2017-08-03 Thu

Assam, situated in the north-eastern part of India was a cherished trophy for many conquerors who kept a covetous eye on the valley of Brahmaputra. But none of them was successful in conquering Assam. This land was ruled by the Ahoms dynasty, the other kingdom in this valley minted coins in the 16th century but the Ahoms struck coins for the first time in 17th-century CE.

This dynasty adopted Hinduism in 1500 CE. This change made their coinage quite interesting because they started inscribing two names on their coins; one Hindu name and other an Ahom name. The above-shown coin belongs to the later king of Assam Brajanatha Simha who ruled this land in the start of 19th Century CE.

This Gold coin is one of the last Mohurs issued in Assam. The obverse of this coin depicts Assamese legends in four lines which read " sri sri swages / deva sri brajana / tha Simha nripasya / sake 1739 ". A lion is depicted on the lower left within the line and dotted border.

The reverse of this coin depicts a legend in Assamese which reads " sri sri radha / krishna charana ka / mala makaranda / madhu karasya " within the line and dotted border. The weight of this denomination varies from 10.70 to 11.40grams.

This coin was sold for INR 3, 75,000 by Todywalla Auction in Bangalore on 29th July 2017.

Some interesting facts

The earlier coins were dated in the Saka era and inscribed in Bangla numerical but later issues were minted in the modified numerical called Assamese.
Cowrie shells were used in Assam for small exchange or purchase.
The Gold coins of this coinage were struck with the same dye used for the silver coins.
During the reign of Brajanath, not many copper coins were minted making them a rare specimen.

To know more about Ahom coinage click here