Component-I (A) – Personal details:

Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy

Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati.

Prof. V. Sakunthalamma
Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. &
Prof. Susmita Basu Majumdar
Dept. of AIHC, University of Calcutta.

Dr. Amiteshwar Jha

Director (Research), IIRNS, Anjaneri, Nasik.

Prof. Susmita Basu Majumdar

University of Calcutta.

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Component-I (B) – Description of module :

Subject Name Indian Culture

Paper Name Indian Numismatics

Module Name/Title Western Kshatrapa Coinage: An Introduction

Module Id IC / NMST / 12

Pre-requisites Knowledge in Ancient Indian Economic History and

Monetary system

Objectives The foremost objective is to familiarise the students

with a series of coins that was struck in Western India
continuously for a period of about 400 years from c.
1st century CE – beginning of 5th century CE by the
Western Kshatrapas

Keywords Western Kshatrapas / Nahapana / Coins /

Numismatics

E-text (Quadrant-I) :

1. Introduction

The “Western Kṣhatrapas” (or “Western Satraps” as the western numismatists refer to them)
collectively refers to the rulers from a number of families who ruled in Gujarat, Saurashtra
and Malwa between 1st and 5th century CE. Early writers writing in 19th CE described them
as memembers of a Sah or Sena dynasty, obviously due to their failure to correctly read the
ending simha with which names of many of the kings ended. The appelation “Western” is
used because they ruled in the western region and to distinguish them from the Kshatrapa
rulers of north-western India and Mathura, and they are called Kshatrapas because they
invariably use the titles ‘kshatrapa’ and ‘mahakshatrapa’ on their coins and in inscriptions.

The Western Kṣhatrapas were of Saka origin. In the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea their
state is called "Ariaca" which is probably derived from the reference to the “Arian” (that is,
Scythian) origins of the Indo-Sakas. These “Arians” were the successors to the Indo-
Scythians, though their exact relationship to the earlier Indo-Scythians and Indo-Greek rulers
is not known.

The Western Kṣhatrapas were contemporaneous with the Kushans who ruled a vast empire
covering northern part of the Indian subcontinent and huge tracts of land in Central Asia. In
the Deccan region, the Satavahanas were also contemporaries of the early Kṣatrapas. The
Western Kshatrapas were finally conquered and by the powerful Guptas towards the end of
4th and beginning of the 5th century CE.

The term Kshatrapa is probably of Persian origin – it was a title akin to “governor”, meaning
“protector of the land”. In India the title slowly changed its meaning. Initially it may have
implied vassalage to a higher power, but later the words kshatrapa along with
mahakshatrapa were used by the Western Kṣatrapas as royal titles along with some others

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like “Raja” and “Svami”. Interestingly, the adoption of the newly created title
“Mahakshatrapa” (literally meaning “Great Kshatrapa”), came to reflect the higher rank of the
ruler, and the title “Kshatrapa” became the title roughly equivalent to the ancient Roman
“Caesar” or more modern “Heir Apparent” or “Crown Prince”. The “Kshatrapa” was probably
expected to receive the more senior title of a “Mahakshatrapa” after the death of the current
Mahakshatrapa. This arrangement might have been inspired by the Roman practice of
having an “Augustus” (“Senior Emperor”) and “Caesar” (“Junior Emperor” or “heir apparent”).

2. Kshaharata family of Western Kshatrpas

There were two main families / dynasties of the Western Kshatrapa rulers – the
Kshaharatas and the Kardamakas. The first of these was the Kshaharatas. Only three rulers
namely Abhiraka, Bhumaka, and Nahapana of this family were known till recently and
another ruler whose name has been read as Horumunata on some recently published coins
can now be added to this list. The exact relationship between these rulers is not known
except for the fact that they all use the same family name Kshaharata.

2.1 Coins of Abhiraka and Bhumaka

The first two rulers, Abhiraka and Bhumaka issued coins only in base metal like copper,
lead, and copper-lead alloy. Coins of Abhiraka are clearly inspired by the Indo-Scythian and
Indo-Parthian coinage. It has winged Nike with Greek inscription Saharaou Satrapou
Aubirakou one one side and Lion and Wheel / Ploughshare and Wheel pillar standard and
Brahmi inscription Kshaharatasa Kshatrapasa Abhirakasa jayatasa on the other. By his coin
type he appears to have been related to the Indo-Parthian coins of the Gondopharid rulers of
the early 1st century CE. What was the relationship between Abhiraka and the next
Kshaharata ruler Bhumaka, we do not know. But what is certain is that Abhiraka was
immediately followed by Bhumaka which is proved by the coins of Abhiraka that have been
counterstruck by Bhumaka.

Coins of Bhumaka are found in much larger numbers as compared to Abhiraka and are
known in copper as well as lead and copper-lead alloys. The most common type issued by
him has the motifs of thunderbolt and arrow and Kharoshthi inscription Kshaharatasa
Kshatrapasa Bhumakasa jayatasa and the lion-wheel / ploughshare-wheel standard and
Brahmi inscription Kshaharatasa Kshatrapasa Bhumakasa jayatasa on the reverse. Many of
Bhumaka’s coins are poorly struck and bear only fragmentary inscriptions.

2.2 Coins of Nahapana

The next Kshaharata ruler was Nahapana who is not only known to us from his numerous
coins but also from several inscriptions recording endowments and benefactions of his son
in law Usavadata (or Risabhadata) at Nashik and his minister Ayama at Junnar. The
Nambanus mentioned in Periuplus and king Naravahana or Navavahana or Nirvahana etc
mentioned in the Jaina literature are also identified with Nahapana.

It was Nahapana who greatly expanded the Kshaharata kingdom and he seems to have
controlled Southern Gujarat, western Malwa and Northern Konkan, from Broach to Sopara
and the Nasik and Poona districts. He bears the titles of Raja Kshatrapa and Raja
Mahakshatrapa. Although his date has been a subject of great debate, it is now generally

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accepted that he ruled in the second half of 1st century CE, and the years 41 to 46
mentioned in the inscriptions are most probably his regnal years.

Silver Coins

It was Nahapana who started a silver currency in western India bearing the bust of the king
on the obverse and weighing about 2.1-2.2 gm, a coin type which was continued not only by
the rulers of the next family of Western Kshatrapa rulers but by many other dynasties in the
region for the next 400-500 years.

Probably the silver coins of the Indo-Greek ruler Apollodotus II were the most likely prototype
or source of influence for Nahapana’s silver coins. These coins have been found in Gujarat
and north Maharashtra and many a times along with the coins of Nahapana. The silver coins
of Nahapana have the bust of the king wearing a flat cap to right, and Greek inscription
Rannio Saharatas Nahapanas, which is actually a transliteration of the reverse Prakrit
inscription, on the obverse. On the reverse are seen thunderbolt, arrow, a pellet between the
two and inscriptions in Brahmi and Kharoshthi which read Rajño Kshaharatasa Nahapanasa
and Raño Chhaharatasa / Kshaharatasa Nahapanasa respectively. The Greek inscription on
the obverse is many a times found slightly corrupt and the Kharoshthi inscription on the
reverse is found at times variously shortened.

Nahapana’s Silver Coins Counterstruck by Gotamiputra Satakarni

Nahapana was involved in a long struggle for supremacy with the Satavahanas. A large
number of his coins have been found overstruck by the Satavahana ruler Gotamiputra
Satakarni. As many as 9270 coins out of a total of 13250 coins of Nahapana found in the
Jogelthami hard near Nashik in 1907 were counterstruck.

The counterstriking devices used for these coins have a 3 or 6 or 10-arched hill symbol with
the Brahmi inscription Raño Gotamiputasa Siri Satakanisa for one side and Ujjain symbol for
the other. These counterstriking devices were used without any consideration of the obverse
or reverse which means that either of the devices could be used for overstriking any side but
on no coin the same device is found struck on the obverse and reverse both. On some
counterstruck coins inscriptions give the name of Siva Satakarni. Siva Satakarni was
perhaps the immediate predecessor of Gotamiputra Satakarni and this would suggest that
Nahapana’s struggle with the Satavahanas had in fact started before Gotamiputra Satakarni.

Base Metal Coins of Nahapana

Apart from the silver coins, Nahapana issued many types of coins in baser metals like
copper, bronze, arsenical bronze/ potin and lead. Many of these were in fact influenced by
Satavahana coin types and were issued in those regions which earlier belonged to the
Satavahanas and issued in typological continuation of the Satavahana coin types. In fact, in
the Nevasa-Paithan and adjoining regions of Maharashtra many Satavahana coin types
have been found overstruck by Nahapana and then Nahapana issued his own coins in the
same typology with his own motifs and inscriptions in those regions.

Here we shall learn about some of these coins. One of the types issued in lead and perhaps
copper also has the bust to right on the obverse and arrow and thunderbolt on the reverse.

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These are rectangular coins and have the same Brahmi inscription Rajño Kshaharatasa
Nahapanasa on both the sides.

Another type issued in round and rectangular shapes and probably in arsenical bronze has
Elephant standing right with laterally placed thunderbolt and arrow above its back and
Brahmi inscription Raño Kshatrapasa Nahapanasa on the obverse and tree with bicellular
leaves in railing on the reverse. These were probably copied from Satavahana coin types at
Nasik. On some coins the arrow is seen placed upright in front of the elephant.

At Junnar, Nahapana issued arsenical bronze and lead coins that are in continuation of a
Satavahana coin type issued there. This type has on the obverse a maned lion with upraised
tail standing left, facing a ploughshare standard with a triangle-headed standard below it;
three-arched hill between the legs of the lion and a river below; Brahmi inscription Raño
mahakhatapasa Nahapanasa above. On the reverse it has thunderbolt, spear and strung
bow and arrow.

In the Nevasa-Paithan and adjoining regions, Nahapana overstruck Satavahana coins of the
Elephant standing right / tree in railing type, six-arched hill / tree in railing type, and Ujjain
symbol / tree in railing type. And then in continuation of the typology, he issued coins of
similar shapes and weight using his own motifs of thunderbolt and arrow on one side and
tree in railing, like on the Satavahana coins, on the other. These overstruck coins and
Nahapana’s own coins in copper, bronze etc indicate that his struggle with the Satavahanas
was a long drawn out one.

Earlier it was thought that Nahapana was the last ruler of the Kshaharata family of the
Western Kshatrapas. But recently some silver coins have been published on which the name
of another Kshaharata ruler Horumunata has been read. These coins have bust similar to
those seen on the coins of Nahapana and Chastana, the first ruler of the next Western
Kshatrapa family, along with Greek inscription. The reverse motifs are bold sun and crescent
and inscriptions in Brahmi and Kharoshthi reading Rajño Kshaharatasa Horumunatasa.
Interstingly, while the inscription links the issuer of these coins to the Kshaharata family, the
motifs used on the reverse link him with Chastana who also issued coins with the same
motif.

3. Kardamaka Family of Western Kshatrapas / Line of Chastana

The next family of Western Kshatrapa rulers was the Kardamakas (also known as
Bhadramukhas). It appeared on the political scene perhaps towards the end of Nahapana’s
reign. It became one of the most prominent and long lasting families of Saka rulers who
controlled vast areas of Western India for nearly 300 years. Names of more than thirty rulers
of this family are known from the coins issued by them. These rulers do not use the family
name Kardamaka on their coins and it is actually known from a Satavahana inscription from
Kanheri. This is why sometimes these rulers are sometimes described as the Line of
Chastana, after the first ruler of this family.

Chastana, son of Ghsamotika or Ysamotika, the first ruler of this family was initially perhaps
a small ruler ruling over a small area in the Kutch region as suggested by his Andhau
inscription of year 11 (89 CE) where he is mentioned with the lower title of Kshatrapa. It is
not unlikely that he initially held a subordinate status to the more powerful Kshatrapa ruler

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Nahapana. Once the Kshaharatas were exterminated by the satavahanas towards the end
of first century CE, Chastana grew more powerful and extended his territories which included
parts of Nahapana’s territories like Gujarat, Kathiawar and parts of western Malwa. The
successors of Chastana ruled almost continuously for a period of more than three hundred
years until the beginning of 5th century CE and their rule came to an end when they were
replaced by the Guptas first in Malwa and then in Western India.

Silver Coinage

Chastana and his successors issued a long series of silver coins that are remarkable
especially for two reasons. Firstly, these bear the name and title of the issuing ruler and his
father, and based on these coin inscriptions the entire genealogy of these rulers has been
reconstructed. Secondly, these coins are unique in the annals of Indian coinage for the
reason that they are almost continuously dated. From the time of Rudrasimha I, the
youngest son of Rudradaman I and great grand-son of Chastana, date in Brahmi numerals
began to be inscribed behind the ruler’s head on the coins and this practice was followed by
all the successive rulers. Although the era in which these dates are written is not mentioned,
it is generally agreed that these dates are in the Saka era. Actually, the regnal recknoning of
Chastana was followed by his successors and this later came to be called ‘Saka Era’
because these rulers were of Saka origin. After the Western Kshatrapas, the Guptas also
inscribed dates on some of their silver coins in Western India, but this practice of putting
minting years on coins either in words or numerals became common and a regular feature of
coinage only in the medieval times with the inception of ‘Islamic’ type coins.

Chastana’s silver coins were clearly inspired by those of Nahapana. Not only are they similar
in shape, size and weight, they too have the bust facing right with a Greek inscription around
on the obverse. Only on the reverse Chastana adopted new symbols – first sun and crescent
and then three-arched hill with a crescent above and river below and flanked on the top by
crescent and sun. This latter design was followed by all the subsequent Western Kshatrapa
rulers. On the reverse of Chastana’s silver coins, like on Nahapana’s coins, inscriptions are
written in Brahmi and Kharoshthi scripts. Chastana issued coins both as Kshatrapa and
Mahakshatrapa. On the Kshatrapa issues, the Brahmi inscription reads as:

Rajño kshatrapasa Chastanasa or Rajño kshatrapasa Ghsamotikaputrasa Chastanasa and

Kharoshthi inscription as Raño kshatrapasa Chathanasa or variously shortened. On the
mahakshatrapa issues these read as:

Brahmi - Rajño mahakshatrapasa Ghsamotikaputrasa Chastanasa

Kharoshthi - Raño Chathanasa.

From the time of Rudradaman I, grandson of Chastana and

probably his successor, the Greek inscription on the obverse
became corrupt and meaningless and came to be repeated
around the bust as an ornamental border. The Kharoshthi
inscription disappeared from the reverse and from now on
only a longer Brahmi inscription giving names and titles both
of the issuing king as well as his father appeared along the
margin with symbols in the centre on the reverse (see the

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drawing, cited from Fishman, 2013). As mentioned earlier, dates in Brahmi numerals began
to be added behind the bust on the obverse from the time of Rudrasimha I, the youngest son
of Rudradaman I. In writing the dates, the sign for zero was not as yet used, and signs for
decimal figures (10, 20,…90) and / or unit sign (1,2…9) followed the hundred sign. So, for
example, 124 would have hundred sign followed by sign for twenty followed by sign for four,
104 will have hundred sign followed by sign for four, and 100 will have just the hundred sign.

With a few minor changes in the execution / placement of symbols, and letter forms the
same typology continued for the silver coins of the Western Kshatrapas till their end towards
the beginning of 5th century CE. In the Brahmi inscription an additional word Svami, both for
the issuer and his father, was included from the time of Rudrasena III (about 348-378 CE).

4. Area of Circulation & Silver Purity

The Western Kshatrapa silver coins were produced in quite large numbers. These seem to
have been very popular in trade which explains the findings of these coin hoards even
beyond the boundaries of their dominions which was spread over the Gujarat, Kathiawar,
northern Maharashtra, and Western Malwa. The reasons for their popularity was perhaps the
fairly standardized weight and fineness of the metal of these coins that was maintained over
a long period of time. Starting with an average purity of 94 % silver in the time of Nahapana
in the first century AD, there was a very gradual decline in the fineness and even after about
three hundred years the average silver purity of these coins remained above 80 %. This
standardization must have built a reputation for these coins. The fact that in this period these
were the only silver coins issued in large numbers and regularly over a long period of time in
India could also have played a role in the popularity of these coins.

5. Base Metal Coins

Coins issued in base or cheaper metals like copper, lead, arsenical copper (or potin) etc. by
the Western Kshatrapa rulers of Kardamaka family do not show the long continuity that is
shown by their silver coins. Chastana, the first ruler, essentially issued only one type in
copper and lead which have sun and crescent symbol on one side and three-arched or six-
arched hill symbol on the other. The inscription on these written in Brahmi, Kharoshthi and
sometimes in Greek also are generally very fragmentary.

Chastana’s junior co-rulers Damazada, Jayadaman and Rudradaman I issued several types
in copper and lead. They have either a horse, bull or elephant etc along with an inscription in
corrupt Greek or Kharoshthi on one side while the other side has usually three or six-arched
with a crescent above and river below and sun and crescent flanking them as the main
devices along with a Brahmi inscription.

During the reign of Rudrasimha I, a coin type in arsenical copper was issued in which there
was a bull standing on a platform to right and a meaning less Greek inscription and date in
Brahmi numerals on the obverse. The reverse had the same symbols as seen on the silver
coins along with a circular Brahmi inscription. This type was however continued only during
the reign of the next ruler. But another type in alloyed copper or arsenical copper, also
started by Rudrasimha I, had a slightly longer life. This type has an elephant standing right
with crescent and sun above on the obverse and 3-1rched hill with ancillary symbols and
date in Brahmi numerals below on the reverse. These coins can be attributed to different

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rulers on the basis of the dates. This type continued at least till the time of Damasena (222-
238 CE) or may be a little after his reign also. Coins of this type but without any dates might
have been issued after Damasena. After this for a long time, no base metal coins were
issued by the Western Kshatrapa rulers. Next, it was only during the reign of perhaps
Rudrasimha II (304-316 CE) or Svami Rudrasena III (348-378 CE), that a rectangular lead
coin type was started of the bull to right / hill plus date type which continued till the end of the
Kshatrapa rule. Even the Guptas who succeeded the Western Kshatrpas in Western India
initially issued coins of this type and then replaced bull with garuda on their lead coins.

6. Scripts and Languages used on Western Kshatrapa Coins

As we have seen above, the scripts that were used on these coins included Greek, which
soon became corrupt and meaningless, Kharoshthi, which was discontinued after a certain
period and Brahmi, which remained the most important of all the scripts. The dates were
written in Brahmi numerals.

The language used for writing the Brahmi coin inscriptions is usually a hybrid Prakrit (with
admixture of Sanskrit). For example, instead of Prakrit Raño or Sanskrit Rajñah the word
generally used on the coins is Rajño. There are some rare coins, however, where
inscriptions were written in Sanskrit.

7. Summary

In summing up our introduction to the Western Kshatrapa coinage we can say that Western
Kshatrapa Coinage is a quite remarkable one for the following reasons:

∙ It continued for a very long time with fairly standard fineness.

∙ It was probably the only silver coinage that was issued in the country between c. 1 st –
5th centuries CE; the silver currency in the north had stopped being issued by the 1st
century CE.
∙ It is the only series of coin in ancient India that was regularly dated. The practice of
writing dates on coins, otherwise became common only in medieval times.
∙ This is a very remarkable series of coins for showing the usefulness of coins for
reconstruction of the political history.