42 
G. Bidie —The Pagoda or Vardha coins. 
[No. 1, 
hopeless he retired to Penkonda. The descendants of the true line finally 
took shelter from the storm of Mahommedan invasion at Chandragiri, a 
hill fort, which together with that of Vellore, was built by Rayas of Vijaya- 
nagar. From the former fastness Sri Ranga Raya, the then representative 
of the old house, granted, in 1610, a deed handing over to the English the 
site of modern Madras. Unfortunately that document was lost during the 
French occupation of Fort St. George, but it is stated, that in addition to 
the grant of land it conferred the privilege of coining money, on the con¬ 
dition, that the English should preserve on their coinage “ the representation 
of that deity who was the favourite object of his worship.”* Six years 
after this he was a fugitive from the Mahommedan power of Golcondah, 
and with him the Vijayanagar family may be said to have disappeared from 
the political horizon of Southern India. 
PI. I, Fig. 9,f This coin is of great interest as pertaining to one of 
the two brothers who founded the Vijayanagar Empire. There are two 
copies of it in the Museum one of which was received from the Mysore 
treasury under the name of “ Hanumuntaroi,” and the other from an 
unknown source with the designation “ Hanoomuntha” pagoda. From 
this it would appear that the figure on the obverse is popularly supposed to 
be a representation of Hanuman, to which it has a strong resemblance. It 
is possible that Bukka adopted this emblem from the circumstance, that 
the city of Vijayanagar was built near the site of the ancient Kishkinda, 
the capital of the monkey race ; or its assumption may he due to his 
having subdued the country of the powerful Kadambas, whose ensign was 
the monlcey-Jlag. 
Oh. Hanuman seated on a throne ; right arm uplifted and grasping 
something in the hand, left hand resting on the thigh. 
Pev. Inscription partly cut and worn away, but with the name 
“ Bukka” distinct. Probable date A. D. 1350—79. 
Weight. One specimen weighs 52'5 grains and the other 5065 grains. 
PI. I, Fig. 10a. This figure is borrowed from pi. 104, fig. 3 of 
Moore’s Hindu Pantheon, and is the representation of one of the many 
coins the property of Tippu Sultan, which fell into the hands of the captors 
of Seringapatam. Moore supposes the figure on the obverse to be “ Garuda,” 
but says he has seen it called “ Kanduharundujp an evident corruption 
of “ Ghunda Bhairunda,” the name of a coin included in the Mackenzie 
Collection. Wilson in plate 4 of his “Description of Select Coins’’^ 
* Marsden’s “Numismata Oricntalia,” Part II, p. 739. 
t For the deciphering of the inscription on this, and on following coins hearing 
Sanscrit inscriptions, I am indebted to the kindness of R. Sewell, Esq , Madras Civil 
Service, of the Archaeological department. 
t “ Asiatic Researches,” Vol, XVII, p. 595. 
