NUMISMATIC SOURCES FOR THE HISTORY OF THE GUPTAS

Important data regard the Gupta Age is revealed to us through the coins of the period.

The first hoard of Gupta coins was discovered as early as 1783 at Kalighat. Later on many such hoards were discovered.

In 1914, Allan published his famous ‘Catalogue of the Coins of the Gupta Dynasties’, in which the coins found at Bharsar (1851), Jessore (1852), Hugli (1883), Tanda (1885), Kotwa (1885), Basti (1887), Hazipur (1893) and Tekri Delna (1910) were put together.

Later A. S. Altekar published his ‘Coinage of the Gupta Empire’ in which the coins found at Kasarva (1414), Mitathal (1915), Sakori (1914), Kumarakhan (1953) and Bayana (1946) were included.

The Bayana hoard is the largest hoard of the Gupta gold coins discovered so far. The Early Gupta Emperors modelled their coinage after the gold coinage of the imperial Kushanas; though very soon the process of Indianization was at work and within a few decades the Gupta coinage had become almost thoroughly Indian in character.

From the internal evidence of a coins – series, we know about some specific events in the Gupta political history.

From the Ashvamedha type coins of Kumaragupta I we know that he performed this expensive sacrifice.

From Chandragupta I – Kumaradevi type we know the importance of Gupta Lichchhavi alliance.

The coin types issued by Samudragupta create the impression that his reign was marked by unusual military activity while the types issued by Chandragupta II give the impression that in his reign the atmosphere in the Gupta court had become more sober and sophisticated.

The Gupta Kings rarely announce their full titles on the coins, though they mention their personal epithets.

The Gupta rulers inscribed on their coins legends announcing their meritorious deeds. This is in contrast to the coins issued by foreign rulers.

The coinage of the successors of Kumaragupta I reveal a gradual decline in their artistic execution and finesse. It not only indicated the general deterioration in the economic condition of the empire but also helps us in assigning a probable date to a king who is not known from other sources. For, generally speaking, the coins of the rude fabric are relatively later than the finely executed types. The inference is strengthened by the history of the metrology of the Gupta gold coins.

The coins of Chandragupta I follow the standard of 121 grains. The same is the case with most of the coins of Samudragupta though some of them are even lighter and weigh in the vicinity of 115 and 118.

The coins of Chandragupta II follow three weight standards of 121, 124 and 127 grains. On the other hand, in the reign of Kumaragupta I the standard of 127 grains acquired the greatest popularity.

In Chandragupta II’s time 121 was the most popular. Skandagupta gave up all these standards and adopted the standard 132 grains for his so-called ‘King and Lakshmi’ type and variety A of the Archer type. For variety B of Archer type he adopted the Suvarna standard of 144 grains though usually the coins of this type weigh in the vicinity of 141.5 grains only. His successors generally followed the national standard (144 grains), though with the passage of time, their coins became heavier.

Further, the coins of the later imperial Guptas are more heavily adulterated with alloy than the coins of the early rulers. The coins of Chandragupta I have less than 9% alloy and those of Samudragupta and Chandragupta II 10% to 15%.

But the Archer type of coins of Kumaragupta I and the coinage of subsequent rulers contain an alloy ranging nearly between 20% to 30% while some coins attributed to Narasimhagupta and Kumaragupta Vikramaditya have as much as 46% of alloy. The metal became still more debased during the reign of Vishnugupta who was probably the last emperor of the dynasty. His coins have only 43% of pure gold.

Twenty four hoards of Gupta coins have been discovered. 14 of them are located in Eastern UP; 2 each in Bengal and Bihar, 3 in MP and 1 each in Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

It must also be noted that the Gupta Age was known as the Golden Age in Indian History and this is evident from the number of gold coins issued (and found) during this period. It shows the prosperity of the Gupta Kings.