1 Kasu - Devaraya I

Devaraya I came to power following the death of his father Harihara II in 1404, inheriting an empire under persistent pressure from the Bahmani Sultanate to the north. His reign saw costly military campaigns — including a humiliating early defeat that reportedly forced him to pay tribute and give a daughter in marriage to Sultan Firuz Shah Bahmani. The copper kasu issued under his authority circulated through one of the subcontinent's most active trading economies, where temple markets and coastal merchants transacted in small denomination copper far more than in gold.