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| Issuer | Ramanathapuram Zamindari |
|---|---|
| Year | 1729-1792 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Crude hammered depiction of Hanuman standing facing, rendered in low relief within a rectangular incuse frame. The deity is shown in frontal stance with characteristic simian features, arms positioned at the sides, the figure exhibiting the bold but unrefined artistic style typical of South Indian copper kasu coinage of the 18th century. The surrounding field is plain and irregular, consistent with the primitive striking technique employed. |
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| Reverse lettering | ர ம ண |
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| Additional information |
The Ramanathapuram Zamindari, also known as the Ramnad estate, operated under the Nayak and later Maratha political orbit in the far south of the Madurai region before eventually falling under British oversight. Its chiefs — the Sethupathis — held both secular and religious authority as hereditary guardians of the Rameswaram temple crossing, a role that gave them unusual autonomy to issue local copper coinage long after comparable zamindaris had ceased to do so. This kasu circulated primarily in local bazaar transactions and temple-town economies rather than any broader regional market.
The MSI reference places it within S. Krishnamurthy's cataloguing of medieval South Indian coinage, one of the few systematic attempts to organize zamindari copper issues that most major auction houses still decline to attribute with confidence.