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Drachm - Bhattaraka Maitrakas of Vallabhi
| Issuer | Maitraka dynasty (Western India) |
|---|---|
| Year | 470-500 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Degraded bust of a ruler facing right, derived from late Sasanian or Indo-Sasanian prototypes, depicted wearing a distinctive crescent-topped helmet or crown with stylised curvilinear hair locks rendered in low relief. The facial features are schematically rendered, with a prominent eye visible in profile. Flanking the bust are cursive symbols and pellets characteristic of the Western Kshatrapa and early Maitraka coinage tradition. The overall design shows considerable stylisation compared to its Sasanian antecedents, reflecting local die-cutting conventions. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain, irregular |
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| Additional information |
The Maitrakas rose to power as governors under the late Gupta empire before asserting independence around 470 CE, establishing Vallabhi — in present-day Gujarat — as a capital that would eventually rival Pataliputra as a center of Buddhist learning. These early drachms retain the debased silver fabric inherited from late Gupta regional coinage, struck at weights already significantly reduced from the classical standard. The Mitchiner reference places this squarely in the foundational Bhattaraka period, before the dynasty's later rulers adopted more elaborate royal titulature.