Catalog
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
| Issuer | Gurjuras Confederacy |
|---|---|
| Year | 550-650 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Drachm |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Brahmi/Pahlavi |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central fire altar motif derived from Sasanian iconographic tradition, rendered in a highly schematic and debased form, flanked by two attendant figures. The altar is depicted as a stepped column surmounted by a crown-like finial, with the flanking attendants reduced to stylized pillars. Surrounding the central device is a dotted inner border within which traces of debased Brahmi or Pahlavi-influenced legend appear. The overall composition reflects the gradual transformation of Sasanian fire altar imagery as adopted and stylized by the Gurjura confederacy during the 6th–7th centuries CE. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Gurjara confederacy emerged as a dominant force in northwestern India following the collapse of Gupta imperial authority, occupying the regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat during a period of sustained political fragmentation. Their coinage derives directly from late Sasanian prototypes — a borrowing that reflects the intense commercial and diplomatic contact across the Thar Desert frontier rather than any political subordination. The drachm module itself was essentially a foreign import, adopted wholesale because the Sasanian silver standard was already trusted by the merchants these chiefs needed to tax and trade with.
Mitchiner's NI#216 classification places this within the Jodhpur regional grouping, though attribution of individual pieces to specific Gurjara chiefs remains difficult given the absence of datable inscriptions on most specimens.