History and Coins of Lunavada, Sunth, Chhota Udepur and Baria

[asm]

Three coin collectors got to gather to pen a book on the history of the 4 Native or Princely States located in the Rewa Kantha Agency which had issued coins with full details of the coins. The book titled 'Heritage of Gujarat through Coins - The princely States of 'CHHOTA UDEPUR, DEVGARH BARIA, LUNAVADA & SUNTH' which has just gone for printing has been a real painstaking effort of over a couple of years. This is a hardbound book with 360 pages - almost equally divided into the History part and the Catalogue of Coins.

We have tried out a novel idea of publishing the book as a bi-lingual book with all information and texts in both English and in Gujarati.

The Jacket is currently being designed and I will post it as soon as we have it ready. In the meanwhile, I take the liberty to post a few pages from the book to give an idea of what is in store.

The book lists coins issued in the name of Fatehsingh, Dalpatsingh, Dalelsingh and Vakhatsingh of Lunavada, Jitsingh & Motisingh of Chhota Udepur, Pruthvirajsingh and Mansingh of Baria. All different types are illustrated with sketches for clear understanding.

regards,

Amit

[Afrasi]

Great! What will be the price of this book?

[asm]

Somewhere around 40 Euro + Postage. However, I will revert with the exact price once I have the actual final cost from the publisher.

Amit

[Figleaf]

Congratulations on this eminent piece of co-operation to all authors. I am very proud of your work, almost if I had been part of the team. This is a genuine achievement that can only bring more light into this part of Indian history.

Is there a possibility to have a copy signed by the authors?

Peter

[asm]

There has been almost no work done on the coins of these states. It was a surprise that even the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency did not have more than a few lines on the coinage of these states. Even the official Rewa Kantha Directory does not have any details on the coinage of these states.

The only details on the coins of these states are in one Museum catalogue and in the Standard Catalogue of World Coins (as well as Catalogue of South Asian Coins and Paper Money) which lists Sunth and Rampur as two different states, Chotta Udepur in Bengal and no coins of Deogarh Baria. Under Chhota Udepur (they have spelt it wrong) they have coins attributed to Ghumansingh - who ruled before the mint was set up. In Lunavada they have listed coins of just one ruler - Vakhatsingh when coins were issued under four reigns. The only other work on these coins was done by Mr Wiggins and Mr Culvar, who had listed a few more coins.

With this book our aim has not been to make profits or even earn money but to spread knowledge. I hope this work will inspire other collectors to publish their own research, if not as a book, at least as an article or a paper so that it could benefit fellow collectors.

Amit

[asm]

Great! What will be the price of this book?

Title: Heritage of Gujarat through Coins: The Princely States of Chhota Udepur, Deogarh Baria, Lunavada & Sunth
Authors- Sameer Panchal, Amit Mehta & Vinay Vadke
First Edition- Jan. 2016
Price: Rs. 2700/- / Euro 45 / US $ 50 / GB Pound 35 + Postage.
Advance booking offer valid till 10th February 2016: 25% discount on the list price.
Advance booking offer includes a complimentary set of 4 CD's / DVD's – (Monuments, Photographs of Rulers and their consorts, Coat of Arms & Flags) + Free postage in India only.

The book is 10" X 8", Hard Bound and Bi-lingual (English & Gujarati). Total of 360 pages printed in colour.

Please PM me for individual postage charges.

Amit

[Abhay]

Great work, Amit!!!

CONGRATULATIONS.
Please book a copy for me. Inform the bank details so that money can be transferred.

Abhay

[Vivek]

Congratulations Sir!
Vivek

[dheer]

Congratulations.

[asm]

With just 100 copies received from the binder (the rest are expected in 2 weeks time), the book was launched last weekend at the coin fair in Ahmedabad.

A picture of me speaking on the occasion and introducing the book.

Amit

[THCoins]

The pages you showed here look very well designed and instructive. Congratulations on this achievement !

Anthony

[asm]

Thank you Peter, Abhay, Dheer, Vivek, Alexander, Anthony for the encouragement.

Amit

[mitresh]

Got the book in hand last week and it is FANTASTIC!! It includes not just coins but also the associated history of the place with lots of non-coin images to maintain reader's interest viz palaces, market place, tribals etc. It also summarizes, with aid of pics, the coin mnf technique.

An added bonus is 4 CDs/DVDs containing high res images of Princely States Kings/Queens, Coat of Arms, Flags & Monuments.

The effort put in by the authors is visibly palpable. It is indeed a labour of love and passion.

Well done Amit, keep up your good work.

[asm]

Thanks a ton for your feedback.  It will spur us to go further.

It was indeed a novel experience ahd hope it is well received.

Amit

[Abhay]

Received the Book yesterday only. I have yet to go through it.

But my first impression - JUST MARVELOUS!!!! The quality of Print, paper, images is just superb.

However, a small suggestion for future reprints- to reduce the weight and thickness of the book, you can think of printing some copies only in English as many of the Collectors/readers/dealers are not conversant with Gujarati.

GREAT WORK, Amit, Sameer and Vinay.

Abhay