2017-05-05 Fri

The southern frontier of India is covered in the blanket of three great water bodies and it does not surprise any historian that India had a well established marine time trade which connects her to the world. This marine trade has connected India to the shores of different cultures and countries and resulted into many explorations by the curious explorers to discover this diverse yet united land.

Last time you read about the hairpin shape coins of Bijapur Sultanate but today you are going to learn about the coins of Alupa dynasty. They were the feudatories of the Chalukyas, Rashtakutas, Hoysalas and the Rayas of Vijayanagar.

The obverse of this coin depicts a majestic male boar facing right with full blown lotus in his mouth within the dotted and line circle. The pseudo-Arabic inscription is depicted on the margin of the coin. The reverse of the coin depicts a square shape alter or Peeta (Asana) with three dotted on three sides within the dotted and line circle. The pseudo-Arabic inscription is depicted on the margin of the coin.

The depiction of Boar on the coin suggests that Alupas acknowledge the supremacy of the Chalukyas of Badami in 8th century AD.

But the most interest factor of this coin is the pseudo-Arabic inscription on margins of this coin; it is borrowed from the gold Dinars of Bagdad caliphate arriving on the Karnataka coast. Due to this feature, this coin became an interesting evidence of the maritime trade relations in the coastal lines of the Indian Ocean.

Some interesting facts: The Boars is the Chalukya lanchan or emblem. Boar is also called ‘Varaha' as animal and ‘Adivarah' as the incarnation of Vishnu.

P.S: Some scholars are of the opinion that this coin was issued by Alupas under the supremacy of Rashtakutas.