2026-08-04 Tue

Lohara dynasty was one of the prominent dynasties ruled over Kashmir for about 150 years. It is mentioned in Rajtarangini. Kashmir has one of the longest continuous recorded histories in the Indian subcontinent. Most of the records can be found in the Kalhana’s Rajatarangini of 12th century. It’s a metric chronicle of kings. Almost all Kings of Kashmir dynasty such as Karkota, Utpala and Lohara continued a highly debased version of the Gupta coins where standing king on the obverse and seated goddess (usually Lakshmi or a local deity) on the reverse are depicted.

Harsha of the first Lohara dynasty is King who is discussed among historians for various negative and positive contributions in the history of Kashmir. Harshadeva, ruled as the Maharaja of Kashmir from 1089 to 1101. He is notable for introducing higher-quality silver (and some gold) coins. His silver Dinnars / Staters depicted King riding a horse to the right, wearing angular headdress and holding a spear; Sharada legend “Sri Harsadeva” above on the obverse. The reverse features Goddess (Lakshmi) seated facing on a lotus, holding a lotus and a vase. These silver horseman-type coins are relatively rare. A major find (Gujranwala hoard) contained many examples. He also issued copper coins in the traditional standing-king/seated-goddess style.

Here, debased gold coin weighs 3.20 gram. The obverse depicts King riding a horse to right, wearing angular headdress, holding spear, legend in Sharada above. The reverse shows goddess seated facing on lotus, holding lotus in left hand and vase in right hand.