Gadaiya paisa, Paramara de Malwa

The Gadaiya coinage of the Paramara rulers of Malwa descended — through progressive stylistic degradation — from the Gupta-era drachms of western India, their designs dissolving over generations of copying until the original Sasanian-influenced imagery became nearly abstract. The Paramaras, who held Malwa from roughly the mid-9th century until the Ghurid invasions shattered their power in the late 12th century, never reformed the type; debasement of design was accepted so long as the weight standard held.

The name "Gadaiya" is itself a later attribution, derived from a term for the crude or degraded style.