1 Pagoda - Venkatapati Raya II

Venkatapati Raya II ruled the Vijayanagara Empire from its diminished rump state at Chandragiri and Vellore, the great capital at Hampi having been razed by the Deccan Sultanates at Talikota in 1565 — two decades before this coin's issue began. The pagoda denomination had been the empire's principal gold unit for centuries, trusted enough that Portuguese and later Dutch merchants quoted south Indian commodity prices in pagodas rather than their own currencies.

Venkatapati's reign was arguably the last period of genuine administrative coherence for the dynasty, holding off Golconda and managing tributary relationships with surprising effectiveness given what Talikota had destroyed.