IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 
39 
tery. These coins, for the most part, bear on the obverse a 
^ horse, a lion, an elephant or some other 
animal, the reverse being occupied by 
what is usually known as the " four-balled chakra," a form 
of the Buddhist wheel. 
Travelling down southward now along the eastern coast, 
we find, chiefly on or near the sea-shore, a type of coin, 
rare in silver but fairly common in copper, all with the 
metal beaten very thin and exceedingly brittle, bearing on 
the obverse almost invariably a bull, and on the reverse a 
rayed " chakra " or wheel, and occasionally a device not 
unlike a symbolical altar. These occur in considerable 
numbers near the Seven Pagodas (Mahavalipuram), and are 
usually attributed to the Curumbars, a race of some power, 
which lasted till about the eighth century of our era, when 
they fell before the Cholas who annexed their country. 
The Eev. W. Taylor, in his account of 
Nos. 4, 5, 6. 1 T • Tn-cio i> 1 • 
the Mackenzie MoS., observes of this 
people, that " they had a certain kind of religion ; they were 
murderers ; they derived their name of Curumbars from their 
cruelty. Some of them spread into Dravida desam as far 
as the Tonda-Mundala country. They are now found near 
Uttramalur,® but are more civilized. They ruled the coun- 
try some time, but falling into sti'ife among themselves, they 
at length agreed to select a chief, who should unite them 
together. They chose a man who had some knowledge of 
books ; who was chief of the Dravida country, and was called 
Camanda Curumbar Prabhu, and Pallal Rajah. He built 
a fort in Puralur. He divided the Curumbar land into 
twenty-four parts, and constructed a fort in each district, 
While without any religion, a Jaina (Buddhist) 
ascetic came and turned them to the Jaina credence 
At length Adondai of Tanjore formed the design of sub- 
* A village, according to Sewell, some 15 miles from Madrantikam. 
