Ancient Kashmir Coinage

Another interesting coin and write-up Paul. It's good to see that you are managing to find these rarities for your collection. Very attractive colouration, and as Bob said, good provenance too.

Recent addition to the set....
Misattributed as a common Didda Rani type but straight away I knew this was Sussala. Picked it up for 4 bucks and worth well over 10X more!...I cleaned it slightly just to make the legend a bit clearer.
See before v after below and legend breakdown..
Ob...Ardochsho (Lakshmi) seated cross-legged facing in lalitasana (with right leg folded under and left leg hanging down), holding diadem in right hand and long-stemmed lotus in left hand, legend in Sharada script, at left: "Sri", at right: Su(ssala)
Rev..Highly stylized King standing facing, sacrificing at altar to the left, legend bottom right in Sharada script: de(va).
Date 1112-1120 CE


Ok...This is my 6th Sussala coin which got me looking into the four main reference books for these types, just to check out something I had inadvertently noticed....Regarding my previous post I'm now seeing 4 types of Sussala...

It is generally recognised that there were two types of coin for Sussala..."Sri Sussa / deva" & "Su ssala / deva....Basically with or without "Sri"....The op coin being 'with'...In my previous post I identified a third type but now I'm pretty sure there are at least 4..

1...Coins of medieval India 1894.....Sir A.Cunningham Cunningham's one example Plate V#26 (Obverse without "Sri"), but does mention there is a variety "with Sri" although no example is shown.....Reverse states "deva" but no mention of location.


2...Asiatic Society of Bengal 1879 (The copper coins of Kashmir)..C.J.Rodgers...
Rodgers one example...Plate XII#16 (Obverse without "Sri").
Reverse states "deva" to the right.


3...Non-Islamic States 1979..Michael Mitchiner.
Mitchiner's one example (Obverse with "Sri").
Reverse states "deva to the right.


4...Mediaeval Coinage of Kashmir....Kenneth W. West.
West has two examples, both rubbings from the British Museum.
1st..(Obverse without "Sri")...Reverse shows "deva" right.
2nd.(Obverse with "Sri")........Reverse shows "de" left "va" right.This also shows the trident being held in the kings right hand...


Ok so there seems to be at least 4 varieties...

Type 1...Obverse...Sri - Sussala
Reverse...Trident held in left hand, "Deva" bottom right.

Type 2...Obverse...Sri - Sussala
Reverse...Trident held in right hand, "De" to the left "Va"?

Type 3...Obverse...Su - ssala
Reverse...Trident in left hand, "Deva" bottm right.

Type 4....Obverse...Su - ssala
Reverse...Trident still in left hand "De"? to the right "Va".

Thanks Bob....Frustratingly I still have just under 6 years before retirement and would really like to have more time to sit down and focus 100%...I did take your previous advice and have now set up a spread sheet. It covers all the known rulers and also the unidentified, so any coins that come up have their photo, weight, diameter and any other anomalies recorded and saved into the rulers file...This will help tremendously when I can start to set up my dream reference book on this type. Fingers crossed!
There are areas that I do need to study more, such as differences in character portrayals and also the basic history of the region which might highlight areas of doubt.
Thanks again..Paul

Thank you Jim, your comments are really appreciated and I'm so glad you've found the thread informative and hopefully it will also help other future collectors of this series.

.
Jim just send them to me and I'll attribute them in hand no problem...Honest

So there I was, minding my own business, trying to attribute a coin from a 4 piece lot titled Ancient India, and the one hint was Kashmir Stater. Somehow I ended up on this thread, oh I guess 3 or 4 hours ago.

Paul, you have done a wonderful job, outstanding in fact, putting together a very tidy set of ancient Kashmir coins with a wealth of history of the Kashmiri rulers.

Pretty sure I am right now in attributing mine to Harsha 1089 - 1101.

I think I will stay away from attempting a set such as yours. The other 3 in the lot I picked up are a Chola Empire Raja Raja massa, a Muhammad Shah 2 Gani and one not yet identified.
I already have a 1/2 karshapana of Indramita,of the Panchala of Ahichatra.
So I think mine will be an eclectic collection from over the sub-continent.
Again, thanks for your huge contribution, it is a credit to your perserverence.
Grant

Thanks Paul, yes the deva was a bonus!

I got this coin recently and found this thread while researching. How can I tell if it is real and not just a replica that my parents picked up in their travels?
Interesting piece nonetheless for me. Thanks!