Item number: A3592

Year: AD 1509-1529

Material: Gold

Size: 9.5 x 9.8 x 1.1 mm

Weight: 1.65 g

Manufactured by: Hampi Mint

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This is a half gold pagoda issued under Krishnadevaraya of the Tuluva dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire.

The obverse depicts the Hindu deity Krishna seated frontally in full figure, represented in his infant form, hence known as Balakrishna. The figure is bare-chested with the abdomen exposed, the left knee raised and the right leg folded in a relaxed or playful posture (lalitasana). Decorations resembling peacock feathers appear to rise on both sides of his head, possibly indicating the traditional feather ornament. On either side of his shoulders are the chakra (discus) and shankha (conch), the principal emblems of Vishnu, signifying Krishna’s identity as one of Vishnu’s ten incarnations.

The reverse bears a legend in Devanagari script, arranged from left to right and top to bottom. The uppermost line reads “श्री प्र” (Śrī pra), where Śrī is an honorific meaning “auspicious” or “venerable”, used for deities and monarchs alike. The second line reads “ताप कृष्ण” (tāpa Kṛṣṇa); Pratāpa means “valour” or “glory”, possibly serving as an epithet or an indicator of denomination, while Kṛṣṇa denotes both the king’s name and the divine figure Krishna. The final line “राय” (Rāya) is a southern Indian royal title, cognate with Rāja, meaning “king”.

The Vijayanagara Empire, known in English sources also as the Karnata Kingdom, was founded in AD 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka I, with its capital established at Vijayanagara, present-day Hampi in Karnataka. At its greatest extent, the empire controlled much of southern India, stretching from Karnataka across Andhra and Tamil regions. Its administrative system combined central authority with local aristocratic power, while its military was organised under feudal commanders. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Vijayanagara became the leading political and economic centre of the south, maintaining active trade with European powers such as Portugal. In AD 1565, the imperial army was defeated by the Deccan Confederacy at the Battle of Talikota; although rule persisted for a time, political influence gradually shifted eastward, and the empire eventually declined by the mid-seventeenth century.

The Tuluva dynasty, the third ruling house of the Vijayanagara Empire, was founded towards the end of the fifteenth century by Vira Narasimha Raya. The dynasty consolidated authority in southern India and largely continued the administrative and military systems established by the preceding Saluva line. The Tuluva rulers maintained resistance against the northern Muslim sultanates while sustaining commerce with coastal trading centres. Their rule endured until the late sixteenth century, during which the empire achieved its greatest territorial and political reach.

Krishnadevaraya, whose name may be rendered as “King Krishna Deva”, was the half-brother of Vira Narasimha Raya and reigned from AD 1509 to 1529. Upon accession, he reorganised administration and the army, campaigned successfully against the Deccan sultanates, and recovered several territories while repelling eastern threats from the Gajapati kingdom. Under his rule the empire extended from the eastern coast to the Western Ghats. Krishnadevaraya maintained commercial relations with Portugal, and the ports of Goa and Calicut (modern Kozhikode) served as major trading hubs. He died in AD 1529 and was succeeded by his nephew Achyuta Deva Raya.

The Gadyana was the principal gold denomination of the Vijayanagara monetary system, deriving from the medieval South Indian coinage tradition and often associated with the Varaha. Inscriptions attest to its stable value, making it the standard unit for official transactions and religious endowments. Weighing about fifty-two grains (approximately 3.4 g), it appeared in several variants, such as the Dodda Gadyana, Rekha Gadyana, and Pratāpa Gadyana. The Pratāpa Gadyana was first introduced by Harihara II in the late fourteenth century, its obverse inscribed with the word Pratāpa followed by the ruler’s name. Valued at half a Gadyana (around twenty-six grains), it symbolised royal authority and fiscal stability, functioning as a subsidiary gold denomination within the imperial system. The term Pagoda was the European designation for South Indian gold coins of comparable weight, and in both internal and maritime trade the Gadyana, Pon (or Hon), and Pagoda were effectively treated as equivalent units, reflecting the close interaction between the Vijayanagara monetary structure and the wider Indian Ocean economy.

物件編號: A3592

年代: 公元 1509-1529 年

材質: 黃金

尺寸: 9.5 x 9.8 x 1.1 mm

重量: 1.65 g

製造地: 亨比造幣廠

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚毗奢耶那伽羅帝國， 圖盧瓦王朝的克利須那提婆羅闍所鑄行的半金帕果達。

金幣的正面為印度教神祇「黑天」(Krishna)的正面全身坐像，以孩童形象呈現，故亦稱「童相黑天」(Balakrishna)。袒胸露腹，左膝立起，右腿結半趺坐，亦稱遊戲坐或安逸坐。頭頂兩側似有頭飾，可能為孔雀羽毛。雙肩兩側伴有法輪(discus, chakra)與海螺(conch, shankha)，為主神毗濕奴(Vishnu)之法器，彰顯黑天為毗濕奴十大化身之一的身分。

背面為天城銘文，由左至右，由上而下，最上方為「श्री प्र」，「श्री」(Śrī)為對君主或神祇之敬稱，可譯為「吉祥的」。第二行為「ताप कृष्ण」，「प्रताप」(Pratāpa)為「威武、英勇」之意，似為稱號，也可能是幣值或面額的一種辨識方式。「कृष्ण」(Kṛṣṇa)為君主名稱，亦為神祇「黑天」之意。末行「राय」(Rāya)，即為南印度區域之君主稱號，與「羅闍」(Raj)同源，亦可譯為「國王」。

毗奢耶那伽羅帝國(Vijayanagar Empire，或譯維查耶納伽爾)，英稱卡納塔卡王國(Karnata Kingdom)。建立於公元 1336 年，由哈里哈拉一世與布迦一世兄弟創立，首都即為毗奢耶那伽羅城，位於今日卡納塔克邦的亨比。其最大統治範圍涵蓋南印度大部分地區，從卡納塔卡延伸至安德拉與泰米爾地區。帝國的行政體系結合中央與地方貴族勢力，軍事組織以封建將領為主。公元十五至十六世紀間，毗奢耶那伽羅成為南印度主要的政治與經濟中心，並與葡萄牙等歐洲勢力建立貿易關係。公元1565年，帝國軍在塔利科塔戰役中敗於德干聯盟，其後雖一度維持統治，但政治中心逐漸東移，至十七世紀中葉為止才完全衰亡。

圖盧瓦王朝(Tuluva Dynasty)為毗奢耶那伽羅帝國的第三個王朝，約於十五世紀末由維拉·那羅僧訶·羅闍(Vira Narasimha Raya)建立。該王朝在南印度鞏固政權，並基本延續了薩盧瓦王朝的行政與軍事制度。圖盧瓦君主繼續對抗北方穆斯林諸國，同時維繫與沿海貿易城市的經濟往來。王朝的統治延續至十六世紀末，期間帝國的領土與政治影響達至最大範圍。

克利須那提婆羅闍(Krishnadevaraya，亦譯克里希那德瓦拉亞)，或可意譯為奎師那神王。其為那羅僧訶之異母弟，公元1509至1529年間在位。他繼位後整頓軍政，北征德干諸蘇丹國，並收復多地。東拒格傑伯蒂帝國。其治下帝國領土自東海岸延伸至西高止山。克里希那德瓦拉亞同時維持與葡萄牙的貿易關係，港口城市果阿與卡利卡特(今科澤科德)成為主要通商口岸。他於公元1529年去世後，由其侄阿楚塔德瓦拉亞(Achyuta Deva Raya)繼位。

伽底耶那(Gadyana)是毗奢耶那伽羅帝國時期最具代表性的金幣單位，其名稱源自中古南印度的貨幣傳統，常與「瓦拉哈」(Varaha)並用。根據碑文記載，伽底耶那的幣值相當穩定，為帝國官方交易與宗教捐獻中主要的金幣標準。其重量約為五十二格令(約3.4克)，後來出現多種變體，如「多達‧伽底耶那」(Dodda gadyana)、「瑞卡‧伽底耶那」(Rekha gadyana)與「普拉塔帕‧伽底耶那」(Pratapa gadyana)等。其中，「普拉塔帕‧伽底耶那」最早由哈里哈拉二世(Harihara II)於十四世紀末引入，正面刻有「Pratapa」字樣與君主名，其幣值為半枚伽底耶那(約二十六格令)，象徵皇權威耀與財政穩定。此後，該幣成為帝國體系中的次級金幣單位。至於「帕果達」(Pagoda)則是歐洲與南印沿海貿易中對南印度金幣的通稱，重量與伽底耶那相近，二者在實際交易與外貿中常被視為等值單位，因此「蓬」(Pon)、「帕果達」與「伽底耶那」在晚期碑文中時常互換使用。