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AV 50 Rattis - Rajacandra
| Issuer | Kingdom of Harikela (Ancient Myanmar) |
|---|---|
| Year | 695-720 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 12 mm |
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| Obverse description | Royal male figure standing facing, turned slightly to the left, depicted in full length with a bow raised in the right hand and an arrow held in the left; a bull standard or animal device appears to the left of the figure. The style is characteristic of early Harikela coinage, with schematic rendering of drapery and limbs within a beaded border. The Brahmi legend, when present, identifies the issuing ruler. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A female divinity, interpreted as an abstract or stylised form of Lakshmi, stands facing right in full length, her garments rendered as flowing vertical striations suggestive of a cloak or robe. Flanking devices and dot patterns appear in the field to either side of the figure, consistent with votive or regal iconographic conventions of the period. The entire composition is contained within a beaded border typical of hammered gold coinage of the Harikela kingdom. The rendering is highly schematic, reflecting the artistic conventions of early medieval Bengal and Myanmar coinage. |
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| Additional information |
Harikela occupied the Chittagong coastal region — now southeastern Bangladesh, not Myanmar — and functioned as a significant node in the Bay of Bengal trade network during the late 7th and early 8th centuries. The rattī weight standard used here derives from the seed of the guñjā plant, a metrological tradition rooted in South Asian commercial practice rather than any centralized royal decree. The debased gold content almost certainly reflects the realities of a port economy dependent on imported bullion, where maintaining precise fineness mattered less than maintaining coin weight within acceptable trading tolerances.