Coinage and Economy of Premodern North-East India: Focus on Ahom Kingdom. (December 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dutta, Debajit
• Is Part Of: Indian historical review. Volume 44:Number 2(2017)
• Page Start: 212
• Page End: 224
• Publication Date: 2017-12
• Subjects: Money -- coins -- North-East India -- source -- precolonial -- economy; India -- History -- Periodicals; 954.005
• DOI: 10.1177/0376983617726470
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0376-9836

Abstract

The study of coinage and economy of any area has its own appeal. As they are not much affected by outline influence, so they often proceed along their own lines and thus can have significance for people trying to determine the general patterns of development. In precolonial phase of Indian history, the Ahom kingdom situated in the North-Eastern part demands special attention as it had its own glorious series of coinage. As a royal issue, the coins of Ahom kingdom were the emblems of royalty and symbolic majesty of the Ahom kings. The metals, the motifs as well as other accompanying details on the coins depict the details of faiths and customs adopted by the Ahom kingdom. In this write up, we will discuss the origin, growth, importance in contemporary economy and many other aspects of the Ahom coinage in a comprehensive manner.