend ''Sagamana Maha(ga) above

Reverse: Ujjaini symbol with orbs swastikas within quadrants

 

                                            

Sultans of Malwa, silver tanka, Mahmud Shah II, 1510-1531 AD, weight 10.8 g, abu'l muzaffar type, swastika mint mark on obverse 

                                           

Rohailla, Faizullah Khan, 1754-1794 AD, silver rupee, Panipat mint, in the name of Shah Alam II, AH (11)98/RY. Chhatra mint mark on obverse 

                                          

Sultans of Malwa, silver square 1/2 Tanka of Mahmud Shah II, 1510-1531 AD, AH 923, Swastika mint mark on reverse, weight 5.1 g

Obverse: Arabic legend Mahmud Shah Khalji bin Nasir shah

Reverse: Arabic legend al-sultan khallada mulkahu and date

                                              

Saurashtra Janapada, 50-75 BC, weight 5.2 g

Obverse: Human figure (probably Shiva) holding trident in left hand, flower

Reverse: Double swastika with edges having fingers

Swastika

Coins and Swastika

Sauwastika