Bhanudeva III ruled Odisha during a period of sustained pressure from the Bahmani Sultanate to the southwest, and his dynasty's coinage reflects a court still asserting Hindu ritual authority through its mint output even as the political ground shifted. The Eastern Gangas derived their legitimacy in part from their role as protectors of the Jagannath temple at Puri — an institution that gave the dynasty religious weight far exceeding its military one.
Fanams of this type circulated primarily within temple economies rather than general trade, functioning as devotional and transactional currency within a tightly bounded sacred geography.
Bhanudeva III ruled Odisha during a period of sustained pressure from the Bahmani Sultanate to the southwest, and his dynasty's coinage reflects a court still asserting Hindu ritual authority through its mint output even as the political ground shifted. The Eastern Gangas derived their legitimacy in part from their role as protectors of the Jagannath temple at Puri — an institution that gave the dynasty religious weight far exceeding its military one.
Fanams of this type circulated primarily within temple economies rather than general trade, functioning as devotional and transactional currency within a tightly bounded sacred geography.