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Foreign Influence on the Style and Techniques of Ahom Coins: Some Observations

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Zeichen Journal ISSN No: 0932-4747 FOREIGN INFLUENCE ON THE STYLE AND TECHNIQUES OF AHOM COINS: SOME OBSERVATIONS Dr. Diganta Deka Assistant Professor P.G. Department of History Tihu College, Tihu P.O. Tihu-781371, Assam, India Abstract The scientific and systematic study of coins is an integral exercise for the reconstruction of history of any specific time or region. This study known as Numismatics has definite role to shed new lights and to corroborate existing domain of knowledge. As like other parts of India, the early history of Assam has also insufficient information to study. The coming of the mighty Ahoms to this land early in the medieval period in fact started a healthy system of historiography. In additions to the special chronicles of the Ahom period, their unique coins have also supplied us a mass of facts to understand the Assamese society, economy, polity and cultural milieus. Till date only a handful of systematic studies are made to recognize the coins and currencies of Ahom age and as a result we have come across some of those items from the possessions of antiquarian sources. Conspicuously, it is seen that a few of those coins portray interesting and liberal signs of foreign influence upon them. This study is therefore a modest attempt to highlight those influences on the style and techniques of the medieval Ahom coins. Keywords: Coins, Ahom, Assam, Script, Design, Metal etc. Introduction: Assam is a historical state located in the north eastern part of India. From the age of the epics, it has been occupied by numerous races and tribes with their peculiar lifestyles. Its early political and commercial contacts with the mainland Indian states are confirmed by the writings of Kautilya and Hiuen Tsang. The medieval history of the land is more charismatic as the mongoloid origin ruling clan, the Ahoms not only ushered in a new era of dynamic rule within the state but also successfully defended its soil from the dominant forces of the west. Historically, the Ahoms formed part of a migration of Tai or Shan peoples into the upper Brahmaputra basin of Northeast India since the early part of the thirteenth century A.D. By the sixteenth century they could administer much of the contemporary Assam. Their language and the script in which it has been recorded were in fact an archaic form of the greater Tai language which is spoken with many variations throughout entire Southeast Asia. Though the period is reckoned for the unique literary gems, the Ahom ‘Buranji Puthis’ or the chronicles, the contemporary coins of the regime are also a valuable source for understanding the inner developments. It is seen that lesser studies are done in the field of Ahom numismatics and many specimens found in literatures are practically not found. Once found, these coins can easily minimise the academic and regional gaps noticed in the study of the history of North East in general and Assam in particular. Volume 7, Issue 6, 2021 Page No:89 Zeichen Journal ISSN No: 0932-4747 Objectives and Methodology: The primary idea of the study has been to mark out the entry phases and amounts of foreign elements influencing the numismatics practise of the Ahoms, identify the technical improvements and to track probable cross cultural interactions that led to definite changes in the overall process of Assamese coinage. In order to meet the need of the study, we have largely followed historical, descriptive and analytical methodologies of research. Here the purview of the study is kept limited to the contemporary boundaries of medieval Assam and primary sources like discovered and preserved coins, Ahom chronicles, land grants, Tantric texts etc. along with a few vital secondary data derived from archival sources are consulted and considered. Chronological debate on earliest Ahom Coins: The Ahom rulers of the earliest period are said to be not interested in minting coins. The original Tai chronicles are also silent about this. But some celebrated Assamese chronicles like Assam Buranji and Sarsari Assam Buranji like to point that even the first Ahom ruler Su-ka-pha had also offered gold and silver coins to the family deity on the occasion of laying the foundation of their first capital at Charaideo. Subsequently Shu-dang-pha and Shu-hum-mong also said to be minted coins on the occasion of their accession to the throne. In fact as per an old legend, Shu-hum-mong even offered some gold coins to the famous Jagannath temple of Orissa through his deligations. Padmeswar Gogoi, however hinted that this mission may be of a later date when Vikramsena, one of the members of Assamese ambassadors excavated a tank near the temple and performed the consecration ceremony by offering gold mohars of Su-hung-mung to the Jagannath Thakur.1 Amazingly enough we are still neither able to find any such coins of the early Ahom rulers nor the sources hint us about their details. Scholars has opined that the paucity of early coins is due to the fact that Ahoms at the initial years of their reign maintained policy of isolation with the western counterparts and were actually not interested in commercial activities which debarred them from minting considerable number of coins. Domestic transactions were generally concluded by barter mode and the extensive mechanism of dealing with the subjects through Paik system helped the Ahom rulers indirectly from large scale coinage. The earliest discovered specimen of Ahom coins was initially accorded in the name of Suk- len-mung, with the possibility of minting around 1543 A.D. by the then Ahom language translator of Government of Assam Rai Saheb Golap Chandra Baruah. While E.A. Gait has accepted his readings scholars like J.N. Phukan and N.G. Rhodes etc. has rejected the process of script decipherment and inappropriate calculations based on Ahom hexagonary calendar cycle and thus emphasised that it should be in the name of Shu-pong-mung alias Chakradhwaja Simha. It is pointed out by them that the second syllable of the coin which has been long believed to be the coin of Suk-len-mung should be read as ‘pung’ not ‘K(l)en’ and thus it reads as ‘Supungmung’and the calculation of the year of striking of the coin falls in 1663 A.D. only which is relatively very later.2 At this juncture, the available and earliest datable coins of Ahom period are of the time of Jayadhwaj Singha (1648-1663 A.D). As discussed above, though some of the Buranjis bear the information of minting Ahom coins prior to this phase, no such coin has been found elsewhere. So, majority of the scholars now unanimously have opined that the first coin of the Ahoms was comprehensively minted during the reign of Jayadhwaj Singha only. One of the silver coins of Jayadhwaj Singha measuring 11.34 gms read in its obverse ‘Sri Sri Hari Hara Charana Parayanasya’ and reverse ‘Sri Sri Swarga Narayanasyadeva’ bearing Saka 1570 i.e. 1648 A.D. thoroughly in Hindu Volume 7, Issue 6, 2021 Page No:90 Zeichen Journal ISSN No: 0932-4747 script.3 The absence of the name of any particular king on the coin has created some debates. For example, V.A. Smith hinted that the coin may be of king Pratapsimha.4 The Satsari Asom Buranji also mentioned that Pratapsimha was the monarch to mint octagonal silver coins. However A.W. Botham and S.K. Bhuyan confirmed this to be of Jayadhwaj Singha. One of these chronicles records that Jayadhwaj Singha was the first Ahom monarch to introduce octagonal silver coins in ‘Hindu script’ with the image of the Singha-Pahu (i.e. lion-deer or the dragon, the Ahom royal insignia). It was from this time that silver coin came into circulation. J.P. Wade also writes that King Jayadhwaj Singha was the first king of Assam to coin money.5 In some of the octagonal silver coins issued in the same year however bear Chinese letters. Such coin might be issued to extend the trade relation of the Ahoms towards Tibet. It may safely be said that after the Ahom-Mughal treaty of Asurar Ali in 1639, commercial intercourse between Assam and Bengal resumed.6 Since then the Ahoms started to exchange important items like ivory, pepper, musk, gold, silk-cloth, aromatic plants etc. along with various kinds of winter cloths, sugar, salt etc. with western powers especially Bengal which remained at that time under the Mughals. N.G.Rhodes and S.K.Bose opined that subsequent trade relations with Tibet and Ahom administrative desire to raise revenue of the kingdom gradually motivated them to issue coins.7 We may notice regular issuing of coins of different denominations, quality and size from that time onward. Style and Techniques of Ahom Coins: Throughout the long phase of medieval history of India, the Ahoms hold name and fame for their unique way of polity, administration and artistic styles. In the case of numismatics also, Ahom coins are actually peculiar as we hardly find any match for the Ahom octagonal patterned coins elsewhere in India. This design was said to be initiated since the reign of Susenghpha or Pratapsimha. Regarding the origin of the shape, Kasinath's chronicle informed us that Pratapsimha having received the report of minting coins bearing legends in 'Hindu scripts' by the neighbouring Koch kings asked the scholars of his court also to find out a fitting design for his coins. The dignitaries after consulting the celebrated text Yogini Tantra advised the king to coin money in octagonal shape so as to conform to the shape of his kingdom which, it was believed at that time, had eight corners.
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