The Coins of ‘Prakashaditya’
- CRIAAS Nashik
- Feb 4
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 2
By Divya Chowdhary, M.A. (Palaeography, Epigraphy & Numismatics) Indian Institute of Heritage, Noida
Numismatics is the study of coins and the extraction of historical information from them. One needs to undergo training and develop an eye for identifying the varieties of coins, along with expertise in ancient scripts and languages (for ancient & medieval India- Brahmi and Arabic) in order to give a complete reading of the legend. Additionally, a good understanding of iconography is necessary to provide a comprehensive analysis. Numismatic data plays a significant role in establishing a chronology for reconstructing political and economic history, along with the study of scripts and languages. Coins can be considered as compact capsules of historical information, providing a multifaceted view of the past, often filling gaps left by other historical records.
Given the amount of information we can extract from coinage, it is surprising how coinage has been seen only as a tiny element of Indian archaeology!
In this context, let us briefly explore the puzzling case of ‘Prakashaditya’ from the 6th century CE, and what his story might tell us about the contemporary political scenario.
Have a look at this:-
General overview of the same variety of coins:-
Dynasty: Alchon Huns/ Śveta Huṇa
Ruler: Toramāṇa ‘Prakāśāditya’
Period: c.6th cen CE
Provenance: Not available. Conjecture: Eran, Madhya Pradesh
Type: Horseman-Rider Lion Slayer (dinara) (minting technique?)
Metal: Gold (debased)
Shape: Circular
Size: Not available
Weight: Not available
Obverse: Mounted rider impaling a beast (lion). Circular Brahmi legend reads ‘Avanipati toramāṇo vijitya vasudhāma divam jayati’ (loose translation: ‘having conquered the earth, Toramana wins heaven).
“The eagle symbol of the Guptas, Garuda, appears above the horse’s head, here represented by three simple dots, but visible as a recognisable bird on some other specimens.”
Reverse: Seated Lakśmī with Brahmi legend ‘Shri Prakashaditya’ at right.
Acc. No. : Not available.
Showcase: 10
Coin no. : 47
This is a coin from the Coin Gallery at the National Museum, New Delhi (abv. NM). As per the fourth revised edition of “A Guide to the National Museum” (1997), the coin collection at the National Museum stands at 1,18,000 -made of gold, silver, copper, and alloys (potin, lead)- which were acquired as treasure trove, from hoards (including specimens from Parrukh Collection, Jhalan, Nagu, Vyas collections, and Bayana hoard), as gifts, and through purchases. Currently, the gallery exhibits 204 coins, which pertains to a small fraction of their actual collection ie. nearly one lakh. The entire history of Indian coinage, starting from c.6th century BCE till the 20th century CE is represented in the gallery.
This coin from NM is of interest to us. As far as history has been reconstructed as of now, the Imperial Gupta Empire was crumbling after being overrun by the White Huns, the forerunner being Toramana and his son Mihirkula.
The coins in focus here first came to the attention of historians with the discovery of the Bharsar hoard in 1851. Bharsar, located near Varanasi, contained approximately 160 gold coins. Unfortunately, most of these coins were reportedly melted down. Details are available for only 32 coins, two of which are attributed to Prakāśāditya.
In economist & numismatist Pankaj Tandon’s words:-
“Ever since the discovery of his coins in a hoard of Gupta coins in 1851,Prakashaditya has been assumed to be a Gupta king by almost all scholars and other observers. Then, in 1990, Robert Gobl suggested that Prakashaditya was not a Gupta at all, but a Hun. However, except for a small group of scholars in Vienna, who might be thought of as Gobl’s intellectual heirs, most authors have continued to treat Prakashaditya as a Gupta king. Why Gobl’s hypothesis has not gained wider acceptance is not entirely clear.”
As we can see above, the identification of Prakāśāditya was an unresolved query among historians and numismatists. The prevailing assumption among most scholars was that this individual was a ruler belonging to the Gupta dynasty, most likely Purugupta (brother of Skandagupta and probably “the natural heir”). The only cases of deviation were by PL Gupta who disagreed with the identification as Purugupta (he identified him as Tathāgatagupta of Hiuen Tsang’s account) and Robert Gobl who suggested that Prakāśāditya was not a Gupta at all, but a Huna. Then through a paper published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society in 2015, Pankaj Tandon identified Prakashaditya with the Huna ruler Toramāṇa, making the identification beyond doubt.
The coin in focus is of the Horseman-Rider Lion Slayer type. On the first look it simply appears to be another Gupta coin- like the lion-slayer and horseman type of Chandragupta II, rhinoceros-slayer and elephant rider of Kumāragupta. At the same time, it is also worth noting that this specific obverse design of Prakashaditya’s coins is in fact unknown in the Gupta canon, and stylistic quality is comparatively unsophisticated. As noted by P.L. Gupta, "the Prakāśāditya coins do not exhibit the elegance characteristic of early Gupta art." It is noticeable that the legend is not continuous but is interrupted, first by the hindquarters of the lion and then by the hind legs of the horse. The argument that Toramana issued coins based on Gupta prototypes (gold, silver, copper) seems to be sufficiently reasonable.
For Pankaj Tandon, among almost 66 coins of Prakāśāditya that he studied, the National Museum coin (showing little bits of almost all letters in the legend) and served as a final check on the reading for the obverse (toramāṇo). He further explains in his paper the implications of Prakāśāditya’s Hunnic identity.
It seems that the belief that Prakāśāditya was Purugupta now stands refuted, reopening discussions about Purugupta’s coinage and strengthening arguments that the coins of Chandragupta III might belong to Purugupta . Second, it confirms that Toramāṇa issued coins under both his name and his biruda (title), "Prakāśāditya," suggesting other kings, like Vaysāra/Baysāra, may have followed similar practices, indicating further areas of study. Third, the Huns' issuance of gold coins patterned after the Guptas highlights their wealth and the substantiality of their empire. The discovery of a Prakāśāditya gold coin at the Lucknow Museum supports this and raises the possibility that some unnamed Archer coins might also be Hunnic issues, opening new avenues for research into the Huns' economic and numismatic history.
Bibliography:-
Gupta, P.L.(1969). Coins. National Book Trust.
Singh, Rajdeo. Lal, Uma Shankar (2019). Scientific Investigations of Ancient Indian Coins and Metals. Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan.
Chauhan, R.R.S.,ed. (1997). A Guide to the National Museum. New Delhi: National Museum Publication.
Bhattacharya, AK. Indian Numismatics & Its Cultural Aspects.
Altekar, A.S.(1957). The Coinage of the Gupta Empire. Banaras Hindu University.
Agarwal, Ashvini. Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas. Motilal Banarsidass.
Tandon, Pankaj (2015).“The Identity of Prakashaditya”. In Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 25, Issue 04, 647-658. Cambridge University Press.
Allan, J. (1914). A Catalogue of the Indian Coins in the British Museum: Coins of the Gupta Dynasties and of Shashanka, King of Gauda. London, pp. cxxvi-cxxvii.
Smith, V.A.(1889). Art. I.—The Coinage of the Early or Imperial Gupta Dynasty of Northern India. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 21, pp 1-158
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