Catalog
1 Jital - Rupa Chandra Deva I
| Issuer | Kangra, Kingdom of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1200-1250 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Reverse description | A humped bull (Nandi) depicted facing left in schematic fashion, occupying the central field. Above the bull, a two-line Nagari inscription reads 'Sri Rupa', referencing the issuing ruler Rupa Chandra Deva I. The design is heavily stylized and struck on an irregular broad copper flan typical of Kangra hill state coinage of the early thirteenth century. |
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| Mintage | ND (1200-1250) |
| Additional information |
Kangra's medieval copper coinage sits almost entirely outside Western numismatic literature, and the Rupa Chandra Deva series is no exception. The Katoch dynasty, which controlled the hill kingdom of Kangra through much of the medieval period, issued these small copper jitals as local exchange currency in a region where access to silver was intermittent and politically contingent — the Punjab plains below were contested ground, and Ghaznavid then Ghurid pressure on the subcontinent's northwest disrupted trade routes that hill kingdoms depended upon for bullion supply.
AKJ remains the primary reference for this series, reflecting how thinly catalogued this material still is.