110 TheHon’ble E. C. Bay ley —Note on two Coins from Kausamblii. [No. 2, 
The symbol on the right appears to be identical with one often found 
on the early punched silver coins so common in India, and resembles the 
rod of iEsculapius, or rather perhaps two serpents entwined across a staff. 
N-1 
N ° 11. 
The legend, however, is the most remarkable part of the coin. It is 
quite legible, and I read it as or “ Maha Yarunda,” the last letter 
being a compound (as I take it) of the cerebral n = = n and the cerebral 
^ — 'g 1 = d. The last letter may, however, be possibly , in which case 
the word would read “ varundu.” Jn either case, the word would be “ va- 
runda,” Prakrit for Yarunda, for which no other meaning is given in the 
dictionaries, but that of “ king of the serpents,” of whom it was either the 
name or title. I am indebted to Raja Kalikrishna for the etymology of the 
word, which he derives from the root (l^TfeT), “ to nourish or support,” 
or as in some lexicons, “ to protect, to surround,”—a root from which is said 
also to be derived the word c varanda’ or * veranda’ in such common use 
among us. 
The conclusions I would draw from the use of this term are as follows,— 
whether it was used as the name of the striker of the coin, as such names 
B alar am, Maharam, Mahadeo, Srikishn, are used in our own day, or as an 
invocation to the deity worshipped ; in any case the use of the acknowledged 
name or title of the serpent king indicates the prevalence of snake worship at 
Kausamblii at a period which, from the character of the letters, I should be 
inclined to place at least one century before the Christian era, possibly much 
earlier. 
The next coin (Fig. ii) is even yet more curious. It is of copper and 
thicker than one above. The weight is 60•144 grs. The reverse also 
apparently bears the figure of an animal, now undistinguishable; the 
obverse, however, is unusually clear and distinct, and from the form of the 
letters, I would give it a more recent date than the previous coin, but still 
place it not later than the first century of the Christian era. 
The symbol to the left Babu Pratapachandra Ghosh assures me is the 
true “ svastika,” that which is ordinarily so called, and which is identical with 
the “fylfot” or Odin’s seal being properly termed Yajrankus'a. 
The centre symbol is the sacred tree, Mid the third to the right a 
serpent. The legend runs plainly thus— 
