This coin was minted probably in 1513 AD to commemorate and celebrate the conquest of the eastern Gajapati kingdom of Udayagiri or Utkala (in the present day Kalinga of Orissa state) then ruled by Pratapa Rudra Deva. It is said that following this victory, Krishnadevaraya seized the idol of Balakrishna (Lord Krishna as infant) and brought it to Vijayanagar as a war trophy. He then built the Krishna Temple at Hampi where the idol was then consecrated. The idol is now displayed in the state museum at Chennai and a huge slab installed inside the courtyard of the temple states the story of this temple and the conquest of Utkala.
Obverse: Crowned and ornamented cute Balakrishna, potbellied, seated on a dotted bordered dais with right leg folded, discus to right, conch to left, holding a lump of butter in right hand.
Reverse: SRI PRA | TAPA KRISHNA | RAYA in Nagari script
Obverse
|
Balakrishna seated cross-legged facing, flanked by chakra (discus)
and sankh(conch)
|
Reverse
|
Three-line Devanagari
legend: Sri Pra / ta pa Kri shna/ra ya (श्री प्रताप कृष्णा राय) |
Date
|
1509-1529
|
Weight
|
3.40 gm.
|
Diameter
|
11 mm.
|
Die axis
|
1 o'clock
|
Reference
|
MNI 898, MSI 640
|
Comments
|
Clear chakra and sankh. A SUPERB
specimen of a SCARCE coin!
|
Kamal-ud-Din Abd-ur-Razzaq ibn Ishaq Samarqandi,
(1413–1482), a Persian Chronicler and Islamic scholar, and ambassador of Shah
Rukh, the Timurid dynasty ruler of Persia, was deputed to Calicut, India, from
January 1442 to January 1445 and he mentioned in his travel account that the
half pagoda or half varaha of the Vijayanagara Kings was called
"partab" with the name 'partab’ probably a linguistic play of the
word ‘Pratapa’ (Mighty or Victorious), which occurs before the names of
Vijayanagara kings both on coins and inscriptions.
Balakrishna Idol from Chennai Museum
The image of Balakrishna seated with left leg on the seat and the right leg hanging down. Unfortunately both the hands are broken and missing except the fingers of the left hand. The hair is arranged in a knot over the head and the kundalas are shaped like small sankhas.The forehead bears the sandal paste mark which is a characteristic mark of this period. It is the war trophy of king Krishna Deva Raya.
Krishna temple at Vijayanagar
Hampi ruins, Bellary District. About 15th Century AD.
The image of Balakrishna seated with left leg on the seat and the right leg hanging down. Unfortunately both the hands are broken and missing except the fingers of the left hand. The hair is arranged in a knot over the head and the kundalas are shaped like small sankhas.The forehead bears the sandal paste mark which is a characteristic mark of this period. It is the war trophy of king Krishna Deva Raya.
