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 Replies: 139 / Views: 52,001 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Forgot to add this one when I got it. This is one of the first-ever bull and horseman coins, a drachm-weight (my specimen is 3.8 grams but has a chipped edge) Spalapati Deva that retains the obverse Bactrian legend, I believe "Sri Shahi"  |
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Pillar of the Community
 India
1995 Posts |
Dear Finn235Thank you for the post. You have a beautiful coin there. I don't have a Spalapathi specimen yet and am hunting for one. The legend above the bull is almost complete and is well preserved. I have added an overlay to it. Regarding the Bactrian legend it is beyond my catch.  
Edited by drnsreedhar
09/05/2018 07:37 am
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Pillar of the Community
 Spain
2752 Posts |
Thanks drnsreedhar,
The overlay really helps...
So this coin isn't attributed to Itutmish but to Chahata Deva 1172-92 AD.
Obverse legend: Asavari Sri Samasonala Devi. Reverse: Sri Cha-HaDa Deva. deyell Tye#51.?
btw Nice coin Finn
Edited by Palouche
09/05/2018 2:14 pm
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Pillar of the Community
India
1995 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
541 Posts |
My wife inherited a small collection of these. Who would be a good dealer to contact? Thanks, Fred |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Fun inheritance!
Pictures will help, but unfortunately I must say that these are not valuable coins. There are some rare variants that fetch high prices, but the vast majority are worth less than $25, even in very high grades. I routinely buy mid grade, later types for $2-5 each.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
While I'm here, might as well share this one. I picked this ugly coin up because it was going dirt cheap. It is attributed as Tye 8, a copper "jital" that was actually a lower denomination concurrent to the Spalapati Deva coins, preceding the more common elephant and lion coppers. The legend supposedly says "Sri SpaLaPaTi DeVa" but I'm not seeing it.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1554 Posts |
Quote:
Forgot to add this one when I got it. This is one of the first-ever bull and horseman coins, a drachm-weight (my specimen is 3.8 grams but has a chipped edge) Spalapati Deva that retains the obverse Bactrian legend, I believe "Sri Shahi" Your coin is one of the best examples of the Bactrian legend that I've seen. Apparently, the Bactrian legend is essentially the equivalent of of the Sanskrit legend on the other side. According to Abdur Rahman (p. 187, see below) spalapati is a vernacular version of the Sanskrit word samarapati meaning 'war-lord'. The Persian equivalent of the same title is spahbad, rendered in contemporary Arabic as ispahbadh. Rahman further suggests that 'ispahbad' is equivalent to tigin in Turkic sources. The Bactrian legend has been read variously as sri spalabaa, sri spalapati, sri spalabad etc. The Arab histories report that the ruler of Kabul who was defeated by the 'Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun in 814 and then accepted Islam was called 'Ispahbadh Kabul Shah', which Rahman equates with 'Spalapati Kabul Shah' and assigns to the Turk Shahis. While the Samanta coins are universally assigned to the succeeding Hindu Shahi dynasty, most (but not all) scholars give the Spalapati coins to the Turk Shahis. Abdur Rahman's The Last Two Dynasties of the Sahis (1976) can be downloaded here: https://openresearch-repository.anu...n_A_1976.pdf. It was originally a PhD thesis but has also been published as a book. It is probably good to note that much work has been done in the decades since. Still, a valuable resource and often cited by other writers. Edited by Kushanshah
09/07/2018 01:54 am
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Pillar of the Community
India
1995 Posts |
@Finn235I think I see something that is like parts of "spalapati" on the coin attributed as Tye 8.  I am unable to locate "Sa" of "spa". I am seeing "la" and "pa". "ti" is ambiguous. But still I think this can be read as "spalapati". Thanks for sharing.
Edited by drnsreedhar
09/07/2018 03:03 am
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Pillar of the Community
India
1995 Posts |
Hello Kushanshah
Thanks a lot for your scholarly post. That really means that the titles "spalapathi" and "shah" have lots of meaning!! Though not a historian, I feel like learning history of this area to understand how the diverse culture of north-west India evolved.Thanks for the lead.
It is greatly gratifying to see that this thread is becoming a sparkling one with lots of information shared!
Edited by drnsreedhar
09/07/2018 03:32 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
541 Posts |
Thanks Finn, I will get her to dig them up and send you a few scans. Fred
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Excellent thread, I don't know how I missed seeing it. I'm going to move this over to the Ancient/Medieval coin section where it really belongs.
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Pillar of the Community
Spain
2752 Posts |
I am pretty sure this is a Samanta Deva....But dont know what the signifigance is of the 2 dots at the end of the reverse legend? But seems like a nice coin.. Paul  |
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Pillar of the Community
Spain
2752 Posts |
Ok for those interested, the colon symbol of two dots at the end of the legend signifies 'AH' visarga which basically means to add a voiceless breath after the vowel.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
541 Posts |
Sorry Finn, My wife found the coins and they are mostly Soter Megas coins.
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Posted 09/05/2018 07:36 am
