>Lennart97: Disambiguated: Puducherry → Pondicherry

2020-12-23T23:22:57Z

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{refimprove|date=March 2018}}
[[File:French issued gold Pagoda for Southern India trade cast in Pondicherry 1705 1780.jpg|thumb|350px|[[French East India Company]]-issued "Gold Pagoda" for [[Southern India]] trade, cast in [[Pondicherry]] 1705–1780.]]
The '''pagoda''' was a unit of currency, a coin made of gold or half-gold minted by Indian dynasties as well as the British, the French and the Dutch. It was subdivided into 42 [[fanam (disambiguation)|fanam]]s. The pagoda was issued by various dynasties in medieval southern India, including the [[Kadambas of Hangal]], the [[Kadambas of Goa]], and the [[Vijaynagar Empire]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.med.unc.edu/~nupam/postg1.html|title=Southern India Coins|publisher=Med.unc.edu|accessdate=2007-03-20|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070204080158/http://www.med.unc.edu/~nupam/postg1.html  |archivedate = 2007-02-04}}</ref>

There were two types of pagoda coined by foreign traders:
*The most valuable was the star pagoda, 100 of them were worth 350 [[Indian rupee|rupees]], issued by the [[Honourable East India Company|East India Company]] at [[Madras]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chennaimuseum.org/draft/gallery/04/01/coin8.htm|title=European East India Companies coins|publisher=Chennai Museum|accessdate=2007-03-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Joseph Blunt|title=The Shipmaster's Assistant, and Commercial Digest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cDkSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA372|year=1837|publisher=E. & G.W. Blunt|page=372}}</ref>
*The second was the [[Parangipettai|Porto Novo]] pagoda, issued by the Dutch at [[Tuticorin]] and also by the [[Nawabs of Arcot]], and worth about 25% less than the star pagoda.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/digital/under/research/glossary.html|title = glossary - pagoda|accessdate = 2007-03-20|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070126101342/http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/digital/under/research/glossary.html|archivedate = 2007-01-26}}</ref>

The French struck local gold "pagodas" and silver "fanams" under contract by the nawabs. The silver coins of the French were called "fanon" which were equivalent to the local "fanam" and could be exchanged at the rate of 26 fanon to one gold pagoda.<ref name=excoins>[http://exclusivecoins.blogspot.com/2013/01/did-you-know-series-15-chennai-museum.html Exclusive Coins Blogspot, accessed 8 Dec 2015]</ref>
[[Kattabomman]] almost cleared all the revenue arrears leaving only a balance of [[1080 pagodas]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Money}}
*[[Madras fanam]]
*[[Travancore Fanam]]
*[[Coinage of Asia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons|Pagoda (coin)|Pagoda}}
*[http://www.ourkarnataka.com/states/history/historyofkarnataka3.htm Sources of Karnataka History - Numismatics]
*[http://www.chennaimuseum.org/draft/gallery/04/01/coin8.htm European East India Companies coins - photos]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070504014811/http://www.australianstamp.com/Coin-web/aust/earlyaus/proclmtn/pagoda.htm The Pagoda - A Proclamation Coin]
*[http://www.australian-threepence.com/blog/2008/12/proclamation-coin-indian-gold-pagoda.html Proclamation Coin - Indian Gold Pagoda]
{{Historic Indian currency and coinage}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagoda (Coin)}}
[[Category:Coins of India]]
[[Category:Economic history of Karnataka]]

{{money-unit-stub}}
{{India-hist-stub}}

Pagoda (coin) - Revision history

>Lennart97: Disambiguated: Puducherry → Pondicherry