These coins have no clear
attribution:
As per Mitchiner, it is
attributed to Gingee Maratha ruler Rajaram. These coins were reported from
Tamilnadu.
Obv: Narasimha
Rev: Dagger with "Ra
ma", moon & sun respectively with in Dotted lines
Obv: Sudharsana Chakram
Rev: Dagger with "Ra
ma", moon & sun respectively with in Dotted lines
Obv: God & Goddess sitting
Rev: Dagger with "Ra ma", moon &
sun respectively with in Dotted lines
The presence of legend ‘rama’ on
the reverse made them attribute to Ramadevaraya of Vijayanagara. Following are
some other possible reasons.
During Sriranga Raya’s reign in
1614 a coup broke out within the royal family and the reigning Emperor Sriranga
Raya II and his royal family were murdered by rival factions headed by Jagga
Raya, with the younger son Rama Deva Raya of the Emperor smuggled out from the
fort by Yachama Naidu, a faithful commander and the viceroy of earlier king
Venkata II.
These events led to the Battle
of Toppur in 1616, one of the largest South Indian wars of the century, with
all other Nayak rulers of Tamil Country taking part. The war was won by the
legal claimants with the minor Rama Deva Raya getting crowned as the Aravidu
Vijayanagara Emperor in 1617.
Rama Deva Raya, (or Vira Rama
Deva Raya) (1617–1632 CE) was ascended the throne after this gruesome war.
It is well known that Thanjavur
Raghunatha Nayak helped Ramadevaraya to come to power. It is known that
Raghunatha Nayak was a devotee of Lord Rama.
Considering these aspects, the
coins were assigned to Ramadevaraya who it was believed would have minted in
honour of Raghunatha Nayak.
Currently we do not have
sufficient information to make a precise attribution.
All views expressed above are
based on my understanding gained from numismatic experts. Views/comments can be
send in the below comments box.
