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 Replies: 15 / Views: 3,446 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
The Chola of the high middle ages was a powerful sea fairing trade civilization of southern India. The Golden age of the Cholan civilization coincided with the reign of the sucessor of Uttama Chola his name was RajaRaja Chola I.At the height of Cholan power the neighboring kingdoms of the Pandya and Chera were under their control and all of south India was under one government for the first time in a 1000 years. The civilization is remembered for the outrageous ornate temples found all over India. They are known to have staffed hospitals, had a form of organized education and had a high level of literacy. Uttama Chola was known for his compassion, piety, and religious tolerance. The Chola were renowned for ocean fairing navigation, safe harbors on the east and west of India and competitive rates for commodities. The Cholan Empire subjugated and colonized the Singalese Kingdom of Sri Lanka who with the Chola would issue the famous and common "Octopus" coins of the 13th century. This coin dates to the King preceeded RajaRaja Cholas invasion of Sri Lanka, but it is thought that the coins were continued into RajaRaja's reign, he also called himself Uttama Chola. These coins are from South India's ThamilNadu region, minted in the city of Thanjavur. These coins are found scattered through out the Cholan trade route. The Chola would eventually control huge swaths of the Pacific Eastern Archipelago. These coins are most often found in Sri Lanka. Map...thanks to google..  India, ThamiNadu Thanjavur AR Kasu (Kahavanu) 20 mm x 4.26 grams Uttama Chola (970-985 AD) Obverse: Tiger (Chola symbol) seated right faces towards two upright fishes (Pandyan symbol): bow (Chera symbol) behind: all under an umbrella above. Reverse: Uttama / Chola - in Devanagari script ref: Mitchiner #713-725 ; Biddulph #26 Note: Rare. High Grade Example.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
I find these fascinating when you write about them Noob, but on my own I am just lost. I like my coins to have something about them that I actually recognise, which is why I don't currently own a Picasso or Jackson Pollock. To me your tiger just looks like a squirrel. I don't think I will ever be able to branch out into this type of coin :(
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
That coin is phat! Really interesting piece. I'm surprise that we don't see a lot of these considering the large are and influence of the empire.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
Pretty interesting coin, Noob!
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5155 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
I'll admit, the title with all those funny names got my attention  Like pish these aren't really collecting material for me but they are interesting nonetheless  , this one especially for me since it looks like two people feeding a giant squirel on the reverse I mean, what's not to like about that!? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4966 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
Why all the negative comments on those coins? Wonder how the people of Southern India and Ceylon would have looked at Roman coins, some of which made it via trade to those regions. Might have to dig up my selection of what the op calls 'octopus coins' and bombard this forum with them. |
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Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
Sorting through a box of unsorted coins I came across a small envelop containing:   The obverse looks familiar, doesn't it? But it's just ~0.5g/~7mm and the reverse reads "Yuddha Malla" which was a title shared by the son and grandson of Uttama Chola - which forced me to revive this topic. So it is: AU 1/8 Kahavanu from the period of Rajaraja I Chola (985-1014) and Rajendra I Chola (1014-1044). Note: As you can see, everyone can afford a gold coin from the period of the crusades. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4966 Posts |
oh very cool med...that thing was just laying in a box? very nice.
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Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
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just laying in a box? Would be nice to find something like that in a random box.  But no, my numismatic activities had to be in abeyance for some time (since before the last move) and finally started to tidy up some weeks ago. Plenty identified/attributed coins to go into 2x2s and/or albums in several boxes (the above being one of them), but there are also (quite a few) handfuls of unidentified or partially attributed in the mix (wonder if there is anyone who wants to spend a year in Australia). |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1391 Posts |
Missed this one the first time around. I like the India series you are doing noob. I've got two of the bronze "Octopus" coins.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
Holy smokes medienval. That's a great piece. I wonder is this worth 1/8 of my coin or 1/8th of my coin in gold?
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Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
The name Kahavanu is based on the then current weight standard, just like other currencies (Libra, Mark, etc).
Not sure what the ratio between gold and silver was at that time in the region but going by ratios used in other parts of the world I guess that the value of my tiny one would at the time have been ~1.5-2.5 times yours.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Medieval, you keep pulling out all these interesting coins that I've never seen before. You must have an extensive collection.
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Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
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an extensive collection Some would call it rather an accumulation than collection. Have been quite catholic in my collecting habits. Started out with world coins, at one stage my target was to collect as many (if not all) of the base metal issues after 1800 listed in Krause. But extended that both downwards (in time) and partly upwards (added some interesting silver pieces like Queen Victoria Hong Kong Dollar and Hawaiian silver coins). Jumped into ancients (Roman and Greek), breached out from there and got more and more interested in other fields. Rather than reading up and then finding matching coins, mostly I picked up interesting coins (*) I could afford and read up on the history after. (*) Which is responsible for me having quite some unattributed coins on hand, in catch-up mode now. |
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Replies: 15 / Views: 3,446 |
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Posted 10/20/2014 5:26 pm
