Ancient currency in Sri Lanka II From ‘Kahavanu’ to ‘Masuran’

Saturday, 18 January 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By D.C. Ranatunga The ‘Kahavanu’ currency prevalent during the time of the Sinhalese kings in the Anuradhapura period continued after the Cholas invaded the

kingdom in the early 11th century. King Vijayabahu I (1055-1110 AD), who chased away the Cholas, united the country and made Polonnaruwa his capital, introduced a new feature to the coins. He added his name to the face of the coin, thus becoming the first Sinhalese king to have his name engraved on coins. The coin with his name was called ‘Massa’. The practice continued and the names of the kings on coins appeared in Nagari characters. Another feature noticed during the reign of King Parakramabahu is the addition of a lion to the right of the human figure that appeared on the face of the coin. These were known as ‘Lion coins’. Records indicate that coins belonging to the Chinese Sun dynasty as well as Arabs had been used in the Polonnaruwa era, thus providing evidence that there had been international trade during that time. In fact, there had been trade with foreign partners even during the Anuradhapura period. Another development during the Polonnaruwa period was the introduction of copper coins in place of the gold ‘Kahavanu’. The coins during the Polonnaruwa period as well as the Dambedeni period that followed, are known as ‘coins of the middle ages’ with ‘Sinhala Massa’ being continued in the latter period. A close imitation of the ‘Dambedeni Massa’ has been found in Jaffna during the 13th century. This had been issued under the rule of King Aryachakravarti. An image of a cow on one side and a standing figure on the other are seen in these coins. Two types of coins in copper had been issued at that time. The word ‘Cetu’ is inscribed on these in Tamil in place of the king’s name. The second coin has the image of a resting cow instead of the seated cow. In the hill country kingdom known as ‘Sinhale,’ different types of currencies had been used. In the 10th century, a gold coin known as ‘Masuran’ (a term used even today to denote high value) had been used in transactions. Being rare and precious, by the 13th century, the gold ‘Masuran’ had been replaced by copper – yet the name remained. Silver coins had been in use by the 16th century. Two types – ‘Ran’ (Massa) and ‘Panama’ – were the two. Other types of coins had gradually been in use – a copper coin called ‘Salli’ and ‘Ridiya’ (the value of 64 ‘Salli’ coins) were among them. A Dutch ‘Souver’ had been used in the hill country which people called ‘Thuttu’ (‘Panam’ – denoting six cents – and ‘thuttu’ have been common terms and are still being used.) There is mention of these coins in epigraphs in the Gampola period. The value of the ‘Thuttu’ mentioned here is half a cent. ‘Koku’ (hooked) coins with a silver finish had been in use during the Kandy and Kotte periods. It is believed that these coins had been brought in by traders from Persia (presently Iran). They were also known as ‘Larin’. And so we come to the colonial era starting with the Portuguese in the early 16th century. (Source: ‘From Purana to the Rupee’)