South Indian Inscriptions

COINS

Smith was not certain about the matter. He doubtfully referred them to Prithvīdēva II, Jājalladēva II and Ratnadeva III, but did not deny the possibility of their being assigned to earlier homonymous kings.1 No satisfactory reasons have, however, been given for any of these identifications. Mr. Allan has recently pointed out2 that in view of the probability that Prithvidēva I was still a feudatory3 and that the dynasty became completely independent in the reign of Jājalladeva I, it is not improbable that some at least of the coins should be attributed to Prithvidēva II. He thinks that the same is true of the distribution of coins between Jājalladēva I and II and Ratnadēva II and III.

An important clue to the identification of the kings who struck these coins is afforded by the form of the palatal ś in the legends on these coins. On the gold coins of Jājalladēva the left member of this letter is either joined to the vertical on the right, or resembles the English letter S, which shows that this prince must be identified with Jājalladēva I.4 There is another piece of evidence which points in the same direction. Jājalladēva I was a powerful prince. The Ratanpur stone inscription of his reign states that the ruling chiefs of the neighbouring territories, viz., South Kōsala, Andhra, Khimidi, Vairagara, Lañjikā, Bhānara, Talahāri, Dandakapura, Nandāvali and Kukkuta, paid him annual tributes, and that as he was valiant, his alliance was sought by the lords of Chedi, Kānyakubja and Jējābhuktika.5 Jājalladēva I’s alliance with the contemporary Chandēlla king, who is evidently meant here by the lord of Jējābhuktika, is reflected in his coinage. It is well known that Chandēlla coinage begins in the reign of Kirtivarman (circa 1060-1100 A.C.). Only gold coins of this king are known. Copper coins appear for the first time during the reign of Sallakshanavarman, the son and successor of Kirtivarman, who was a contemporary of Jājalladēva. Sallakshanavarman’s copper coins are extremely rare. Cunningham had only one in his cabinet, which is figured as No. 16 in Plate VIII of his coins of Mediœval India. It has the king’s name in three lines on the obverse and the figure of Hanuman facing right on the reverse. The Hanuman type was apparently evolved in the Chandella kingdom6 where we find the earliest reference to the worship of the monkey-god in a stone inscription, dated in the Harsha year 316 (922 A.C.)7 This type seems to have been copied with a slight variation8 by Jajalladeva I after he formed an alliance with the Chandella king Sallakshanavarman.

The type ‘Lion attacking an elephant’ seen on the gold coins of this dynasty seems also to have been introduced for the first time by Jajalladeva I. It probably symbolises his victory over the contemporary Ganga king. The Ratanpur inscription of his reign mentions his conquest of Khimidi which lay in the kingdom of the Gangas. The latter were known as Gajapatis or Gajadhisas, ‘lords of elephants’. Jajalladeva’s victory over the Ganga king was, therefore, fittingly represented by a lion attacking an elephant which lies prostrate below.

Some coins of debased gold with the legend Srimaj-Jajalladeva may have been struck by Jajalladeva II, whose reign does not appear to have been very prosperous.
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¹I.M.C., pp. 254-55, P1. XXVI.
²Numismatic Chronicle for 1937, pp. 298 ff.
³In his Amoda plates dated K. 831, (No. 76, 1.25), Prithvideva I describes himself as Mahamandalesvara, which indicates his feudatory rank.
⁴This form of s is no longer seen in grants of Jajalladeva II. See the facsimile of No. 99.
⁵No. 77, 11. 22-23.
⁶The Hanuman type was evidently suggested by the Adivaraha type used by Bhoja I of the Gurjara- Pratihara dynasty.
⁷This date was read by Cunningham as Samvat 940, and by Kielhorn as Samvat 215. D. R. Bhanadarkar read it as Samvat 316, which he referred to the Harsha era. See P.R.A.S., W.C., for 1903-4, p. 47.
⁸On the coins of Jajalladeva, the god appears two-armed as on the Chandella coins, but is shown to be trampling on a demon. On those of his successors he appears four-armed.