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1 Gadhaiya Paisa - Chaulukyas of Gujarat
| Issuer | Chaulukyas of Gujarat |
|---|---|
| Year | 1030-1120 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 13.4 mm |
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| Obverse description | Highly stylized and degenerate derived design in the tradition of the Gadhaiya Paisa coinage, showing a heavily abstracted fire altar motif rendered as two stacked rectangular elements connected by a vertical shaft, occupying the central field. To the left, a schematic attendant figure is visible, represented by a series of curved and linear elements. The design is characteristic of the late Chaulukya period, where the original Sasanian-derived imagery has become increasingly schematized through successive die copying. The flan is thick, irregular, and cast, with a rough surface texture consistent with the production methods of this series. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Obverse-derived degenerate design displaying a heavily stylized abstraction of the traditional Gadhaiya Paisa bust or altar type, reduced to a series of pellets, vertical strokes, and diagonal linear elements arranged across the central field. The imagery retains vestiges of the original Sasanian fire-altar and attendant iconography but has been transformed through repeated mechanical copying into a largely abstract composition. Small pellets are scattered throughout the field, a characteristic feature of this copper series. The flan exhibits the same irregular, thick cast fabric as the obverse, with surface corrosion consistent with extended burial. |
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| Additional information |
The Gadhaiya Paisa tradition descends from Sasanian silver drachms that entered northwestern India as trade currency, their fire-altar reverses gradually abstracted through generations of local copying until the original imagery became nearly unrecognizable. By the Chaulukya period, the type had been in continuous degradation for roughly three centuries. The Chaulukyas struck heavily in copper for local market transactions while their silver issues served longer-distance trade through the prosperous ports of Saurashtra and Cambay.
DR#158 places this piece within a well-documented die-degeneration sequence — a useful anchor for attribution given how broadly these anonymous coins were produced across competing Gujarat dynasties.