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[[File:Kosala Karshapana.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Kosala]] karshapanas. Circa 525-465 BCEE. Average diameter 25mm, average weight 2.70 gm. Each piece with a variety of separate punch-marks applied to both sides.]]
[[File:I17 1karshapana Sunga MACW4325 1ar (8485402873).jpg|thumb|250px|A silver coin of 1 karshapana of King [[Pushyamitra Sunga]] (185-149 BCE) of the [[Sunga dynasty]] (185-73 BCE), workshop of [[Vidisa]] (?). '''Obv:''' 5 symbols including a sun '''Rev:''' 2 symbols '''Dimensions:''' 19.7 x 13.87 mm '''Weight:''' 3.5 g.]]
[[File:I42 1karshapana Maurya Bindusara MACW4165 1ar (8486583162).jpg|thumb|250px|A silver coin of 1 karshapana of the Maurya empire, period of [[Bindusara]] c. 297-272 BCE, workshop of Pataliputra. '''Obv:''' Symbols with a Sun '''Rev:''' Symbol '''Dimensions:''' 14 x 11 mm '''Weight:''' 3.4 g.]]
'''Karshapana''' ({{lang-sa|कार्षापण}}, [[International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration|IAST]]: ''Kārṣāpaṇa''), according to the [[Ashtadhyayi]] of [[Pāṇini|Panini]], refers to ancient Indian coins current during the 6th century BCE onwards, which were unstamped and stamped (''āhata'') metallic pieces whose validity depended on the integrity of the person authenticating them. It is commonly supposed by scholars that they were first issued by merchants and bankers rather than the state. They contributed to the development of trade since they obviated the need for weighing of metal during exchange. ''Kārṣāpaṇas'' were basically silver pieces stamped with one to five or six ''rūpas'' ('symbols') originally only on the obverse side of the coins initially issued by the [[Janapadas]] and [[Mahajanapadas]], and generally carried minute mark or marks to testify their legitimacy. Silver punch-marked coins ceased to be minted sometime in the second century BCE but exerted a wide influence for next five centuries.<ref>{{cite book|title=Coins|author=Parmeshwari Lal Gupta|publisher=National Book Trust|pages=7–11|url= http://www.nbtindia.gov.in/books_detail__8__india-the-land-and-the-people__38__coins.nbt }}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Ghosh |first=Amalananda |title=An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wba-EZhZcfgC&pg=PA10 |year=1990 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-09264-1 |p=10}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The punch-marked coins were called "''Kārṣāpaṇa''" because they weighed one kārsha each.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Coins of Karnataka|author=A.V.Narsimha Murthy|publisher=Geetha Book House|page=19|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fPoXAAAAMAAJ&q=karshapana&dq=karshapana&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pgnbVM-6JoqXuASzzYHQDw&redir_esc=y }}</ref>

==History==
The period of the origin of the [[punch-marked coins]] is not yet known, but their origin was indigenous. The word, ''Kārṣāpaṇa'', first appears in the [[Sutra|Sutra literature]], in the ''Samvidhān Brāhmana''. Coins bearing this name were in circulation during the ''Sutra'' and the ''Brāhmana period'' and also find a mention in the early [[Buddhist]] ([[Dhammapada]] verse 186) and [[Persian language|Persian]] texts of that period. [[Patanjali]] in his commentary on the ''vārttikas'' of [[Kātyāyana]] on [[Pāṇini#Ashtadhyayi|Aṣṭādhyāyī]] uses the word, "''Kārṣāpaṇa''", to mean a coin –

:कार्षापणशो ददाति

:"He gives a Kārṣāpaṇa coin to each" or

:कार्षापणम् ददाति

:"He gives a Kārṣāpaṇa",

while explaining the use of the suffix – शस् taken up by Pāṇini in Sutra V.iv.43, in this case, कार्षापण + शः to indicate a "coin".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Ashtadhyayi of Panini Vol.2|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|page=998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UTChci828qoC&pg=PA998&dq=karshapana&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pgnbVM-6JoqXuASzzYHQDw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=karshapana&f=false }}</ref> The '' [[Shatapatha Brahmana]] '' speaks about ''Kārṣāpaṇas'' weighing 100 ratis which kind were found buried at Taxila by John Marshall in 1912. The Golakpur ([[Patna]]) find pertains to the period of [[Ajatashatru|Ajātaśatru]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Bhārat kī prāchīn mudrāyen (Ancient coins of India) 1998 Edition|author=Anand Singh|publisher=Sharda Pustak Bhavan, Allahabad|pages= 41–42|ISBN=8186204091}}</ref> The Chaman – I – Hazuri ([[Kabul]]) find includes two varieties of punch-marked Indian coins along with numerous Greek coins of 600–500 BCE, thereby indicating that those kind of ''Kārṣāpaṇas'' were contemporaneous to the Greek coins and in circulation as legal tender.<ref>{{cite book|title=Recording the Progress of Indian History|publisher=Primus Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K4SzQL1uds4C&pg=PA414&dq=karshapana&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WwTbVJCFKsy-uAS48oDgCw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=karshapana&f=false }}</ref>

During the [[Maurya Empire|Mauryan Period]], the punch-marked coin called ''Rūpyārūpa'', which was same as ''Kārṣāpaṇa'' or ''Kahāpana'' or ''Prati'' or ''Tangka'', was made of alloy of silver (11 parts), copper (4 parts) and any other metal or metals (1 part).The early indigenous Indian coins were called ''Suvarṇa'' (made of gold), ''Purāṇa'' or ''Dhārana'' (made of silver) and ''Kārṣāpaṇa'' (made of copper). The Golakpur (Patna) find is mainly pre-Maurya, possibly of the [[Nanda Empire|Nanda era]], and appear to have been re-validated to make them kośa- praveśya (legal tender); the coins bearing larger number of marks are thought to be older in origin. The Maurya Empire was definitely based upon money-economy.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chandragupta Maurya and his times|author=Radhakumud Mookerji|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|pages=106, 107, 215, 212|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C&pg=PA213&dq=karshapana&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WwTbVJCFKsy-uAS48oDgCw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=karshapana&f=false }}</ref> The punch-marked copper coins were called ''paṇa''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Indian Sculpture|publisher=University of California Press|page=67|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=clUmKaWRFTkC&pg=PA67&dq=karshapana&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VwzbVKuQLYXmuQSHxIKIAQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=karshapana&f=false }}</ref> This type of coins were in circulation much before the occupation of [[Punjab]] by the Greeks <ref>{{cite book|title=Coins of Ancient India|author=Alexander Cunnigham|publisher=Asian Educational Services|page=47|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QOM2-rdspM8C&pg=PA47&dq=karshapana&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KQ7bVJjfJY2TuASR24HoDA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=karshapana&f=false }}</ref> who even carried them away to their own homeland.<ref>{{cite book|title=Into the Land of Bones|year=2005|author=Frank L. Holt|publisher=University of California Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/intolandofbones00fran/page/161 161]|url=https://archive.org/details/intolandofbones00fran |url-access=registration|quote=karshapana.}}</ref> Originally, they were issued by traders as blank silver bent-bars or pieces; the Magadha silver punch-marked ''Kārṣāpaṇa'' of Ajatashatru of [[Haryanka dynasty]] was a royal issue bearing five marks and weighing fifty-four grains, the [[Vedic]] weight called ''kārsha'' equal to sixteen ''māshas''.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Culture and Civilization of Ancient India in Historical Outline|author=D.D.Kosambi|page=124,129|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Quk_M98wyAMC&pg=PA124&dq=karshapana&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yArbVOPbHY2SuATznYLgDw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=karshapana&f=false }}</ref>

Even during the [[Indus Valley Civilization|Harappan Period]] (ca 2300 BCE) silver was extracted from ''argentiferous galena''. Silver ''Kārṣāpaṇas'' show lead impurity but no association with gold. The internal chronology of ''Kārṣāpaṇa'' and the marks of distinction between the coins issued by the Janapadas and the Magadhan issues is not known, the [[Arthashastra]] of [[Chanakya|Kautilya]] speaks about the role of the ''Lakshanadhyaksha'' ('the Superintendent of Mint') who knew about the symbols and the ''Rupadarshaka'' ('Examiner of Coins'), but has remained silent with regard to the construction, order, meaning and background of the punched symbols on these coins hence their exact identification and dating has not been possible.<ref>{{cite book|title=Aspects of Ancient Indian Technology|author=hari C. Bhardwaj|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|pages=140, 142|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pLqo5bu_q_sC&pg=PA142&dq=lakshanadhyaksha&hl=en&sa=X&ei=A-XeVMGNFo6wuQS0noDwBw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=lakshanadhyaksha&f=false }}</ref>

Indian merchants, through land and sea routes, have traded with the east African, Arab and middle-east people from the time of King [[Solomon]]. The term ''Kārṣāpaṇa'' referred to gold, silver and copper coins weighing 80 ''ratis'' or 146.5 grains; these coins, the earliest square in shape, followed the ancient Indian system of weights described in [[Manu Smriti]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Foreign Impact on Indian Life and Culture|author=S.N.Naskar|publisher=Abhinav Publications|page=186, 203|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SuEBGgRHHuIC&pg=PA193&dq=karshapana&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WwTbVJCFKsy-uAS48oDgCw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=karshapana&f=false }}</ref> Use of money was known to Vedic people much before 700 BCE. The words, ''Nishka'' and ''Krishnala'', denoted money, and ''Kārṣāpaṇas'', as standard coins, were regularly stored in the royal treasuries.<ref>{{cite book|title=Lectures on Ancient Indian Numismatics|author=D.R.Bhandarkar|publisher=Asian Educational Services|pages=55, 62, 79|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=n05XoH6sc6gC&pg=PA87&dq=karshapana&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WwTbVJCFKsy-uAS48oDgCw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=karshapana&f=false }}</ref>

The local silver punch-marked coins, included in the Bhabhuā and Golakpur finds, were issued by the Janapadas and were in circulation during the rule of the Brihadratha dynasty which was succeeded by the [[Haryanka dynasty]] in 684 BCE; these coins show four punch-marks - the sun-mark, the six-armed symbol, arrows (three) and taurine (three) which were current even during the rule of [[Bimbisara]] (604-552 BCE). [[Ajatashatru]] (552-520 BCE) issued the first Imperial coins of six punch-marks with the addition of the bull and the lion. The successors of Ajatashatru who ruled between 520 and 440 BCE and the later [[Shishunaga dynasty]] and the [[Nanda dynasty]] issued coins of five symbols – the sun-mark, the six-armed symbol and any three of the 450 symbols. The Maurya coins also have five symbols – the sun-mark, the six-armed symbol, three-arched hill with a crescent at the top, a branch of a tree at the corner of a four-squared railing and a bull with taurine in front. Punch-marked copper coins were first issued during the rule of [[Chandragupta Maurya]] or [[Bindusara]]. The Bhīr find includes Maurya coins and a coin of [[Diodotus I]] (255-239 BCE) issued in 248 BCE.<ref>{{cite book|title=Coins|author=Parmeshwari Lal Gupta|publisher=National Book Trust|pages=17–20, 239–240|url= http://www.nbtindia.gov.in/books_detail__8__india-the-land-and-the-people__38__coins.nbt }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Historic Indian currency and coinage}}

[[Category:Ancient currencies]]
[[Category:Coins of India]]
[[Category:Ancient India]]

Karshapana - Revision history

Aspjack: page updated

45.64.227.109: Undid revision 1010808057 by Graham87 (talk)