The Coinage and History of Southern India - Part 2: Tamilnadu - Kerala by Michael Mitchiner

The Coinage and History of Southern India - Part 2: Tamilnadu - Kerala by Michael Mitchiner

Hawkins Publications, 1998. 282 pages, hardcover

ISBN-10: 0904173232 / ISBN-13: 978-0904173239

Author's Introduction:

Many of the basic concepts expressed in this study were originally developed during the course of journeys made through Tamilnadu and Kerala during April to Sugust of 1993. Some of the evidence was presented in a paper read at the 4th International Colloquium of the Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies (Nasik) in January 1995, and more was published by the Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies at Nasik (1995) under the title of Coin Circulation in Southernmost India. During the summers of 1995 and 1997 the author traveled extensively in Karnataka and revisited many sites in Tamilnadu. Analysis of much new information has lead to this presentation of The Coinage of Southern India, of which this is the second volume. 

The first section of this volume is concerned principally with information written down by ancient writers and with the observations made by the author during his travels. The latter is essentially a record of coin provenance and of certain geographical observations relevant to the study of the coinage. The area covered by this study comprises the Indian States of Tamilnadu and Kerala: a roughly triangular area extending from the southern tip of India, northwards to the frontiers of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. 

The second section comprises a historical survey of the region and of coinage that circulated there. A major focus of this study concerns the circulation of local and imported coins during the ancient period. This provides a necessary foundation for establishing the numismatic history of India's far South.