Tamils - a Trans State Nation..

"To us all towns are one, all men our kin.
Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill
Man's pains and pains' relief are from within.
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !."
-
Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa 500 B.C

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Home > The Tamil Heritage - History & Geography > Tamil Coins - Sangam Age

CONTENTS
OF THIS SECTION
10/06/09

Chera Coin - Roman connection in Tamil Nadu

Coins of Chola Times

Tamil Nadu Coins
- Courtesy Dr.Jayabarathy

Amman -Presiding Deity

Puducheri Kozhi Kasu, 1836

Rajendra Chozha I

Puducheri Coin
with Tamil Script

Roman Karur & Roman Coins - Dr.R.Nagasamy, 1995 "Karur in Trichy district of Tamilnad has been yielding in recent times an astonishing number of antiquities especially coins and inscribed objects both in quantity and variety from the Amaravathi river bed. The learned Tamil Scholar Francois Gros of the Ecole Francais Extreme Orient, Pondicherry suggested that I study all the recent Karur finds and assess their archeological significance and the role of Karur in the history of Tamil civilization. This book is in response to that suggestion. I am thankful to Dr. Gros for his keen interest in the subject and also valuable suggestions when the work was under preparation. As the work progressed, it was becoming increasingly clear that Roman presence in Tamilnad either by themselves or by the Egyptian Greek subjects of them, had left far more deeper impact on the economy, defense, arts and architecture than hitherto visualised...."

TAMIL HERITAGE...
the Tamils are an ancient people

Sangam Age Tamil Coins
courtesy: R.Krishnamurthy

Monograph available from Garnet Publications,
34, Second Main Road, Raja Annamalaipuram,
Chennai 600 028, India

see also R. Krishnamurthy. Non-Roman Ancient Foreign Coins from Karur in India


There are a few benchmarks in our knowledge of the ancient Tamil speaking people of South India, popularly referred to as the "Sangam Age" of the Tamils and approximately spanning the period between 300 B.C to 300 A.D.

They are the discovery of the literature of this age ; the reading of the names of some kings of this period in the Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions ; the identification of some coins assignable to this age ; the definite attribution of a coin with the legend Peru-valuthi embossed in Tamil-Brahmi script to the Pandya King of the Sangam Age by R.Krishnamurthy, the author of this monograph .

This book is the result of his painstaking effort over a decade to collect, classify and understand the coins of this age and bring out in English a comprehensive study in a single volume and attempt to present enough material to substantiate the view that the coinage of the ancient Tamil land was fairly well developed and the State was strong enough to contribute to this development process, probably due to its trans-Indian and trans-Oceanic trade contracts.

Illustrated with line drawings and attractive multicolour photographs of coins, the monograph is likely to remain as a standard reference work to historians, numismatics,coin collectors, and the general readers interested in the Sangam Age of the Tamils and their coins in particular.

'Makkotai' silver coin

'Makkotai' Silver coin

'Kuttuvan Kotai' silver coin
'Kuttuvan kotai' silver coin

'Peru-valuthi' Pandya coin'Peru-valuthi' Pandya coin
'Peru-valuthi' Pandya coin

Pandya coinPandya coin
Pandya coin

Chola coinChola coin
Chola coin

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