2016-09-26 Mon

A rare coin of Vrishni Janapada was sold for a magnificent amount of 27 Lakhs.

The republic clan of Vrishni reigned during the time which is better known as the period of Mahajanapada. In Mahabharata, they find their reference as a ‘kingless’ tribe and Vasudeva Krishna leading the confederation as the elected President. Panini in his Ashtadhyayi mentioned about the Vrishnis along with the Andhakas. The Arthashastra of Kautilya described the Vrishnis as a sangha (tribal confederation).

Inspite of being mentioned in copious literature only a single Drachma of this tribe was found. Sir Alexander Cunningham, the first director general of Archaeological Survey of India, discovered a single Silver Drachma of this Janapada. This unique coin was found in Punjab and is currently housed in British Museum. According to Cunningham, Vrishni originally belonged to Punjab, and then they later shifted to Mathura and afterwards to Dwarka.

This circular coin has a nandipada, standard in railing, a mythical animal, half lion and half elephant and legend in Brahmi V???ir?ja J?ga?asya tr?t?rasya on the obverse and chakra of twelve spokes in pellet border with Kharoshthi legend V???ir?ja??a(ga?asa) tra(tarasa) the reverse. Later a number of Vrishni copper coins were also discovered from Punjab.

When one such coin surfaced in a renowned auction, it left everyone awestruck. This coin is by far the rarest and hence it was sold for a magnificent amount of 27 Lakhs. Silver coin of Vrishni has a special place in Indian Numismatics due to its rarity.