2017-04-27 Thu

Cheras are the ancient rulers of Southern India. They are prominent in history as two dynasties ruling in two different eras. The first Chera dynasty ruled from 300 BC to 300 AD according to Sangam literature while the other ruled from the 9th Century onwards.

Cheras expanded their territories from Aleppy to Calicut. They were mentioned as ‘Keralaputra’ in the edict of Ashoka found in Gannjam district, Mysore. The coinage of Cheras forms an interesting section of numismatic studies; they consist of the Punch Marked Coins (PMC) of Mauryans circulating in the Cheran borders from 2nd to 1st century B.C. The only difference being that this PMC consisted of extra punches of the region.

Their monetary system includes coins of quadrilateral shapes with different symbols like elephants, horses, six arched hills, axes and bow-arrows which gave continuity to this coinage. The bow-arrow was the insignia of the Chera dynasty which was present on their flag. The presence of the bow and arrow on the coins indicated the Supremes of the Cheras.

The above image of this square shape copper coin belongs to the Chera coinage. Its obverse depicts an elephant walking towards the right and in the front, a six arched hill is featured. In the centre, a bow and arrow are depicted with a snake above it and a battle axe is shown on the left. The reverse of the coin depicts a bow-arrow, the symbol of the Cheras. This coin belongs to the Sangam age.

Some interesting facts:

• Cheran Sengattuvam, the popular king of Chera dynasty had the best navy in the world.
• The capital of Chera was Vanji which consist of the famous and chief port of Thondi. They had strong trade relations with the Roman Empire.
• The symbols depicted on their later coins show the interdependency of these "Muvvararasar" (Three Kings, Chera, Chola, Pandya).
• The smallest of the Chera coins weighed around 2 gms while the biggest ones around 6 gms.
• Kings of Chera took the title ‘Villavar Kon’, Villavar means archer in Tamil. These archers were the one who founded Chera dynasty.

*Image courtesy Bombay Auctions