1G2 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [May, 1914. 



199, u the Ankushi rupee, so called on account of the ankush 

 or elephant goad which it bore on the inscription, was issued 

 by the Hastes from their mint at Vai." I do not know of any 

 but the Ahmadabad rupees bearing the ankush. The quota- 

 tion, if it refers to them, is doubly interesting. In any case, 

 it provides another authority for the connection of the ankush 

 mark on coins with the Marathas. Mr. Ranade gives other 

 relevant information on page 19*8 id. " In the Peshwa's own 

 mints Malharshahi rupees appear to have been the standard. 

 They were called Malharshahi after Malharrao Bhicaji Raste 

 as stated above. This Raste family was at first a great banking 

 firm, and Malharrao was the brother of Gopi Kalbhai, wife 

 of Balaji Bajirao (Peshwa), When theKarnatic was conquered 

 from the Nawab of Savanur, the Rastes were appointed Sube- 

 dars and Malharrao opened a mint at Bagalkot about 1753 a.d. 

 1753 a. d., 1169 a.h., is the date of the first Maratha occupation 

 of Ahmadabad. It is quite probable that the Peshwa s 

 general adopted the sign of the chief Maratha mint master for 

 the new coinage, both because he was chief mint master and 

 because he was their ruler's brother-in-law. It is even just 

 possible that the Ahmadabad coins were minted by Malharrao 

 at Vai or Bagalkot, but I do not consider this very likely. 

 That the Rastes had a stake in Gujarat is shown by Grant 

 Duff , History of Marathas, Vol. Ill, page 386. One of the con- 

 ditions of the Treaty of Poona of 1817 was that the Jagir of 

 "Madhu Rao Rastia" forfeited years beforeshould be restored. 

 Whether it was the Rastes or others who were responsible 

 for the introduction of the ankush mark into Gujarat, the sign 

 was continued right up to the date of the British occupation. 

 In 1200 a.h. variations of the ankush are introduced. I can 

 only account for these by supposing that they are private 

 marks of mint masters. If so, changes of head of staff must 

 have been frequent. In 1215 a.h. the Peshwa leased Ahmad- 

 abad to the Gaikwar, and the latter was for the first time in 

 independent occupation recognized by the Peshwa. About 

 this time we see a corresponding change in the mint mark. 

 We have the regular Maratha ankush with the addition of WW 

 Nagri , which obviously stands for *to*WT¥. This mark is with 

 differentiations maintained in conjunction with the ankush 

 almost continuously until the termination of the Gaikwar s 

 lease in 1229 a.h. We should expect the symbol »t to have 

 been added first in the year 1215 a.h., when the lease was 

 made. But Nos. 32 and 33 App. show that the change oc- 

 curred in the year 39 a.r. No. 32 has the plain ankush and 

 No. 33 the ankush with *tt . The corresponding Hijri period i& 

 1211—1212. The discrepancy need not, however, detain us. 

 For the ten or twelve years previous to 1215 the julus year 

 was allowed to fall one or two years behind the proper fig u *^* 

 For instance No. 26 should read 34 or 35—1207 instead of 3«J, 



