Nayak Coins
Most Nayak coins were made of gold or copper. The design, figures, size, and weight of Nayak coins all were similar to those of Vijayanagara coins. Sadasiva Nayak issued some beautiful Nayak coins: one gold coin shows Shiva and Parvati seated next to one another – Shiva holds the trisula (trident) and the mriga (antelope) in his hands. Another gold coin of the same ruler features the mythical bird Gandaberunda. This coin is almost identical to the gandabherunda coins minted by the Vijayanagara ruler Achyutaraya.
A rare copper coin of this ruler displays, on its obverse, the standing figure of Kartikeya (Muruga), with his favourite peacock behind him. The reverse depicts the Nandi (sacred bull) below the Shivalinga.
The Madurai Nayaks issued many coins featuring fish, the emblem of the Pandyas, who ruled Madurai before the Vijayanagara and Nayak rulers.
Some early Madurai Nayak coins portray the figure of the king. The bull also is seen frequently on the Madurai Nayak coins. Chokkanatha Nayak, one of the last rulers of the dynasty, issued coins displaying various animals, such as the bear, elephant and lion. He also issued coins featuring Hanuman and Garuda. The inscriptions on the Nayak coins are in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Nagari scripts. Unlike the coins of many of the earlier dynasties, the Nayak coins are easily available for coin-collectors.
Read more about this topic: Madurai Nayak Dynasty
Famous quotes containing the word coins:
“No Time, spoke the clocks, no God, rang the bells,
I drew the white sheet over the islands
And the coins on my eyelids sang like shells.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)