Evolution of hieroglyphs on ancient Bhāratīya Monetary System of coinage from Indus Script writing system (original) (raw)

This monographs demonstrates that early punch-marked coins of Bhāratīya Monetary System of coinage documented a continuum of Indus Script cipher tradition to inscribe on the coins, catalogues of wealth-accounting metalwork ledgers. Early Bhāratīya coinage is anepigraphic, i.e. the coins are without a legend and early punch-marked coins bore hieroglyphs on one side or on both sides. In contrast, a legend characterised ancient Greek coinage typically with busts of kings or deities. Many views are expressed about the exchange of ideas for design of coins between Bhāratīya tradition dating back to the Tin-Bronze Age days of Sarasvati Civilization (ca. 3300 BCE) and to the Indo-Greek/Greek tradition of coinage exemplified by the Lydia coins dated to ca. 7th century BCE. Surprisingly, this Lydia coinage deploys Indus Script hieroglyphs -- most significantly the most frequent hypertext one-horned young bull. Indus script hypertext: 1. Dots emanating from the mouth of the lion; 2. Profile of the lion 3. Feline paw 4. Profile of the one-horned young bull with rings on neck. The hypertexts are read rebus in Meluhha Bhāratīya sprachbund (speech union): 1. gota 'round stone, pebble' rebus:goti 'silver'; 2. arye 'lion' rebus: ara, āra 'brass'; panja 'feline paw' rebus: panja 'kiln, furnace'; 4. खोंड (p. 216) [khōṇḍa] m A young bull, a bullcalf; खोंडा [ khōṇḍā ] m A कांबळा of which one end is formed into a cowl or hood. खोंडरूं [ khōṇḍarūṃ ] n A contemptuous form of खोंडा in the sense of कांबळा-cowl (Marathi. Molesworth); kōḍe dūḍa bull calf (Telugu); kōṛe 'young bullock' (Konda) koṭiyum 'rings on neck; a wooden circle put round the neck of an animal' (Gujarati.) Rebus: kõdā ‘to turn in a lathe’ (Bengali) kunda 'nidhi of Kubera'; Ka. kundaṇa setting a precious stone in fine gold; fine gold; kundana fine gold. Tu. kundaṇa pure gold. Te. kundanamu fine gold used in very thin foils in setting precious stones; setting precious stones with fine gold.(DEDR 1725). Thus, the opposition posited on the narrative legend on the Lydia coin is a contention between kundana 'fine gold' signified by khōṇḍa 'young bull calf' and ara, āra or aes or 's'm (assem -- Egyptian), or soma 'electrum, i.e. gold with silver or electrum or brass alloy' signified by arye 'lion'. Quintus Curtius- Rufus, notes that Omphis, the king of Taxila presented 80 talents of marked silver (signati argenti) to Alexander.' (Kirankumar Thaplyal & Prashant Srivastava, Coins of Ancient India, p. 16). The expression signati argenti is generally interpreted as coined silver money (NOT as silverbullion). The 80 talents of signati argenti may thus refer to punch-marked silver coins marked or punched with Indus Script hieroglyphs. Archaeological evidence which supports this literary text of Quintus Curtius-Rufus is as follows: At Bhir Mound of Taxila, a silver hoard was discovered (1924) with 1055 very worn punch-marked coins (signifying extensive money circulation), in addition to two coins of Alexander and one coin of Aridaeus which were in mint condition. (Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India, No.59, pp.1-2.) The Bhir Mound is dated to ca. 4th century BCE; thus evidencing that coined money was in circulation in the region well before the arrival of Alexander. Alexander Cunningham makes the following observations about the antiquity of the punch-marked coins of the Bhir Mound pre-dated Alexandeer: "The Indian Monetary System was essentially original as it differed from the Greek and from all other systems, in its unit of weight as well as its scale of multiples. Its nomenclature was also quite different and the common form of money was not round, but square...(hence) no hesitation in stating that the Indian Monetary System is the original invention of the Hindu mind...How old these punch-marked coins may be, it is difficult to say. They were certainly in use in the time of Buddha, i.e. 6th century BCE. But I see no difficulty in thinking that they might have been in vogue as early as 1000 BCE. "(Alexander Cunnigham, Coins of Ancient India, p.43.) The date of ca. 1000 BCE posited by Cunningham bring the Bhāratīya Monetary System close in time to the final Harappan phase of Sarasvati Civilization exemplified by the metalwork symbolised by Anthropomorphs of Sheorajpur. (See: Anthropomorphs dharma samjña. Position analysis of Indus Script hypertexts Sign 389, Sign 387 bun-ingot shape (oval) + 'twig', 'riceplant' rebus: ‘smelter’ ‘smithy’ https://tinyurl.com/y7a6htzw). Indus Script decipherment has demonstrated the significance of the following hypertexts/hieroglyphs to signify metalwork catalogues as wealth-accounting ledgers: See: Cluster analysis of Indus writing system design principle, of 33 sāṅgāḍī 'joined parts'; Field symbols for samgaha wealth categories catalogues for accounting ledgers https://tinyurl.com/y8p7b8q2 It has been demonstrated that Dotted circle) signifies dhā̆vaḍ 'iron smelter'., occurs with high frequency with the following signs and Triplet The triplet signifies baran, bharat ‘mixed alloys’ (5 copper, 4 zinc and 1 tin) entered in the daybook and handed to seafaring supercargo for transport. See: Validation of metalwork catalogues using select Indus Script inscriptions, sign design and positional analysis of signs by Sundar Ganesan et al (2009) https://tinyurl.com/ycyrg5yp The hypertext of 'dotted circle' of Indus Script Corpora which reads and signifies dhā̆vaḍ 'iron smelter' as a wealth-accounting ledger category becomes the dominant hieroglyph on early, ca. 1000 BCE punch-marked coins of Bhāratīya Monetary System. Punch-markied coins use this hypertext with semantic expansion of expressions related mint work. पण a weight of copper used as a coin (= 20 माषs = 4 काकिनीs) (मनु-स्मृति, याज्ञवल्क्य); a partic. measure (पाणिनि 3-3 , 66 ("a handful" -- Sāyaṇa ); wealth , property, business (Monier-Williams) kārṣāpaṇa or Punch-marked coins are referred to as Purāṇa, i.e. older than Greek coins.कार्षा* पण mn. (g. अर्धर्चा*दि ; cf. कर्ष्) " weighing a कर्ष " , a coin or weight of different values (if of gold , = 16 माषs » कर्ष ; if of silver , = 16 पणs or 1280 Kowries , commonly termed a Kahan ; if of copper , = 80 रक्तिकाs or about 176 grains ; but accord. to some = only 1 पण of Kowries or 80 Kowries)(मनु-स्मृति viii , 136 ; 336 ; ix , 282); (ifc.) worth so many कार्षापणs (पाणिनि. 5-1 , 29. ). The cognates of कर्ष् is: Ta. kācu (< Te.; Voc. 663). / ? Cf. Skt. karṣa-. (DEDR 1431) kārṣāpaṇá m.n. ʻ a partic. coin or weight equivalent to one karṣa ʼ. [karṣa -- m. ʻ a partic. weight ʼ Suśr. (cf. OPers. karša -- ) and paṇa -- 2 or āpana -- EWA i 176 and 202 with lit. But from early MIA. kā̆hā°]Pa. kahāpaṇa -- m.n. ʻ a partic. weight and coin ʼ, KharI. kahapana -- , Pk. karisāvaṇa -- m.n., kāhāvaṇa -- , kah° m.; A. kaoṇ ʻ a coin equivalent to 1 rupee or 16 paṇas or 1280 cowries ʼ; B. kāhan ʻ 16 paṇas ʼ; Or. kāhā̆ṇaʻ 16 annas or 1280 cowries ʼ, H. kahāwan, kāhan, kahān m.; OSi. (brāhmī) kahavaṇa, Si. kahavuṇa, °vaṇuva ʻ a partic. weight ʼ. kāˊrṣāpaṇika ʻ worth or bought for a kārṣāpaṇa ʼ Pāṇ. [kārṣāpaṇá -- ]Pa. kāhāpaṇika -- , Or. kāhāṇiã̄; †*kārṣū -- f. ʻ furrow, trench ʼ ~ karṣūˊ -- with dial. IA. a for ā < IE. o as in Av. karšū ʻ ploughed land ʼ and in karṣí -- ~ kāˊrṣi -- T. Burrow BSOAS xxxviii 70, Turner BSOAS xxxvi 429. Pa. kāsū -- in aṅgāra -- kāsū -- f. ʻ fire -- pit ʼ..(CDIAL 3080, 3081) See: karṣí ʻ furrowing ʼ Kapiṣṭh. [Cf. kāˊrṣi -- ʻ ploughing ʼ VS., karṣūˊ -- f. ʻ furrow, trench ʼ ŚBr.: √kr̥ṣ]Pr. kṣe_ ʻ plough -- iron ʼ, Paš. kaṣí ʻ mattock, hoe ʼ; Shum. káṣi ʻ spade, pickaxe ʼ; S. kasī f. ʻ trench, watercourse ʼ; L. kass m. ʻ catch drain, ravine ʼ, kassī f. ʻ small distributing channel from a canal ʼ; G. kã̄s m. ʻ artificial canal for irrigation ʼ -- Dm. Phal. khaṣīˊ ʻ small hoe ʼ perh. X khánati.Addenda: karṣí -- (kaṣĭ̄ -- f. ʻ spade ʼ lex.). [Like Av. karšivant<-> ʻ cultivator ʼ < IE. *kworsi -- with alternative development of IE. o ~ kāˊrṣi -- , kārṣīvaṇa -- ʻ cultivator ʼ T. Burrow, BSOAS xxxviii 63, 70; cf. karṣūˊ -- ~ †*kārṣū -- Turner BSOAS xxxvi 425](CDIAL 2909). Jātaka stories which depict life in 6th-5th centuries BCE refer to contacts between Bhāratīya merchants and Baveru (Babylonia) merchants. The possibility of the Babylonian 'shekels' (525 BCE) -- based on the weight system of 132 grains being influenced by Bhāratīya Monetary System of paṇa -- based on the weight system of 56 grains and also the weight of raktikā, abrus precatorious seed, with an average weight of 1.8 grains -- cannot be ruled out, while the source of silver may be traced to the Meluhha (mleccha, 'copper (workers)' contact regions of Ancient Near East.) The weight of the Achaemenian sytem of sigloi is based on its weight of 56 grains. An Achaemenian coin does show the Indus Script hypertext of an archer: kamaḍha 'archer, bow' Rebus: kammaṭa 'mint, coiner, coinage'.