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1 Stater - Kairvatas of Varendra Samatata Type
| Issuer | Varendra Kingdom (Indian states) |
|---|---|
| Year | 640-730 |
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| Reference(s) | Mitch AC#Cf. 4924 |
| Obverse description | Standing royal archer figure depicted in frontal stance at center, holding a bow in the raised right hand with a flaming standard or scepter to the left; the effigy is rendered in a highly stylized and schematic manner characteristic of late Gupta-derived Bengal coinage. Auxiliary symbols and subsidiary devices occupy the field on either side of the king. A degraded Brahmi legend encircles the periphery, largely illegible due to the progressive stylization of the die engraving. The overall treatment reflects the pronounced artistic degeneration typical of the Samatata regional coinage tradition of the seventh to eighth centuries. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Brahmi |
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| Additional information |
Varendra, the region roughly corresponding to northern Bengal, produced a distinctive gold coinage during the seventh and early eighth centuries that sits at the intersection of late Gupta artistic conventions and emerging regional autonomy. The Kairvatas were a ruling clan whose dynastic identity remains poorly documented in textual sources — most of what is known comes from the coins themselves. The Mitchiner reference here is a "cf." attribution, meaning no exact parallel has been codified, a common situation with Samatata-Varendra issues where die variety and ruler sequence are still being worked out by specialists.
The weight standard follows the degraded suvarna inherited from post-Gupta Bengal rather than the classical 8-gram norm.