jan. — mar. 1858.] Numismatic Gleanings. 231 



They are known generally by the name of mddas and tankas* a3 

 padma tanka, kamala mdda. All the examples we have met with 

 are of gold. They are generally, but not always irregularly cup- 

 shaped, the obverse being concave, the reverse convex, The ob- 

 verse generally exhibits five impressions in relief, a central or nor- 

 mal one surrounded by four others subsequently applied. The 

 symbols are for the most part of a Buddhist character. 



Figs. 28 and 29 are examples of a kind not unfrequently met 

 with to which the name of padma tankas more particularly belongs. 



Obverse ; normal symbol a lotus or padma, the sanKh or sa- 

 cred shell on one side, on the other a weapon with a legend in 

 Nagari characters, a large portion of which has been lost in the 



* This term seems to be taken from the Tamil word ^^j,sld> a verbal 

 noun signifying that which is heavy, hence applied to gold as the heaviest 

 metal and more especially to the finest gold or that of \0l touch. The 

 term may still be recognized in the Telugu word taricam eoo^^xs and 

 the Dak'hani talca which to this day are used to signify a sum of six- 

 teen paisas or dabbs (equivalent to annas 5, pice 3,) and in the* native 

 name for a mint tankasala. In Shakespear's dictionary the meaning of l£j 

 taka is given as " a copper coin equal to two paisa." But no such 

 coin is known in the Dak'han or the Northern Circars now, the term being 

 applied to a mere nominal expression of value, remarkable for its refer- 

 ence to the 16 or anna sub- division of a normal standard. Wilson derives 

 the word tankasala from tanka " an instrument, a weight equal to 4 

 mash as" as if it were a pure Sanscrit word in which the hard Nagari 

 t takes the place of the soft Tamil p % It is probable therefore that the 

 Tamil term comes originally from the Sanscrit and this is the more likely, 

 because the old Tamil name for a mint is su^ulLl^l^ kambattam a 

 word which by the way, Dr. Caldwell also derives from the Sanscrit. 

 Comp. Gram. p. 57. 



The word mdda is the Telugu term for a half pagoda. It occurs fre- 

 quently in that sense in old inscriptions as does the old term for a pagoda 

 gadyanam. In the Lilavati the weight of a gadyanam is stated to be 48 

 gunjas. A gunja, the red abrus seed, averages about 2 grains. A mdda 

 therefore should weigh 48 grains. Most of our specimens exceed that 

 standard, though some not greatly. 



