of the wāhalkaḍas at the Jētawana dāgaba (of the Nandana garden) at Anuradhapura. The other designs included with it there in the spaces of a leafy meander pattern are all emblems that are not exclusively Buddhist, such as the Trisula, the Swastika, the Chank, the Five-headed Cobra, and the Yaktail Fly-whisk; on other pillars the Elephant, Lion, Bull, the Structure with three arches, and Nondescript animals are carved. Considering Considering the unimportant position which it holds on the pillar, and its small size, it cannot be a DhammaChakka, or 'Wheel of the Law,' such as is worshipped in the Amaravati carvings, and it is not a fan, the circle being little wider than the post in one instance. A circular fan, with a straight handle, is often carved after pillar inscriptions of the tenth century A.D. in Ceylon, when they contain grants of privileges in connection with monasteries, as one of the common emblems of the Community of Buddhist monks. In the case of the oblong coins, however, it is not probable that this meaning can be attached to a symbol at the side of an Indian deity, where it is much more likely to have some protective function, or to be an emblem of the god. It may be the sun-emblem or discus of Vishnu; if so, the person at whose side it stands may be that god or his 'śakti' or female manifestation, Lakshmi, the Goddess of Prosperity. This symbol appears to be a relic of the early Indian Sunworship; it represents the sun as it would appear when it rose due east of the pointer-stone of a sun-temple, on which occasion it would be visible for a moment from the centre of the circle, as a full disk resting on the summit of the stone. In the case of perhaps the earliest existing representation of a pointer-stone, the sun, as an eight-pointed star (with eight intermediate rays of light radiating from a central ball), is delineated as resting on the rounded apex of a tall cone which is carved in relief on the 'Stele of Victory' of Narāmsin, King of Agade in the Euphrates valley (3750 B.C.).1 In the coin No. 27 it is clear that the post or column at 1 See the Plate facing p. 160 in Messrs. King and Hall's Egypt and Western Asia, 1907. the top of which the disk is placed is terminated in a blunt point, like a pointer-stone. There is a round column of nearly the same shape, with a rounded apex, but without the disk, at the side of a three-arched structure surmounted by a crescent, on the Taxila coin No. 6 of Plate II of Cunningham's Coins of Ancient India; and I have seen quite similar cut pointerstones, like circular obelisks, on the eastern side of stone circles in the Gambia valley in West Africa. The learned authors who have described the coins termed Purānas agree that the wheel with straight spokes is a sun emblem and not a Dhamma-chakka; and we know that on each of the faces of the tees' of the early dagabas of Anurādhapura there was a representation of the sun in relief, which is still to be seen on one of them. A disk with a central flat boss and a circle round it, similarly raised on a pillar which has a base and capital, is carved in relief at the top of the face of each engaged pillar at the sides of the wāhalkaḍas at the Miriswaeți dāgaba at Anuradhapura. It has a chatta above it. It appears to be the same sun-emblem, perhaps converted into a Dhamma-chakka (Fig. No. 84). In these notes on the symbols I have referred to a large circular coin of Ceylon. The first specimen was discovered by me at the Tissa excavations, in digging a channel; it is in the Colombo Museum. Several others have been obtained at Anuradhapura and one at Mihintale. In his Annual Report for 1900, p. 5, Mr. Bell records his finding one in a peculiar brick-lined pit at Anuradhapura, and mentions that about fifty of these coins were discovered at one site on private land at that town; of these some selected examples were sent to the Colombo Museum. The three which I have seen appeared to belong to the third or fourth century A.D. I append descriptions of the Tissa coin and two others kindly submitted to me by the late Mr. Ievers when Government Agent of Anuradhapura. 53. A roughly circular copper coin with a mean diameter of 1.27 inches; weight 220 grains. Found in digging a channel at Tissa. The designs on it and the others were impressed by two dies, the marks of which are visible; they do not rise above the level of the border. Those on the reverse side were afterwards cut more deeply by hand on this coin. O. The design is surrounded by two parallel circular lines, 10 in. apart, having between them an intermediate line, broken in one part into a series of dots, and perhaps similarly broken on the opposite side. Owing to the erroneous position of the die only three-fourths of the design is on this face. In the right lower corner is a well-shaped elephant, facing 1., with extended tail. Above it, but to 1., a tree standing on a cross enclosed in a square, or surrounded by a fence. On each of the upper corners of the enclosure is a bead or disk surmounted by a crescent, like some so-called 'Taurine' symbols on Indian coins. The tree has an upright stem from which grow two alternate lateral branches, each, as well as the stem, ending in three leaves, one terminal and the others lateral. At the top of the coin and to r. of the tree, the Swastika symbol raised as before and turned r., with four basal supporters. Between it and the tree are three beads, and another is near the rim at the r. lower corner. Between the base of the Swastika and the back of the Elephant is an isosceles triangle lying on its side and pointing 1., with a cross-bar at the apex; to the r. a structure of three arches. R. A single flat rim. There are three symbols in the upper half of this face and one in the lower half. In the middle of the upper half the Swastika as before, of broad lines, turned r.; near its r. upper corner three beads arranged in a triangle. To 1., an indistinct symbol. To r., an Aum monogram of two triangles meeting at their apices, with a cross-bar there and a shorter one projecting on r. of lower triangle. In the middle of the lower half a structure of three arches on each side of which are three beads arranged in a triangle. 54. A roughly circular coin, 1-47 inches in diameter; weight 223 grains. It was found on the bank of the Malwatta-oya at Anuradhapura. O. Two raised circular bands enclose the design, with a third between them broken into three beads near the top and on the 1. side. In the middle, at the base, a tusk elephant with raised trunk and extended tail which branches into three at the end. Below its mouth are three beads arranged in a triangle. Above its tail a structure of three arches under the base line of which is a bead. Above the elephant's back is the isosceles triangle, pointing 1., with an upright cross-bar below its apex. To 1. of this a tree fenced by or standing on an enclosed cross as before, with opposed branches. There are no symbols on the corners of the enclosure. To 1. of this, near the border, three beads arranged in a triangle. Above the arched structure and the triangle the raised Swastika turned r., with one bead near r. end of its base, and three arranged triangularly between its upper part and the top of the tree. Eleven beads in all. R. opposed to O. Emblems larger and formed with bolder lines. In the middle, at the bottom, the three-arched structure, below the base line of which is a straight raised line. To r., three beads arranged triangularly. Above the arches the raised Swastika, turned r., with three beads on each side of the upper part. In the space to 1. of its basal uprights the Aum monogram. To r. of Swastika and arches, a symbol, part of which only is visible, consisting of a circular band with central bead. Mr. Still has pointed out that when seen in its complete form on other coins this is a trisula resting on a disk or bead.1 55. A roughly circular coin, 1.27 inches by 1.31 inches; weight 264 grains. Found at Mihintale. O. One circular band encloses the design; in one part an outer one is visible. Designs are like No. 54, but elephant's tail has only one end. The beads below its head are absent, but there are two to r. of arches and two to 1. of the fence, a total of ten. R. Opposed to O., and indistinct on r. The design re1 Journal R.A.S., Ceylon, 1907, p. 201 ff. Mr. Still stated that the weights of twenty examples varied from 197 to 275 grains, the average being 242 75 grains. He considered that they represent a double copper kahāpana of 288 grains. All the specimens had the same symbols, arranged in the same manner, on the two faces, the only variation being the transposition of the double-triangle or Aum monogram and the Trisula on the reverse of a few coins. sembles No. 54. Three beads to 1. of arches, instead of r., and one above them. Although the Elephant, the Tree, and the Structure with three arches might be thought to be connected with Buddhism, it is extremely doubtful if they have such a signification on these coins. All three emblems occur on the Purānas, which date from an age anterior to Buddhism. They may have been merely copied from the earlier coinage, seeing that there is not another exclusively Buddhist emblem on either the earlier or later coinage of Ceylon. The probability of such borrowing of the symbols will appear more evident after the following remarks have been read. The isosceles triangle appears on several early Indian coins reproduced in Cunningham's Coins of Ancient India, especially those of Eran, where in two instances it is elevated on a pole at the base of which in one case there is a cross enclosed in a square (Plate XI). It is also found on a coin of Ujjain (No. 14, Plate X), where Cunningham calls it a sun-standard' ; on a Yaudeya coin (No. 5, Plate VI); and on several Kuninda coins in Plate V. These examples show that in its correct position the apex of the triangle is at the bottom. I suggest that the middle cross-bar, which is sometimes on one side of the triangle and sometimes on the other, indicates that it symbolises a sistrum, an identification that is strongly supported by the form illustrated in Plate XXXIX, Fig. No. 14, of General Maisey's Sanchi and its Remains, in which the side bar ends in a hook. The sistrum is not found in the carvings in Ceylon. This instrument is clearly and unmistakably pourtrayed on an oblong cast coin which Dr. J. R. Henderson of Madras was good enough to forward for my examination. It was found in the bed of the Vaigei river at Madura, and has the elephant in high relief on the obverse, with the sistrum and several other symbols, such as the vase, trisula, crescent, and double trident in a line near the upper edge. The sistrum is a well-known demon-frightener, and therefore would increase the protective power of the coins on which it occurs. |