The Indian subcontinent can claim one of the earliest coinage traditions in the world. Learn how it evolved, starting from the Vedic period.
Produced for Sarmaya’s 2025-26 exhibition, Odyssey of the Rupee: From India to the world.
Script: Dr Shailendra Bhandare
Video Creator: Synara D’souza
Producers: Shardul Deshpande & Komal Chitnis
Voiceover: Pallavi Pillai
Image research: Mahika Jagtiani, Pooja Ashokkumar, Shardul Deshpande, Pallavi Pillai, Komal ChitnisAll images from the Sarmaya Arts Foundation archive, except:
William Dwight Whitney and Charles Rockwell Lanman, Image of Codex Cashmiriensis folio 187a from Atharva-Veda Saṁhitā second half, Wikimedia Commons
00:15 – 00:20 – William Dwight Whitney and Charles Rockwell Lanman, Image of Codex Cashmiriensis folio 187a from Atharva-Veda Saṁhitā second half, Wikimedia Commons,
00:20 – 00:27 – Kangra Workshop, Folio from a Bhagavatapurana Series: King Yudhisthira Performs the Rajasuya Sacrifice, 1825-50, Opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Norton Simon Museum (Wikimedia Commons),
00:28- 00: 31 – (right) Image of a Silver punch-marked coin of Kashi Janapada, struck around 500-350 BC, © Hinduja Foundation
00:40 – 00:45 – Image illustrating a hand-struck coin minting technique, © Royal Cooch Beharcooy
00:49- 00: – Image of a Silver punch-marked coin of the Godavari Valley region, struck between 400-250 BC, © Hinduja Foundation
1:10 – Image of a Silver punch-marked coin of the Vanga state, struck between 400 – 300 BC, Anthony Huan (Wikimedia Commons)
1:11 – Image of a Silver punch-marked coin of Northern India, struck between 500-300 B.C, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (Wikimedia Commons),
1:11 – Image of a Silver punch-marked ‘Karshapana’ of the Magadha Empire, struck around 400-300 BC, © Hinduja Foundation
1:11 – 1:12 – Image of a Silver punch–marked ‘Karshapana’ of Pushyamitra Sunga, struck between 185-149 BC, Jean-Michel Moullec (Wikimedia Commons),
1:12 – Image of a Silver punch-marked coin of the Godavari Valley region, struck around 400-250 BC, © Hinduja Foundation
1:12 – Image of a Eran type coin, struck between 200-101 BC, Wikimedia Commons,
1:13 – Image of a Silver punch-marked coin of Rajasthan, of the Mauryan period, struck between 322-185 BC, Cleveland Museum of Art (Wikimedia Commons),
1:14 – 1:19 – Avantiputra7, Map of places mentioned in ancient Buddhist Texts (like Anguttara Nikaya), Ramayana and Mahabharata, Wikimedia Commons,
1:23 – 1:32 – Image of a Silver punch-marked ‘Karshapana’ of the Magadha Empire, struck around 400-300 BC, © Hinduja Foundation
1:32 – 1:39 – Image of a Silver punch-marked ‘Karshapana’ of the Magadha Empire, struck around 400-300 BC, © Hinduja Foundation
1:39-1:51 – Ajit Mookerjee, 5000 Designs and Motifs from India, 1958, Indian Institute of Art in Industry
1:52 – 1:57 – Image of Silver punch-marked ‘Karshapana’ of the Magadha Empire, struck around 400-300 BCE, © Hinduja Foundation
Mayank Nalinkant Vahia, Astronomical Symbols on Indian Punchmarked Coins, 2019, ResearchGate.
