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1/4 Karshapana - Sunga Kingdom
| Issuer | Shunga Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 150 BC - 100 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Elephant walking to left, depicted in profile with characteristic Shunga-period stylized rendering, positioned above a horizontally placed Indradhvaja (standard of Indra); a taurine symbol appears above a svastika in the left field, all arranged within the irregular square flan typical of Shunga copper coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Shunga dynasty came to power in 185 BC when the general Pushyamitra Shunga assassinated the last Mauryan emperor Brihadratha during a military parade — a coup that also reversed many of the Buddhist patronage policies of the Mauryan court. Coinage of this period retained the punch-marked technical tradition inherited from Mauryan mints but with noticeably reduced silver use, copper fractional issues becoming far more prevalent in everyday exchange.
The karshapana as a weight standard had roots several centuries deeper than the Shunga state itself, which makes attribution of these fractional coppers genuinely difficult — many circulated well beyond the dynasty's collapse around 73 BC.