Numismatics Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The key marks Demetrius as the Indo-Greek ruler who introduced bilingual coins in India.

Indo-Greek kings struck coins with a Greek legend on one face and a legend in an Indian script on the other, so that the coins could be read locally. The key credits this to Demetrius, who is also associated with the first Indo-Greek conquests in north-western India. Authorities differ on which early king first used a bilingual legend, and Agathocles also struck coins with Greek and Brahmi legends, but the keyed answer is Demetrius. Eucratides and Philoxenus are not credited with introducing the practice.

Answer: C

The name of the goddess Uma appears on the coins of the Kushanas.

Kushana coins, especially those of Huvishka, show Indian deities with their names in Greek script, among them Oesho (Shiva) and Ommo, a form of Uma. Kunindas, Indo-Greeks and Guptas used other symbols and deities on their coins, so they are not associated with the Uma legend.

Answer: C

The correct matching is a-iii, b-i, c-iv, d-ii, which is option C.

The legend Lichchhavayah appears on the Gupta coins of Chandragupta I (iii). Sarvarajochchhetta, 'uprooter of all kings', is a legend of the coins of Kacha (i). Apratiratha, 'one who has no equal in a chariot', is a legend on the archer-type coins of Samudragupta (iv), and Apratigha is found on coins of Kumaragupta (ii). Options A, B and D give these legends to the wrong ruler. The attribution of the last two follows the key.

Answer: D

The key marks option D: Huvishka, Gautamiputra Satakarni, Kadamba, Hoysala.

The keyed order sets the coins of Huvishka (second century CE) first, then those of Gautamiputra Satakarni, then the Kadamba coins of the fourth to sixth centuries and last the Hoysala coins of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The kings' dates overlap in the second century, and many writers place Gautamiputra before Huvishka, so the first two positions rest on the key. The Kadamba and Hoysala coins are certainly later than both, and options A, B and C place them earlier than the Kushana or Satavahana coins, which cannot be right.

Answer: A

The key gives option A: Herakles was portrayed on the reverse of Indo-Greek coins. Greek kings such as Euthydemus issued coins with the portrait of the king on the obverse and a deity, notably Herakles seated, on the reverse. The key does not accept the statements that Lakshmi appears on Indo-Greek coins (B) or that Buddha was first portrayed on Indo-Greek coins (C), and it also does not accept option D, that Lakshmi was portrayed on the coins of the Satavahanas.

Answer: A

The key gives Kanishka I, option A, as the ruler on whose coins the first attempt to show the divinity of kingship is seen. Kushana kings used the title devaputra, son of god, and their coins show the king with a halo of flames and with the attributes of divinity. The key does not give Huvishka (B), Pushyamitra Sunga (C) or Ashoka (D), whose coinage or inscriptions did not make the same claim. The answer rests on the key.

Answer: A

The assertion is correct and the reason is wrong, option A. The Kushanas issued gold coins in good number, which is true. The reason, that gold was not available in India, is wrong, since India had gold sources, for example in Karnataka and in the rivers of the north; the Kushana gold is usually explained by the inflow of gold through trade with Rome. Options B and C take the reason as correct, and option D calls the assertion wrong.

Answer: C

The key gives option C, that both statements are correct, but the reason is not the correct explanation. The goddess Ardokhsho, with a cornucopia, appears on the early coins of Samudragupta, as the assertion says. The statement that she was not known to the people of India is offered as the reason, but it is not what explains the portrayal on his coins. Options A, B and D call a statement wrong, which the key does not accept.

Answer: C

The key gives IV, III, II, I (option C): the coins of Azes I come first, in the first century BCE, then the gold coins of Kujula Kadphises, of the first century CE, then the Chakravikrama type coins of Chandragupta II, of about 400 CE, and then the Hindu Shahi coins of Afghanistan, of the ninth and tenth centuries. Options A, B and D put a later coinage before an earlier one. Azes I was an Indo-Scythian king of the north west who reigned in the first century BCE, and Kujula Kadphises founded the Kushana line in the first century CE.

Answer: B

The coins of Chandragupta II were issued in gold and silver, I and II, option B. His gold coins are well known, and his conquest of Malwa and Gujarat was followed by silver coins in imitation of those of the Western Kshatrapas. The key does not accept copper and bronze in this pairing, so options A, C and D, which include III or IV, are rejected. Chandragupta II reigned from about 375 to 415 CE. His gold coins, the dinaras, include the archer, lion slayer and horseman types, and his silver coins, which imitate those of the Western Kshatrapas, were issued after his conquest of Malwa, Gujarat and Saurashtra.