AE Stater of Queen Sugandha (Kashmir)

[coinlover]

Queen Sugandha was one of the two hindu queens who ever ruled Kashmir. The other was Queen Didda.

Sugandha's marriage to Shankaravarman (CE 883-902) of the Utpala dynasty catapulted him to an exalted political status since she belonged to a powerful family. Kalhana's Rajatarangini, a chronicle of Kashmir's history from the earliest times to Kalhana's own time or CE 1148/49, is an important source for Sugandha's history. It documents her as having accompanied her husband on military expeditions and being a force to reckon with.

On Shankaravarman's untimely death, she displayed admirable sagacity by concealing the fact of his death till she was ready to take on the guardianship of their young son, Gopalavarman, and rule the kingdom as a regent. She subsequently began to wield formal power as a ruler at the behest of her subjects – a testimony to her popularity. Maintaining herself on the throne by cleverly conciliating varied political groups in court, Sugandha extended her forays into power politics, which resulted in her dethronement. She did, however, make an abortive bid to regain power in 914. One of the two factions which domineered over the country dragged her from her retirement, and advanced against the reigning king. They were defeated ; and the queen, having been taken prisoner, was put to death.

Sugandha's coinage is an important corroborative evidence of her power and refers to her by the masculine epithet sri sugandha deva.

This is an AE Stater of Sugandha Deva ( 903-905 AD ). Its diameter is 18-19 mm and weight is 5.8 gms.

Obverse: Enthroned Ardoxsho facing; Nagari legend: Sri on left , SuGa(ndha) on right.
Reverse: King standing. Nagari legend: DeVa on right.


Anjan

[THCoins]

Nice addition to the sett of early Kashmir AE staters you already have Anjan !
In this one it is clear that there is no trace anymore of the lion on which Ardochsho was sitting as on the earlier Toramana II precursor coins. As you say, remarkable that she is referred to as "Deva".
I believe there was a third Hindu queen who ruled Kashmir in her own right for a short time, Kota Rani ? In fact, she was the last Hindu ruler, but i don't think any coinage was issued in her name.

[coinlover]

Thank you Anthony for correcting and enriching my knowledge. Yes Kota Rani was definitely there. Some information about her can be found   here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kota_Rani.


Anjan

[RG]

Is this same??

[THCoins]

The characters are a bit crude and glued together, but i can read "SuGa" in it. So i think you are right.

[RG]

Thanks Sir for the confirmation.

[RG]

Upgraded my Sugandharani to a slightly better condition one today ...

[THCoins]

Took some time, but i finally also managed to get a nicer upgrade for my Sugandha Rani specimen. On this one the largest part of the name is clearly readable on the Lakshmi side.

[RG]

Nice one. Glad to see one with maximum legends so far seen.

[THCoins]

I was actually inspired by your previous upgrade. That put me on the lookout for a specimen with a similar clear legend quality !

[Mohit Kaura]

two coins of sri sugandha one is deep struck and other interesting coin right side full name visible, mostly that part missing out of flan

[THCoins]

That's a real treasure trove you are opening up Mohit !
Both coins look a bit harshly cleaned. But very nice specimen of the type. I know how much effort it costs to find example with seldom seen fragments of the text. Seems you had a good eye in selecting the one with the full "Nda" on flan. Cleared my doubts about what the full character looked like, thanks !

[Spaniard]

Yes thanks Mohit for sharing....Here's an overlay to clarify the 'ndha' part of the legend which, as THC said, is usually undecipherable, nice to see a full legend.....Thanks Paul.

[Mohit Kaura]

Thanks for overlay, nice work.

[Figleaf]