Catalog
Dinar - Sashanka Deva Assam
| Issuer | Gauda Kingdom (Indian Hindu Dynasties) |
|---|---|
| Year | 600-630 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Dinar (1) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ŚAŚĀṄKA |
| Reverse description | The reverse features a frontal deity figure, likely Shiva or a related Shaivite manifestation, depicted in a formal hieratic stance with multiple attributes rendered in the bold, stylized relief typical of early 7th-century Bengal goldsmithing. The figure is flanked by subsidiary decorative elements within the field. A prominent beaded border frames the entire design, consistent with the obverse treatment. The Brahmi legend ŚRĪ VIGRAHA is inscribed in the field, serving as a royal or divine epithet of the issuer Śaśāṅka. The die work is irregular, reflecting the hand-hammered technique standard to Gauda Kingdom coinage of this period. |
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| Additional information |
Sashanka ruled Gauda — roughly modern Bengal — as one of the few regional powers capable of resisting Harsha of Kanauj in the early seventh century. The two were active antagonists, and Harsha's court biographer Banabhatta portrays Sashanka in conspicuously hostile terms, accusing him of cutting down the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya and expelling Buddhist monks. Whether accurate or polemical, these accounts place Sashanka at the center of the period's sharpest political and religious tensions.
His gold coinage draws heavily on Gupta weight standards, a deliberate claim to legitimacy in the post-Gupta vacuum.