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1 Massa - Nissanka Malla
| Issuer | Polonnaruwa, Kingdom of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1187-1196 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 3.9 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is entirely occupied by a multi-line Sinhalese script inscription arranged in a square grid-like layout, rendered in the bold, cursive Sinhalese characters characteristic of the 12th-century Polonnaruwa period. The legend, reading in Sinhalese, is believed to reference the royal name or title of Nissanka Malla. The inscription fills the field nearly to the beaded border that encircles the entire reverse, with individual aksharas clearly raised in low relief against the flat coin surface. |
| Reverse script | Sinhalese |
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| Additional information |
Nissanka Malla ruled Polonnaruwa during one of the last stable periods of Sinhalese imperial power before the kingdom's collapse in the 13th century. He was a prolific self-promoter, commissioning inscriptions across the island boasting of his piety, his military campaigns into South India, and his claim to Kalinga descent — a lineage he used aggressively to legitimize rule over a population that was not his own. The copper massa was the workhorse denomination of this economy, circulating through a court system sustained largely by irrigation agriculture and the tooth relic temple at Polonnaruwa.