COINS OF ANCIENT INDIA: FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES DOWN TO THE SEVENTH CENTURY A.D.

The present work treats of the ?Coins of Ancient India? from the earliest times down to the end of the sixth century A.D. The wellknown coins of the Satraps of Sarashtra and of the Gupta kings of Magadha are not included, as they have very recently been fully described in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. A variety of earliest Indian coins, however, unlike those circulated in West Asia, were stamped bars of metal, suggesting that the innovation of stamped currency was added to a preexisting form of token currency which had already been present in the Janapadas and Mahajanapada kingdoms of the Early historic India. The kingdoms that minted their own coins included Gandhara, Kuntala, Kuru, Panchala, Magadha, Shakya, Surasena and Surashtra etc. In a second volume the author proposes to deal with the ?Coins of Medieval India,? from A.D. 600 down to the Muhammadan conquest. This new volume will include (1) the Rajahs of Kashmir; (2) the Shahis of Gandhara; (3) the Kulachuris of Chedi; (4) the Chandelas of Mahoba; (5) the Tomaras of Delhi; (6) the Ohoms of Ajmer; with the later coins of (7) the Sisodiyas of Mewar ; and (8) the Pundlrs of Kangra. Until very lately it was the popular belief that the Indians were ignorant of the art of coinage until the time of Alexander. But there is another point which no one has yet noticed, although it has a very important bearing on this architectural question. This book is extremely useful to unravel the truth behind the history of coins in India. It also uses as a good reference book in the research of the coins of ancient India.