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Auction: 316 - The Collector's Series
Lot: 222

Early Coinage of Buddha´s Homeland: India. Shakya janapada. Anonymous, 600-500 BC. AR 5 Shana. 7.06 gms. Ornate symbol at center with seven or more bankers´ marks around. Rajgor 535. Attractive medium-gray, Extremely Fine.First discovered in Narhan in Uttar Pradesh, these Shakya issues constitute perhaps the earliest coinage of India. The Shakya janapada was set on India´s border with Nepal, north of the modern town of Gorakhpur. Historically, the region is most significant as the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, who was born in Lumbini and grew up, some 10 miles away, in the Shakya capital of Kapilvastu. Buddha´s father, Suddhodana was the elected ruler of Shakya. "There lived once upon a time, a king of the Shakya, a scion of the solar race, whose name was Suddhodana. He was pure of conduct and beloved of the Shakya like the autumn moon. He had a wife, splendid, beautiful and steadfast who was called the Great Maya, from her resemblance to Maya the goddess" - Buddha-carnita-kavya I, 1-2 of the second century Indian philosopher and poet, Asvaghosa.It is possible that these early silver coins circulated during the lifetime of Suddhodana and his son, Gautama Buddha. Shakya was later annexed by the Kingdom of Kosala.

Sold for
$425