History and Coinage of the Rashtrakutas

Gautam Jantakal, born and educated in Bengaluru, began his career in 1999 as a software engineer. After a period of twelve years, he gave up his job to pursue his passion in Numismatics. In 2015, he completed his Masters in Numismatics and Archaeology from the University of Mumbai. He is a passionate coin collector with keen interest in ancient and early medieval Indian coinage as well as ancient Indian scripts. He has published articles and research papers on Indian numismatics in various bulletins. He is an active member of the Centre of Indian Numismatic Studies (CoINS).

Bhushan Kapadia is a qualified Chartered Accountant besides being a Bachelors in Commerce. His passion is coinage of ancient India. His areas of interest includes post Mauryan coinage from Taxila, Hunnic coinage and inscribed coinage of pre Satavahana and post Gupta era besides ancient inscribed seals of the Indian sub continent.

Prakash Jinjuvadiya is a jeweller by profession and hails from Gondal, Gujarat. He and his brother Chetan Jinjuvadiya are passionate about Kshtrapa, Gupta and Rashtrakuta coinages. Over the years, they have brought out many new coin types that have significantly added to our collective knowledge of Indian numismatics.

I am extremely delighted to note that Shri. Gautam Jantakal has authored a book on History and Coinage of the Rashtrakutas. On many occasions he was discussing with me about the copper plate inscriptions of Rashtrakutas and mainly about the Garuda motif occurring on the seals attached to inscriptions, and also about the paleographical aspect of both early Nagari and early Kannada script occurring in Rashrakuta inscriptions. Perhaps for a comparative study of the script found on the coins. And I never knew it will fructify in do form of a book. Since last so many years Shri. Jantakal has very seriously involved himself in the study of coins of early and medieval period. His deep interest in analyzing paleographical aspects of various scripts and its application in deciphering legends on the coins is noteworthy, and it has been amply reflected in the present work. As an epigraphist I have great appreciation for that. Shri. Jantakal has a pert blend of knowledge in paleography and expertise in other aspects connected with the study of coins.

Shri. Gautam Jantakal along with his co-authors Shri. Bhushan Kapadia and Shri Prakash Jinjuvadia have given a scholarly introduction, covering various aspects of the history of the Rashtrakutas and their coinage. The book spreads over five chapters and covers entire gamut of the history of the Rashtrakutas and coins issued by various rulers. Every effort is made to identify various varieties of coins with the epithet occurring on coins, and also in deciphering legend on the coins with a quite an amount of certainty. The tables and maps provided at appropriate places has enhanced the value of the publication.

At a time when scholars and students had to satisfy themselves with meagre numismatic material on the Rashtrakutas, the present work comes as a great contribution to studies in South Indian numismatics.

I wish Shri Gautam Jantakal will pen many more books to enrich Numismatic Studies.

My journey of collecting Indian coins started about a decade back. I was however surprised that I did not come across even a single Rashtrakuta coin. This thought fingered on at the back of my mind. Later, during my post-graduate study in Numismatics and Archaeology, I came across images of Rashtrakuta coins albeit very few in numbers. While I was excited to see them, I was will perplexed to find as to how such a strong imperial power that ruled for more than two hundred years could have issued so few coins. I then started documenting coin images that came my way as well as jotting down a bibliography on Rashtrakuta History and Coinage.

It was in 1996 that Dr Shailendra Bhandare first conclusively attributed three copper coins to the Rashtrakuta dynasty. Since them there has been a slow but steady increase in the discovery of new coins type of the Rashtrakutas. Late Shri Mukunda Prabhu and Shri M. Nityananda Pai were the first to conclusively attribute gold coins to the Rashtrakutas. During the paw few years a substantial number of Rashrakuta coins have been identified and a few of these have also been articulated. This is definitely an exciting phase of early medieval Indian numismatics with coins of many Rashtrakuta rulers, who were hitherto known only from copper plates, being reported. As a side effect, some older and long standing theories like the 'Paucity of Coins in Early Medieval India’ propounded by Prof R.S. Sharma and others are being reappraised in the works of Dr John Deyell, Dr Shailendra Bhandare and in the present book. The excitement does not seem to end here. A new epithet Prayasavaloka has been encountered on a silver and also a copper coin which are presented in this book. This epithet is not encountered on my copper plates found till now. Whether this epithet belongs to a known Rashtrakuta ruler or to a feudatory ruler is as of now anybody’s guess.

This book would not have been possible without the help and encouragement of my fellow numismatic students as well as collectors. Most of the coin readings have been done by my guru, Dr Shailendra Bhandare, Assistant Keeper, South Asian and Far Eastern Numismatics and paper money collections Ashmolean Museum. His patience and approachability has been overwhelming and I sincerely thank him for everything. When I first embarked on this work, my intent was just to write an article on a few Rashtrakuta coin in my collection for Numismatic Digest. It was Dr Amiteshwar Jha who suggested to me to do research and prepare a comprehensive article on the subject as none exists today. This was seconded by Dr K.K. Maheshwari who encouraged me for this study to take the form of a small book. It is their confidence in me that has led to this book for which I am ever grateful to them. I am thankful to Sarvashri, RD Bhatt, Dr TS Ravishamkar, Purnanand Sanket, and Suken Shah who helped review the drafts and made valuable suggestions for its improvement. I am thankful to Dr John Deyell who, despite his busy schedule at gave me as opportunity to present my draft work and discuss upon is I am grateful to Dr Amiteshwar Jhe for meticulously editing the draft and suggesting various improvements. My thanks are due to Shri Yogeshwar Puri for helping me with the illustrations. I thank Shri Shatrughan Saravagi of Classical Numismatic Gallery and Shri Girish, Veera of Oswal Auctions for readily giving me permission to use relevant auction images. The collectors who were approached were most generous to share their coin images for this study. They have been acknowledged along with the coin images.

This book could not have reached its current from without the able contribution and assistance of my co-authors Shri Bhushan Kapadia and Shri Prakash Jinjuvadiya. I sincerely thank them for all their help. An unwavering support from family is paramount for any author. I enjoyed this support from my wife Sarika and son Tanmay.

I would feel rewarded if this work is found to be useful to scholars researching in early medieval Indian economy as well as to Numismatic collectors. Any suggestions for its improvement would be gratefully received. I can be reached at my email id mentioned below.

As an end note, I wish to say that the probability, identifying, more Rashtrakuta coins, the near future is definitely high. And this is precisely the intention of this book which is to create greater awareness among collectors and pave way for attribution of more coins and thus increase our collective knowledge. It is in this earnestness that I request for any information on new coin finds from fellow collectors and readers.