Coins and Culture of Early North India

The present work strives to reflect through
the prisms of coins the forces at work in the
realm of religion and culture in early north
Indian history.
The extraordinary assimilated genius of
India is imprinted on her coins struck throughout
the ages, stretching from its genesis to the
modern times. The study is primarily concerned
with early north Indian coinage highlighting
the religio-cultural scenario. It includes the
history as reflected on the Punch-marked, Tribal
or Local or Janapada, Indo-Greeks, Scytho
Parthian, Kushana, Gupta and Post-Gupta
coinages and the Rama-Tarikas. An in-depth
analysis of beautiful and artistic tiny metallic pieces is bound to unveil a magic in the minds
of the researchers.

In fact, the study of coins, by and large
has concentrated on the chronology of coins,
their relationship with political power and the
geographical space of the findings, but the work
under review offers adequate light on the artistic
form of the coins, both figurative and also
abstract motifs.

A large number of relevant photographs of
the coins have been illustrated in the plates
portraying the complex cultural and ethnic set
up of the space and time. Moreover, men and
women of various social and economic strata of
life kings and aristocrats, courtly and
fashionable ladies of high society, foreigners
(Greeks, Parthians, Sakas, Kushanas, etc.) with
their distinctive ethnic and/or facial features,
costumes and dress, ornaments, hair decoration
etc., are richly represented.
Besides historical information, these pieces
disseminate an index of secularism where various
races and ethnic groups holding apparently
different religious faiths and beliefs, rites and
rituals could maintain peaceful co-existence.
This idea is powerfully brought home while analyzing the bearings of the images and icons
on the Rama tarikas issued by the rulers as well
as the religious or monastic heads of different ethnic groups.