The ancient treasures of India literally includes a vast array of exquisite coins made of gold, silver and other metals. Even a cursory look at some of the coins of the Satavahanas or Guptas will reveal the rich heritage we possess in this field. Indeed, the Gupta period can be classified easily as the golden age by the sheer variety of gold coins they struck and the number of coins which are available even today with our museums and private collectors. Right from the time of our ancient kingdoms (Janapadas) up to the period of Mughal emperors, coin making in India has witnessed brilliant ideas and innovations that hints at the vision of the emperors and how they want to be perceived by their people.
In this talk, we will start with the Punch-Marked coins of our Janapadas, starting from 600 BC such as Shurasena, Gandhara, and Magadha. Some excellent samples from Indo-Greeks and Scytho-Parthians who ruled Punjab and North-West (Bactria) will be presented next. Then, we will see the coins of the of the mighty Kushanas. This will be followed by the Gupta coins, where we can see the brilliant coins of Samudragupta and Kumaragupta. We will look at some Chola Coins, and finally, close with some interesting Mughal and early East India Company coins.
*Speaker Profile:*
T. Sivasubramanian (Siva) is a part of the Tamil Heritage Group for the last two years with hands-on experience visiting Ajantha/Ellora and conducting a Children's Summer Camp for the Tamil Heritage Group. He has graduated with a Bachelors and Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering (University of Madras and University of Alabama, respectively) and an MBA (University of Houston). Currently, manages a software training and consulting company -- DuraSoft (http://www.durasoftindia.com).
RSVP:
A. Annamalai: Gandhi Study Centre - gandhicentre@gmail.com; 94441-83198