Tai Ahom International

As was usually the case in India, the standard coin of the Ahoms weighed a tola(two fifths of an ounce) or 96 ratis. The peculiarity of the Ahom coins lay in their shape. Instead of being circular, they were octagonal, in accordance with the sloka in the Jagini Tantra which describes the country of the Ahoms as having eight sides. In other respects they bore a marked resemblance to the coins of the Koch kings. The earliest Ahom coins bear a date equvalent to 1543 A.D.and were struck by Suklenmung in the fourth year of his reign. More than a century elapsed before any of his successors followed his example. It then became the practice for each new ruler to mark his accession to the throne by the issue of coins bearing his name, but was not untill the reign of Rudra Singh that the mint was kept constantly at work and smaller coins weighing 48 and 24 ratis respectively were first issued. Still smaller coins weighing 12 and 6 ratis were first issued by Sib Singh, and coins weighing 3 ratis by Gaurinath. A regular gold currency was introduced by Sib Singh; before his time the only gold coins extant are those of Suklenmung and Udyaditiya. The legend of Suklenmung’s coins was in the Ahom language and character. The coins of Jayadhvaj Singh and Chakradhvaj Singh bore Sanskrit legends in the Bengali script. The next three rulers reverted to Ahom, but from Rudra Singh onwards the use of Sanskrit became the rule. Two later kings (Pramata Singh and Rajesvar Singh) struck coins with Ahom legends in the year of their accession, but these were probably in the nature of medals for ceremonial distribution, as Sanskrit was the language used on all the other coins issued by them. Square coins with Persian legends were issued by Sib Singh in 1729 A.D. and by Rajeswar Singh in 1752. A spare coin with a Sanskrit legend was issued by Lakshmi Singh in 1770. The Ahom and Sanskrit legends were all of much the same tenor. The obverse gave the name of the king and the date of issue, and the reverse the name of his favourite deity. Thus the transaltion of the Ahom legend on Suklenmung’s coins run as follows:- Obverse: The great king Suklenmung, fifteenth year(of cycle). Reverse: I the king offer prayers to Tara. The cycle referred to is the greater Jovian cycle of sixty years, known to Hindu astrologers as Vrihaspati Chakra, or wheel of Jupiter, which was in use amongst the Chinese 2,000 years before the Christian era. As a typical coin bearing a Sanskrit legend we may take that of Chakradhvaj Singh which reads:- Obverse: Of Svargadeb (heavenly deity) Chakradhvaj Singh, Sak 1585 (1663 A.D.) Reverse: Devoted (genitive) to the feet of Siva and Ram. The deities most commonly mentioned are Indra on the coins with Ahom, and Siva (with or without his consorts) on those with Sanskrit legends; but the Vaishnava usurpers Bharath and Sarbanand, invoked Krishna, while Brajanath invoked both Radha and Krishna.

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