Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
64 Rattis - Dharmakara
| Issuer | Kingdom of Harikela (Ancient Myanmar) |
|---|---|
| Year | 680-910 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Central field bears a Devanagari legend arranged in two lines, the inscription reading the royal name or title associated with the Dharmakara issue. The lettering is bold and deeply struck within a beaded border, characteristic of the hammered coinage of Harikela. The script is executed in an early regional Devanagari style consistent with the 7th–10th century Bengal-Burma cultural sphere. The field surrounding the legend shows a slightly granular, irregular surface typical of cast and hand-struck silver blanks of this period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Devanagari |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Harikela occupied the coastal Bengal region — roughly modern southeastern Bangladesh and not Myanmar, despite catalog conventions that sometimes muddy the attribution. The kingdom thrived on maritime trade connecting the Bay of Bengal networks to Southeast Asian ports, and its silver coinage circulated well beyond its political borders, turning up in hoards from Sri Lanka to the Malay Peninsula. The Dharmakara type specifically is associated with Buddhist institutional patronage, likely issued under rulers whose authority was bound up with monastic endowments rather than purely secular administration.
Mitchiner's LOW series remains the primary reference, though attribution within the Harikela sequence continues to be revised as new hoard evidence emerges from Bangladesh.