Item number: A3593

Year: circa AD 100-300

Material: Gold

Size: 19.6 x 19.8 x 1.2 mm

Weight: 6.4 g

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This is a gold coin likely issued under King Jadamara of the ancient polity of Samatata. The denomination of the coin remains uncertain; however, by convention in later numismatic scholarship, it is referred to as a dinar.

The obverse depicts the ruler standing frontally, holding a bow in his raised left hand and an arrow in his lowered right hand, with a trident positioned behind his left shoulder. The surrounding inscription appears to form a circular legend, though the full reading remains uncertain. The reverse shows a standing female figure, possibly the goddess Lakṣmī, facing right in a tribhaṅga pose, with the body bent gracefully at the neck, waist, and knee. She holds the upper part of a trident, beneath which a tamgha-like emblem appears. To the left of the figure is an inscription, identified as a Brahmi-derived script spelling “Vira Jadamara,” meaning “the brave Jadamara.” The first element seems to denote a title, while the latter represents the king’s personal name or regnal epithet. Both the trident motif and the tribhaṅga posture derive from late Kushan iconographic conventions, reflecting continuity in regional artistic expression.

Samatata was an ancient polity in southeastern Bengal, active approximately between the 4th and 9th centuries AD. Its territory encompassed the lower reaches of the Meghna River, the coastal plains near Chittagong, and the elevated tracts of Comilla and Noakhali. The region was initially influenced by the eastern expansion of the Gupta Empire and may have functioned as a Gupta vassal. Following the Gupta decline, local rulers emerged, leaving behind a series of copperplate grants and inscriptions written in late Brahmi script. These artefacts are concentrated in the Mainamati–Lalmai region and correspond closely with the nearby monastic complex of Shalban Vihara, confirming the area’s Buddhist significance. The Chinese pilgrim Yijing, travelling in the 7th century AD, described Samatata as a flourishing Buddhist land with numerous monasteries. Owing to its strategic position at the mouth of the Meghna River, Samatata controlled the northeastern maritime routes of the Bay of Bengal and, alongside Vanga and Harikela, constituted one of eastern Bengal’s principal regional polities. Its trade and cultural exchanges extended overland and by sea toward Arakan and Southeast Asia. From the 8th century onwards, with the rise of the Pāla dynasty in western Bengal and the emergence of new coastal powers, Samatata was gradually incorporated as a subordinate realm. By the 13th century, following the Islamic conquests of Bengal, local Hindu and Buddhist polities had effectively ceased to exist.

物件編號: A3593

年代: 約公元 100-300 年

材質: 黃金

尺寸: 19.6 x 19.8 x 1.2 mm

重量: 6.4 g

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚可能為三摩呾吒國的賈達瑪拉王所鑄行的金幣。幣名待考，按後世錢幣學傳統稱為第納爾。

金幣正面為鑄主之正面立像，左手舉弓，右手微垂持箭，左側身後立著一三叉戟。幣圖似以銘文環繞，但具體待考。背面為女性右側立像，可能為吉祥天女，以三屈式站姿呈現，即身體於肩頸處、腰臀處、膝蓋處向各異的方向彎曲。手持三叉戟的首部，其下則似有類似族徽的符號。左側有銘文，據稱為婆羅米文變體的「Vira Jadamara」，即「勇者賈達瑪拉」，前者似為頭銜，後者似為王名或王號。三叉戟符號與三屈式站姿，皆源自貴霜帝國晚期幣圖元素。

三摩呾吒國(Samatata)為孟加拉東南部的古代政權，活躍期約自公元4世紀至8、9世紀，地理範圍大致在今梅克納河下游與吉大港沿岸低地、庫米拉高地與諾阿卡利一帶。早期受笈多王朝東方勢力影響，並可能為笈多王朝的附庸，笈多衰退後本地統治者興起，先後留下多件銅板詔書與碑銘，文字系統承婆羅米語系，出土地集中於梅因納馬蒂(Mainamati)—拉爾邁(Lalmai)一線，並與佛寺遺址如沙爾班寺(Shalban Vihara)相互印證。中國僧人義淨在7世紀中提到此地佛教興盛、寺院眾多。憑藉梅克納河口通海之利，三摩呾吒掌握孟加拉灣東北沿岸航道，與毗鄰的傍伽(Vanga)與訶利雞羅(Harikela)並列為東孟加拉重要區域政體；其商品與人流經由陸海路聯繫阿拉干及東南亞。至8世紀後，伴隨孟加拉西部帕拉王朝崛起與東南沿海諸政權更替，三摩呾吒逐步被納為諸王朝附庸，公元十三世紀後，伴隨伊斯蘭教的征服，本地的印度教與佛教政權逐漸不復存在。