Studies in Indian Numismatics
Contents: Preface. 1. Coins of India. 2. Copper bent-bar coins from Kausambi. 3. Madhipur hoard of copper punch-marked coins. 4. Metrology of the Malava coins and its reflection on their economic condition. 5. Vishnu on early Indian coins. 6. Lakshmi and Gajalakshmi in early Indian art and coins. 7. Ardoksha to Lakshmi. 8. Gaja-Lakshmi motif on some sealings from Nalanda. 9. Salabhanjika in early Indian art and coin. 10. Three distinctive temple styles on early coins of northern India. 11. A note on a gold coin of Jayavarman. 12. A rare gold coin of Muhammad bin Sam. 13. A rare fold coin of Sher Shah. 14. Persian impact of Bijapur Larin: a study in economic history. 15. Artistic traits of the coins of Awadh. 16. A few interesting Ramatankas. 17. Coins of the Republic of India from 1950 to 1982. 18. The coin collection of the Indian Museum: history and importance. Select bibliography. Publication reference.
The monograph contains the result of the sustained researches in the field of Indian numismatics through the ages. Coins as tiny sources of history reflect the socio-economic conditions in the life of the people. As cultural mirror of the nation they depict images of divinities religious edifices, portraits of rulers as also the animals and birds of a country. In eighteen well written research papers the author has ventured to bring out the salient features of Indian numismatic history including the early phases of Indian coins as documented by the bent bar and punch marked specimens the visual account of the Hindu and Greco Roman Gods, such as Vishnu and different varities of Lakshmi, including the Gajalakshmi as also Ardoksho the popular art motifs like Salabhanjika, the temple tokens depicting Rama\'s coronation scene and others, the rare gold issues by the Muslim Sultans, the metrological study of a group of coins, an elaborate history of Indian coins through the ages, modern issues of the Republic of India and importantly enough the study of the growth and development of the fabulous coin collection in the Indian Museum. (jacket)
