Panchala Kingdom and Coins

 

When the Mauryan Empire collapsed, many new kingdoms emerged on its ruins. One such kingdom to emerge in Northern India was Panchala. This had been one of the 16 Mahajanapadas in the time of the Buddha. Draupadi one of the central characters of the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata was a Panchala princess. This Janapada had been absorbed by Magadha as it pursued its program of expansion. But now the kingdom was reconstituted under the Mitra kings who issued wonderful series of coins. Almost all the Panchala coins carry the name of the issuing king in Brahmi letters. 

                          

Panchala dynasty, Vishnumitra, half karshapana, 20-10 BC, 

                       

Late Vedic Period, 1100-500 BC, Panchala Janapada.

                         

       Mahajanapada, 500 BC, Panchala.

These are some of the earliest indigenous Indian coins to carry legends. They typically carried an image of the deity on the obverse. Most often, the deity closely associated with the names of issuing ruler, and an incuse punch on the reverse which had the legend bearing the king's name along with the three symbols of the Panchala kingdom.  But generally accepted period of the series of coins is about 150 BC to 125 AD. This is followed by a gap during the ascendancy of the Kushan Empire which in turn was followed by a re-establishment of the Panchala dynasty during 300 to about 350 AD. 

                      

Panchala Kingdom, Vishnumitra, 20-10 BC, copper, weight 4.8 gm, half karshapana, with the name written in legend. 

The Panchala king Achyuta was defeated by Samudragupta and therefore they may have been contemporaries.