An offprint from

Pratna Samiksha

New Series Vol. I ZOIO

Centre for Archaeological Studies & TrainingEastern India

t.

COINS

A Hoard of Coins of the Candra Dynasty of Arakan

NOMAN NASIR . NICHOLAS RHODES

Independent Researchers

Arsrnecr: The coinages of the Candra dynasty of Arakan are important in South East Asian context. Thepresent article includes the studies on twelve rare coins of that dynasty, from the collection of the firstauthor. A comparative study has been made with some known collection.

KEvvonos: Candra coins, Devacandra, tripartite symbols, Virachandra.

The coinage of the Candra dynasty of Arakanis a relatively unexplored area in the numismat-ics of South Asia. Some historians and numis-matists, such as Phayre (1882), Johnston (L947),Wicks (L992), Mitchiner (2004), Gutman(L978),San Tha Aung (1982), Cribb (1,986),andRhodes et al. (1989,2006), have included coinsin their books and articles, but these publicationsare based on relatively few specimens. MichaelMitchiner in his various publications, culminat-ing in Ancient Trade and Early Coinage(Mitchiner 2004; 1258-70) published the larg-est corpus of Candra coins, including piecespublished by earlier authors and with a particu-larly good selection of fractional pieces. Thecoinage comes in a number of different denomi-nations, namely, 64 -r ati, 24 -r ati, L 6 -r ati, 8 -r ati,and 4-rati. The \-rati ar,d 4-rati coins have noking's name, and may be contemporary with thecoins of slighdy later date, with the name of thestate of Harikela. Fractions have appeared inrelatively large numbers but full denomination

Conl 1. Early Anonymous

Pratna Samiksha, New Series, vol. 1,2010 (Kolkata: Centre forArchaeological Studies & Training, Ea'stern India), pp. 155-51,

coins seem to be very scarce. Recently, a smallhoard of at least eighteen full denominationcoins appeared, containing specimens of at least

five early Candra rulers. The find-spot of thesecoins cannot be confirmed precisely, but it wascertainly in the Comilla region, in the south-eastern part of Bangladesh, a region formerlyknown as Samatata. Previously some Candracoins have been reported to have been found inBangladesh (Rhodes 2006:76-83) but unforttr-nately none of them had the find-spot properlyrecorded. This particular hoard is very impor-tant as it provides evidence of a trade link be-

tween Arakan and South-east Bengal, a traderoute that must have extended into the Gangeticplain and beyond. It is worth recording thehoard iq full, so that future numismatists andhistorians can use the data in their studies.Twelve of the coins are illustrated below, includ-ing all the types that are known to have been

discovered.

L56 N. NASIR

Obv. Conch (sankh) shell with foliage, sur-

rounded by two dotted borders which are di-vided by a circle. A number of leaves appear

in the right and left side of the shell. No leg-

end is visible.Rev. The usual tripartite symbol surroundedby two dotted borders and a circle in between

with moon above left and sun above right. A

CorN 2. Early Anonymous?

Obv. As above, except that there are traces

of a legend; although this is illegible, it mayread Devachandra as on no. 3 below.

ColN 3. Devacandra

Obv. Same as above but the legend Deva-candra crudely engraved below in Brahmicharacters (Mitchiner 2004, no. 5313).

N. RHODES

number of curved leaves appear at the rightand left sides and below the tripartite sym-bol.Veight 7.5 g Diameter 29 mm

This coin is similar to the British Museum col-lection specimen has been published (Phayre

1,882:5309).

Rev. As no. L above, partially double struck,but probably not struck with the same die.

Weight7.7 g Diameter 29.5 mm

Rev. Same as above but moon on the rightside and no dots can be seen below tripartitesymbol. Yleight7.6 g Diameter 32.5 mm

A Hoard of Coins of the

A frn, inscribed and un-inscribed Candra coins

wid the Conch symbol are known from differ-ent s(xuices. Michael Mitchiner in his book men-

tions a few pieces of which only one was fulldcnomination coin (64-rati) (Phyre pl. II, 10).

Candra Dynasty of Arakan 157

Most of those pieces are now preserved in Brit-ish Museum collection. Apart from these, we

have been informed of another 64-rati coin kept

in a private collection in Thailand (personal

communication: Vasiliis Michaelovs).

Cotr{ 4. Devacandra

sun right.\Teight 7.4 g Diameter 30 mm

A full denomination Devacandra coin withright-facing bull has been previously published(Rhodes 2006:76-7) but this is the first left-fac-

ing bull to appear. The right-facing bull has leg-

en-d aborre, *h.t."t this piece has the legend

Obv. Recumbent bull-facing left, surrounded

by rwo dotted borders divided by a circle'Legend Devacandra below.Rerr. Tripartite symbol with moon left and

Devacandra below, and the Brahmi script is

rather different in form. The tripartite symbol

is also different, with the two upper curves of the

left and right arms meeting the central pole hori-

zontally without forming any bulge at the top'The lower parts, sloping downwards from the

top towards and the centre pole, creates a tri-,rrgl.. Two small horizontal lines are visible in

the two sides of the centre pole, just over the

upper curves which can be the stack or leaves.

This coin is similar to the BM specimen ofDevacandra published (Phayre p. 29 and pl.II,Mitchiner 2004,no. 5314) but is of full denomi-

nation of 64'rati, whereas the BM specimen is

48-rati.

CoDi 5. Devacandra?

Obv. As above. No clear legend visible butseems to have been 'va' above the bull.Rev. Tripartite symbol nicely struck withmoon left and sun right.Weight 5.5 g Diameter 29 mm

158

CoIN 6. Yajnacandra

N. NASIR N. RHODES

Obv. Recumbent bull-facing right, with gar-

land around neck surrounded by two dottedborders, divided by a circle. Legend Yaina-candra in Brahmi letters above the bull.

CoIN 7. Yajnacandra

Obv. Recumbent bull-facing right, but nogarland around neck, surrounded by twodotted borders divided by a circle. King'sname in Brahmi into two lines, Yajna aboveand candra below the bull.Rev. Tripartite symbol with moon left andsun right.tUfeight 5.3 g (partially broken)Diameter 28.5 mm

Conr 8. Bhumicandra

Rev.

Rev. Tripartite symbol with moon right andsun left, represented by a dot.Weight 7.0 g Diameter 30.5 mm

Two coins of Yainacandra were published byMitchiner, one of 64-ratis and one of Z4-ratis.Both differ from the pieces published here, inhaving the bull-facing left (Mitchiner 2004, no.531,6-17). One further specimen of this type,from the same hoard, has been noticed inBangladesh.

Obv. Recumbent bull-facing left, with gar-land around neck surrounded by two dottedborders divided by a circle. Legend Bhumi-.^n&a in Brahmi character appears above6€ bull.

Cooi 9- Bhumicandra

Obv. Recumbent bull-facing left, with gar:land around neck surrounded by two dottedborders, divided by a circle. Bhumicandra inBrahmi appears above the bull, in two lines.

Cos 10. Bhumicandra

Obv.

Oby- Same as above, possibly the same die.Rer-. Usual Tripartite with moon symbol leftand sun s1'mbol right.Yeight 7.6 g Diameter 29.5 mm

Cor-r-. 11. Bhudcandra

Obv.

A Hoard of Coins of the Candra Dyrasty of Arakan ts9

Rev. Usual Tripartite symbol with moonright and sun left.'Sfeight 6.4 g Diameter 28.5 mm

A similar coin has also been published (Mitchi-ner 2004,5320) quoting San Tha Aung.

Rev. Usual Tripartite symbol with moon leftand sun right.'Weight7.7 g Diameter 30.5 mm

The obverse die appears to be same with coinno. 10 but the reverse die is different.

Rev.

160

\Teight 7.4 g

CoIN 12. Niticandra

Diameter 28.5 mm

N. NASIR N.

Obv. Recumbent bull-facing right, with gar-land around neck surrounded by two dottedborders, divided by a circle. Legend Bhuti-candra above the bull in Brahmi characters.Rev. Usual Tripartite symbol with moon leftand sun symbol right.

RHODES

No full coin of Bhuticandra has previouslybeen published, although a 16-rati coin was pub-lished by Johnson, which was later identified as

Niticandra, and a 24-rati coin was published(Mitchiner 2004, 5321,). Interestingly, five fur-ther specimens of this type from the same hoard,have been noticed in Bangladesh.

where the use of some archaicisms must be ex-pected. Niticandra came to the throne in c. cr520 and ruled for 55 years, and Devacandradied in c. c8 476, whereas Mitchiner suggests adating 2l years earlier (Mitchiner 2004: t259).Cribb has suggested a very different date, per-haps 200 years later (Cribb L986:111-271. Onthe other hand, recent research (unpublishedcorrespondence with Susmita Basu-Majumdar)has suggested that Niticandra came to the thronein c. ce 585, but based on the flame 'Varachan-dra', which appears on certain coins of Sama-tata, being intended to refer to the Arakan kingVirachandra. Assuming this latest date is cor-rect, it would imply that the hoard was depos-ited in the last decade of the sixth century cE,

with implications that a maritime trade routefrom South-east Asia, along the Arakan coast toSamatata, and probably onwards to the Gange-tic basin, was operating by this time. Such aconclusion would be consistent with the signifi-cant number of gold coins of Samatata that havebeen discovered in the Comilla area) the areawhere this silver hoard might have been discov-

Obv.

Obv. Recumbent bull-facing left, with gar-land around neck surrounded by a dottedborder and an outside circle. Legend Niti-candra appears above the bull in Brahmicharacters. The flan is relatively small.Rev. Usual Tripartite symbol with moonright and sun left. Partially double struck.Nfeight 6.4 g Diameter 26.5 mm

Two similar pieces, one apparently found inVaisali, were published (Mitchiner 2004: 5322,5323) and another, possibly found in Bangla-desh, was published (Rhodes 2006, no. 2). Nu-merous small denomination coins (of 24 andL6-ratis) werc published by Mitchiner.

The present hoard does not provide any cluesregarding the matter of the dating of the CandraKings of Arakan. According to Sircar (Sircar1958: 103-9, pl. 2).Sircar based his datingpurely on the letter forms used on the Mrohaonginscription in Vaisali, which, he suggested, im-ply a date for this important pillar inscriptionc. cE 729. Such precision seems inappropriate,particularly when looking at letter forms in alocale as remote from central India as Arakan,

A Hoard of Coins of tbe Candra Dynasty of Arakan 161

ered. Joe Cribb has also pointed out rhe similar-ity in the design of these Candra silver coins,with certain copper coins struck in Nepal in c.cr. 645 (Cribb 1986:11.-27).

Nepalese coin wirh legend Paiupati,struck c. co 640

\Thereas Cribb suggested rhat it was theNepalese coins that influenced the design of theCandra coins, our suggestion is that the influencewas the other way round, and the design of theCandra coins, with bull and tripartite symbol,surrounded with large pellets, was copied by theNepalese. The implication of this is thar, at leasrduring the first part of the seventh century, thetrade route continued from Pataliputra northwardsthrough Nepal, Tibet, and perhaps onwards roSogdiana and the west. The most likely item to betraded along such a route would have beenChinese silks. In this conrext it is worth noring thatthe Nepalese first struck (copper) coins in c. cp.575(Rhodes 1989:28030) perhaps for the increasedeconomic activity due to this trade. This hoard,therefore, provides valuable corroborariveevidence of the existence, and period of activity,of this important 'southern silk route,.

RprpnsNcps

Cribb, J. E. (1985). 'Dating South East Asia,sEarliest Coins', G. Bhattacharyya (ed.)Deyadharma, pp. 71.1-27, Delhi: Sri SatguruPublications.

Gutman, P. (L978).'The Ancient Coinage of SouthEast Asia', lournal of the Siam Society 66:8-21,pt. 1.

Johnston, E.H. (1947). 'Some Sanskrit Inscriptionsfrom Arakan', Bulletin of the School ofOriental and African Studies 11,357ff.

\lirchiner, M. (2004). Ancient Trade and EarlyCoinage 2: 1258-70, London: HawkinsPublications.

Phal-re, A. P. (1S32). Coins of Arakan, pegu andBunna 2, pt.'1., London: Numismata Orientalia.

Rhodes, N. G. (2006). 'A Group of Coins of theCandra Dynasty of Arakan', Journal of theAsiatic Society 48:76-83, no. 3.

Rhodes, N. G., Gabrisch, K., and Valdettaro, C.(1989). The Coinage of Nepal, from the earliesttimes until 1"911 to, p.28-30, London: RoyalNumismatic Society.

San Tha Aung (1982). Arakanese Coins, translaredfrom the Burmese by Michael Robinson andAye Set, Manchester.

Sircar, D. C. (1958). 'Inscriptions of Chandras ofArakan', Epigraphia Indica 32: 103-9.

Wicks, R. S. (1992) . Money, Markets and Tradein Early Southeast Asia, The Deuelopment ofIndigenous Monetary Systems to eo L400,pp. 90-2, Cornell University.