1883.] 
G. Bidie— The Pagoda or Vardha coins. 
33 
The Pagoda or Vardha coins of Southern India.—By Surgeon Major 
G. Bidie, M. B., 0. I. E., Superintendent Government Central 
Museum , Madras. 
(With three Plates.) 
The monetary system of Southern India in the olden time was simple 
enough, the unit being the gold pagoda , which was subdivided into fanams 
and cash. Latterly, from political causes, the varieties of these coins be¬ 
came very numerous, so that their discrimination at the present day is a 
matter of some difficulty. The immediate prototype of the pagoda is found 
in a globular punch struck coin, Plate I, Fig, 1, weighing 51915 grs. and 
having only just the trace of a device. It is believed to be of Buddhist 
origin, and to belong to an early type of that class of money. This rude 
form was succeeded by coins made with a die or dies, some of which are 
known as Tunicas. All these bear Buddhist symbols and are heavier than 
the more recent pagodas. One of this type, represented in Fig. 2, weighed 
60.1 grs. and has a strong resemblance to the ordinary pagoda. The next 
forms, in chronological succession, which have come under my notice are 
the Chalukyan, Nonambamdi and Gajapati pagodas, which are followed by 
those of the house of Vijayanagar. The sovereigns of these dynasties would 
appear to have reserved to themselves the right of coining money, but, 
after the conquest of Vijayanagar by the Mahomedan kings of the JDakhan 
in 1565, every petty state assumed the privilege of setting up a mint. 
This gave rise to an infinity of forms and Col. (afterwards Sir Thomas) 
Munro, writing in 1806, regarding the coins in. the Bellary district, says, 
<l the currency consists of 32 different kinds of pagodas and 15-of Kupees. 
They are chiefly local having been issued by Nawabs, liajahs and Poli- 
gars.”* Taken as a whole the pagodas afford most valuable and interest¬ 
ing information, regarding the early political history of India south of the 
Kistna. Unfortunately their value in this respect was long overlooked, and 
until recent times no systematic attempt was made to form a permanent 
public collection of the series. Owing to this neglect many of the forms, 
more especially the older ones, are quite unknown to numismatists, and 
there is but little prospect now of making good this defect. As regards 
those that have been preserved but very little information of a reliable 
kind has been recorded, and the few facts that remain refer mostly to the 
more modern forms and are scattered in local histories, travels and such 
like, which sometimes contain incidental allusions to the currency of the 
day. The vernacular designations of the several types of the pagoda 
* Kelsall’s “ Manual of the Bellary District” p. 287. 
E 
