1 Karshapana

Gupta/Hardaker Series IV XXXI G 12, Type 424. Nanda Dynasty c.345-322 BCE.

The taurine symbols clearly visible within the first punchmark (417) represent the hoofprint left by a bull. After the invariable sun and six-armed symbols, bulls and taurines are some of the most common pictograms not only in karshapana but in many later South Asian coins. In the Vedic period (c. 1500-1000 BCE), the bull was strongly associated with the sky god Indra, as well as the storm gods, the Maruts, and their father, the god Rudra. The following excerpts of hymns from the Rig Veda suggest a religious context for karshapana pictograms:

“I send praise to the high bull, tawny and white. I bow low in homage to the radiant one. We praise the dreaded name of Rudra.” —From Rudra, father of the Maruts.

“He the mighty bull who with his seven reins let loose the seven rivers to flow, who with his thunderbolt in his hand hurled down Rauhina as he was climbing up to the sky, he, my people, is Indra.” From Who is Indra?