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



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

 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 sank'h 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 ^fo&iA 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 10 1 touch. The 

 term may still be recognized in the Telugu word tankam £oo£fo&3 and 

 the Dak'hani !£> ia ka 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£o 

 taJca 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 ^. 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 ^ i°f\i _\i 0 i (j^ 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. 



