given in the number for March, 1834, (No. 27), I am induced to submit a few remarks with a copy of the coin.1

"The style of the Greek character would, alone, be sufficient to stamp this coin as provincial, were the 'chungahs' or symbols on the obverse, and monogram on the reverse, less distinct, or even obliterated. The suggestions of Lieutenant Burt and Mr. Stirling, viz., that the characters on the Allahábád Pillar No. 1, resembled the Greek, drew my attention to the plate, when it immediately occurred to me, vice versâ, that these provincial Greek characters, on my coin, might have taken their style or fashion from the writing of the dynasty, or descendants of the dynasty, which owned this pillar.

"That the Greeks did send a subsidiary force to the assistance of Chandragupta, son of Nanda, Rájá of the Prachi, I believe no one doubts; and contrasting all circumstances on the subject within our knowledge, we may fairly presume, that the services of this subsidiary were paid by a grant of land (Jaêdad).

"In Conder's 'Modern Traveller,' speaking of these times, after relating the death of the aged Nanda by poison (given by his minister Sacatara), he proceeds, (vol. vii., page 123). The crime did not, however, go unpunished; Sacatara and all his sons, except one, were put to death; and to secure himself against hostile claimants to the crown, Upadhanwa gave orders for the massacre of all his halfbrothers, the children of Nanda by different mothers. Chandragupta alone escaped, and fled to the court of Parvateswara, 'Lord of the Mountains' or King of Nepál; to whom he offered one-half of his kingdom if he would assist him in taking the field against his enemy. In conjunction with this powerful ally aided by a body of Greek auxiliaries, Chandragupta defeated Upadhanwa, with great slaughter, under the walls of his capital, the monarch himself being among the slain, and took possession of the throne of his father. His promise to Parvateswara was now disregarded. He retained a large body of Yavans or Greeks in his pay, and, fortifying his capital, set his enemies at defiance.'

"Concluding the Greek auxiliaries were paid by a grant of land, as by agreement the Nepálís were to have been, (and at the period Chandragupta sought Greek assistance, he could have had no other means of paying them :) considering also, that the high estimation they were held in, caused them to be retained after the object, which brought them to Pryág, was accomplished; we may naturally conclude that the 'Jaêdad' granted to this subsidiary was very considerable.

"The value of the services of the Greeks had been shown,-first, in the aid lent in placing Chandragupta on the throne of his ancestors; secondly, in enabling the newly-made king to retain that half of his territory, which he had pledged in case of success as a recompense to the Lord of the Hills.'

"These were the services already performed: and to people who had proved themselves so useful in his recently-acquired kingdom, Chandragupta must, for every reason, have given a substantial proof of his consideration, The marriage of Chandragupta to the daughter of Seleucus, must have added strength to the position of the Greeks amongst the Prachi, and the appointment by Seleucus of the celebrated Megasthenes as resident at the court of his Rájá son-in-law, went as far as human wisdom could do in adding stability to their footing.

1 The original coins were subsequently sent, and are depicted as figs. 2 and 3 of plate vii.

2 Tod, in his Annals of Rajasthan' vol. i. p. 671, makes Seleucus marry the daughter of Chandragupta, instead of Chandragupta marrying a daughter of Seleucus, This is evidently an oversight.

"It requires more experience in numismatic lore than I can boast to explain the meaning of the different symbols or 'chungahs' on this coin. The obverse has the word 'Soter' very distinct: what letters follow I cannot say; they certainly are not the same character, but what they are, must perhaps remain a secret till further research gives us a more complete coin by which to determine. The jhár, or "branch,' is distinct (can this be the olive branch ?), the other 'chungahs' I cannot decipher. The monogram on the reverse is the same as that on some coins in my possession, having an elephant on the obverse.

"The Greek Jaêdad,' or territories, we may suppose grew into consideration much the same as did the Honorable Company's after their first footing: and, like the infant Company too, we may suppose the Greeks established a currency of their own, though more perhaps with a view of handing down their achievement to posterity than as a necessary medium of barter, and I think the coin (the subject of this communication) bears every mark of being of those times, of the Cbandragupta dynasty."

NOTE ON ANOTHER COIN, OF THE SAME TYPE AS THAT PROCURED BY LIEUT. A. CONOLLY AT KANAUJ.

Ar the moment of perusing Major Stacy's remarks on the indications of a Greek inscription on the Behat type of coin, (as it may continue to be designated until its origin be better determined) and with his two coins before me (pl. vii., figs. 2, 3,) corroborating his reading1; I am most opportunely put in possession of another scion of the same stock, speaking a totally different language!

Lieutenant Conolly has already had the good fortune to make known a valuable Kanauj coin, with a legible inscription, in the language and character of the Allahábád column, (inscription No. 2). His zealous exertions have again conducted him to a brilliant discovery at the same place, of the very nature we could have desired at this moment-a coin of the Behat type,

1 It should be remarked, however, that the apparently Greek letters, when inverted, resemble closely the Dihlí character; it will be wrong, therefore, to assume positively that they are Greek. [June, 1837,-"Col. Stacy's supposed Greek legends may be read, as I anticipated, invertedly, Vagá bijana puta (sa?)”—J. P.]

bearing a clear and distinct inscription; and that inscription in the unknown character, No. 1 of the Allahábád column ! Two of Mr. Masson's coins, it will be remembered, bore characters which were pronounced to be of this alphabet. They were of Agathocles and Pantaleon, of rude fabrication, and connected, through the device of a lion, with another singular coin having the Chaitya symbol. These are now again brought into a double alliance with the coins of Behat and Kanauj, by the character in which the inscription is cut.

On the present silver coin there are five distinct letters. I cannot attempt as yet to transcribe these mysterious symbols in any more familiar character; but it is not too much to hope that, ere long, another prize from Kanauj may put us in possession of an inscription in two languages, one of which may be known, and may serve as a key to the whole meantime, I proceed to describe the peculiarities of the present coin.

OBVERSE.-A horse standing unattended and naked. In front appears a line of double curvature, which from analogy may be a faint trace of the lotus stalk held by the female in the Behat coin (fig. 1, plate iv.).

REVERSE.-On the left, the tree symbol with its chequered frame: on the right, a new form composed of two circles touching, traversed by a common diameter, which continues above, and supports an inverted crescent. Below comes the inscription before mentioned, in large and clear letters in the centre of the field is a crescent, or new moon. Above the recumbent moon is a small animal, which resembles very closely that depicted on the reverse of the coin from Behat, fig. 1, pl. iv.

[I have omitted certain vague conjectures of Prinsep's regarding the possible bearing of the symbols on the reverse of this coin. I interpret the legend on the original, now in

the British Museum, as ठठत विष्णु देवस, Vishnu

devasa. When Prinsep engraved this plate, his eye was not so well experienced in the outlines of the Páli alphabet, as it afterwards became; hence he altogether failed to detect the which is, however, sufficiently palpable below the second letter of the inscription.]

After I had engraved the figures of the three coins just described, Dr. Swiney arrived in Calcutta with his rich cabinet of ancient coins. In it I discovered several connected with the same group, which he was kind enough to place in my hands. I had, however, reserved only room for one or two (figs. 4 and 5), and have been obliged to content myself with the legends of the others (b, c, d, e,) to show the resemblance of the character to the Kanauj Nágarí alphabet. I cannot describe these coins better than in Dr. Swiney's own words.

"Several of them are rare, particularly the two larger, with the antelope goat on one side and the warrior on the other; smaller ones of this description are not uncommon in the neighbourhood of Saharanpur; I mean in the smaller towns, and certainly not all brought from the newly-discovered deposit at Behat. The first of the kind that I met with was stated to be brought from Hardwar; and there was so marked a character of the hill-goat upon it, that it was natural to connect it with some long forgotten dynasty in the Sewálic range. There is an account to be met with somewhere, of a certain Rájá of Kemaon, by name Sakwanta, whose domain was invaded by a certain Rájpál of Indraprastha. It seems that in this case the aggressor was defeated, aud Sakwanta obtained and kept possession of the regal abode for fourteen years.

"But perhaps mythology is a better key to the true interpretation of old coins. Here we have a series of coins, more or less connected one with another by some common symbol of a Jain type: on one coin the horse, on another the antelope or goat, on another the hieroglyphic called Swastika, on another the sankh, or sacred shell; the character of the reverse or obverse bearing some common jantra, sufficient to indicate the series,

"Then we possess Colonel Tod's testimony to the existence of such a series; for he says he has in his possession a full series of Jain coins. I do confess, however, that my belief in these coins being Jain was shaken by the discovery of the two larger coins (figs. 4 and 5): on the obverse of these we have the warrior figure of Siva, or his son, Skanda Kumára, with the huge Sivian spear alluded to in Moor's 'Hiudú Pantheon.' On comparing this figure with the obverse of Nos. 37 and 38 of Wilson's plates, it will be difficult to admit one, and not the other, among Jain coins. If rejected as a Jain coin, it may be worth while to read Wilford's story of