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The Kuru janapada was located around the modern city of Delhi, with its capital at Indraprastha. It was said to include a considerable area around,
and to be ruled by the family of Yudhishthira, the head of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata. Mahapadma Nanda incorporated the Kuru domain into the
Magadhan empire around 350 BCE.
The six coins presented here are not assigned by Rajgor to any janapada. Rather, he simply calls them "Babyal coins," after the town of Babyal in
the state of Haryana, where coins of this type were said to have been found. However, according to Mitchiner, this information is incorrect, and all known coins
of these types have been found in Sugh in Ambala district. He and others have assigned them to the Kurus, and indeed the known parts of the Kuru janpada
are in any case very close to Babyal.
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Silver 1/2 karshapana
c. 4th Century BCE
Weight:1.73 gm., Diam:12-13 mm.
Triskele with crescents and dots /
blank
Ref: Rajgor, 429b, MATEC 3696 |
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Silver 1/2 karshapana
c. 4th Century BCE
Weight:1.53 gm., Diam:12 mm.
Triskele with crescents and dots /
blank
Ref: Rajgor, 429b, MATEC 3696 |
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Silver 1/2 karshapana
c. 4th Century BCE
Weight:1.77 gm., 14 x 14 mm.
Triskele with crescents and dots /
blank
Ref: Rajgor, 426-427, but square flan. |
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Silver 1/2 karshapana
c. 4th Century BCE
Weight:1.56 gm., 13 x 13 mm.
Triskele with crescents and dots /
blank
Ref: Rajgor, 429b, but square flan. |
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Silver 1/2 karshapana
c. 4th Century BCE
Weight:1.53 gm., Diam: 15 mm.
Triskele with crescents and dots /
(Magadhan ?) 6-arm symbol
Ref: Rajgor 428, MATEC 3702. |
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Rajgor has suggested that this coin is an overstrike "on an earlier type having a Six-armed-like symbol." However, on this
specimen, if there is any flattening, it is on the "obverse" side with the triskele design. This might suggest that the six-arm symbol was either added later or simultaneous
to the triskele. Perhaps this was issued shortly after Mahapadma Nanda annexed the Kuru lands to Magadha. |
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Silver 1/2 karshapana
c. 4th Century BCE
Weight:1.42 gm., Diam: 16-17 mm.
Triskele with crescents and dots /
(Magadhan ?) 6-arm symbol
Ref: Rajgor 428, MATEC 3702. |
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