Catalog
AV Kahavanu - Vijaya Bahu I
| Issuer | Kingdom of Polonnaruwa (Sinhalese States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1055-1110 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Hammered |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | King reclining to right in a stylized, schematic rendering characteristic of Sinhalese kahavanu coinage, holding a lotus flower. The field is densely filled with Sinhalese script legends in Devanagari characters arranged around the royal figure. The overall design is highly conventionalized, executed in the bold, flat relief typical of hammered gold coinage of the Polonnaruwa period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Sinhalese/Devanagari |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Vijaya Bahu I's reign began with a 27-year military campaign to expel the Chola occupiers from Sri Lanka, finally succeeding in 1070 after one of the longest wars of reconquest in South Asian medieval history. The kahavanu coinage he issued drew directly from the South Indian gold fanam tradition — a deliberate absorption of the monetary conventions of the very power he had just defeated. The Chola kahavanu type had circulated so widely across the island during the occupation that Vijaya Bahu had little choice but to maintain continuity of form if the coinage was to function at all.