1884.] V. A. Smitla —Oold Coins of the Imperial Gupta Dynasty. 129 
distribution among tbe Bralimans engaged in tbe ritual of tbe sacrifice.* 
I cannot guess at the exact meaning of the figure of the female with the 
flywhisk on the reverse, but she is certainly intended for some sacred 
personage. Considering the undisputed solar character of Ghatot 
Kacha’s coinage it may not be irrelevant to allude to the connection 
which existed between the Aswamedha ceremony and Solar worship.f 
It is quite possible that Samudra Gupta, though a good Hindu, may 
have been, as many Hindus still are, specially devoted to the worship of 
the sun. 
The legends of the King and Queen coins of Chandra Gupta I leave 
no doubt that the effigies on the obverse are primarily intended for the 
sovereign and his consort, for we know from the lapidary inscriptions 
that the name of the latter was Kumari Devi, and that she belonged to 
the Lichchhavi family. The king is figured leaning on a spear, and this 
device may be intended secondarily to symbolize Kumara Deva, the god 
of war, and husband of the goddess Kumari Devf. The reverse goddess 
seated on a couchant lion is probably Durga, another form of Kumari 
Devi, but the cornucopia in her left arm indicates that the deity is pre¬ 
sented under her beneficent, as well as her terrific aspect. 
The device of the king and queen standing facing each other re¬ 
appears in the coinage of Skanda Gupta, but in a much modified, and 
thoroughly Hinduised form. It has not yet been met with in the issues 
of any of the intermediate reigns. The unique coin of Kumara Gupta 
lately discovered by Mr. H. K. Carnac (Proc. A. 8. B. Nov. 1883. p. 144), 
presents the king standing between two females, whom I suppose to be 
his queens. 
The Javelin type is the commonest form of Samudra Gupta’s coin¬ 
age. The device of the obverse is but a slight modification of the ordi¬ 
nary Indo-Scythian pattern, and the throned goddess on the reverse 
is as obviously a copy of the figure called ApSoKpo or ApSoypo on the 
Indo-Scythian coins of Kanerki and his successors. 
Mr. Thomas argues that this throned goddess should be identified 
with Parvati, the consort of Sfiva, for five reasons, of which the follow¬ 
ing is a summary :— 
(1). She is identical in form with the Indo-Scythian ApSoKpo or 
ApSoypo whose name is eommonly interpreted as Arddh-ogro or 
‘ half-S'iva ’, i. e., Parvati. 
(2.) Even if it be admitted that the early Guptas had Vaishnava 
* In the northern Bilsar inscription, dated in the year 96, Knmara Gupta is 
eulogized as the “ giver of millions of gold, performer of the Aswamedha” &c. 
(Gunn. Arch. Bep. XI. 20.) 
f Birdwood, Industrial Arts of India, I, p. 25 
