Coins of the Pallavas

The Pallava dynasty was a medieval South Indian dynasty that existed between the 6th and 9th centuries, ruling a portion of what is today southern India. They gained prominence after the eclipse of the Satavahana or Andhra dynasty, whom the Pallavas served as feudatories.

The period of Pallava rule was 600 CE to 900 CE. Early studies about Pallava coins were made by Sir Walter Elliot (1858), T. Desikachary (1933), C.Minaksi (1938), and S.Ramayya (1967).

The coins were mostly round, and a very few were square. They weigh about 0.450 to 9.8 grams and size is about 1 cm to 2.5 cm. The basic symbols in Pallava coins are bull and lion. The bull is the royal emblem of Pallavas and the emblem of Lord Siva. Apart from bull and lion, symbols like svastika, cakra, flag, twin masted ship, elephant, crescent were also seen in Pallava coins.

Following is an excerpt from The Hindu Newspaper:

The author (The Pallava coins) - R. Krishnamurthy has made an extensive study on the pallava coins.

The significance of the work lies in the fact that the author introduces a periodisation by distinguishing the coins of the early Pallavas (4th-6th Centuries A.D.) of the southern Andhra region and those of the Simhavishnu line (6th-9th Centuries A.D.) ruling from Kanchipuram over the northern Tamil region and classifying them as those of the Pre-Mahendravarman I period i.e., Early Pallava coins with typical Pallava symbols but without legends and of the period of Mahendravarman I and his successors, with legends in addition to symbols.

Symbols and legends:

The author rightly points out the Andhra dynastic tradition, which is strong in Pallava coinage, in the use of symbols like the bull and lion and Telugu titles as legends. The lion and bull are often combined with other symbols like the svastika, srivatsa, the sacred lamp, kumbha, chakra, trisula, and the ship and horse. Symbols like the bull also occur on the early Pallava copper plate seals.

The die-struck technique is common to most of these dynasties. The Pallavas issued coins in lead and copper (high-tin bronze), lead for being soft, ductile and cheaper and high-tin bronze for its gold-like appearance. Silver seems to have been hardly used, although some have been reported from Sri Lanka.

Metal analysis:

The section on the analysis of the metals carried out by scientists and carefully applied to the Pallava coinage is perhaps the most useful and shows that lead was subjected to the isotope, spectroscopic analyses and hardness study. Its sources are located, lead mainly in Spain being used in early Roman and South Indian coins, although the author denies the possibility of the Roman lead being reused or older coins being recast in South India.

He also points out that a high percentage of tin rather than lead or zinc was used as an alloying element in the copper alloy or bronze coins of the Pallavas, as copper and tin, known to be the oldest known alloy, a closer imitation of gold, was preferred by the South Indian rulers.

Following is an image picked up from Google search: