A beautiful pagoda of Vijayanagar Empire by Sadasiva Raya

[gsrctr]

Sadasiva Raya (1542 - 70) was the last one in the Tuluva Dynasty of the Vijayanagar empire, and is a nephew of the famous Krishnadeva Raya. His pagoda coins have Vishnu and Lakshmi on the obverse and are quite artistic. The reverse has legend in devanagiri (Sri Sa // dasiva Ra // ya) followed by a character on the third line that I can't place (is it "ru", which is a honorific suffix in Kannada?).

I managed to purchase a wonderful specimen that is in absolute mint state.

[Figleaf]

Really nice coin, gsrctr. Sadashiva Raya seems to have spent his life as a pupil of, later as a prisoner of Aliya Rama Raya, who got his head taken off after the battle of Talikota. The history of Hindu Vijayanagara and its wars against Muslim enemies explains the birth of Mysore and its own convoluted religious strife.

Peter

[gsrctr]

Here is a second coin that is attributed to Sadasiva Raya.
I am surprised that this is by the same ruler who had the most beautiful of Vijayanagar coins shown in in first post - the images of deities Vishnu and Lakshmi on the obverse are quite unrefined and the legend on the reverse is markedly different.
Line 1: Sri Pra
Line 2: tapa Sava
Line 3: Raya

If anyone knows more about this one, please post.

[Figleaf]

The four more or less regular bites taken out of the coin remind me of jewellery. A brutal goldsmith who saved some gold for himself when mounting the coin, perhaps?

Of course, it may well be the light, but your photos suggest that your new coin contains less gold and more silver. That would be the standard reply of a ruler to war and other financial trouble. War coins were made in a great hurry, so quality deteriorated. It would also provide an alternative explanation for the four bites: lowering the weight of the coin after it was issued in order to conform to a later weight standard.

Another twist would be two rulers with the same name, where Sadasiva Raya I would rule in peaceful time over a stable empire and Sadasiva Raya II would rule during the decline of the empire. That's just a thought uttered without real knowledge, though.

Peter

[gsrctr]

Hi Peter, thanks for your response.
The four "bites" are because the coin is slabbed (picture 1 below).
The coloration may be also due to the slab.

There is no other ruler by the same name (or "Sava Raya") in Vijayanagara dynasties.
The legend is quite close to the ones found on Devaraya coins (see a half pagoda by Devaraya - picture 2 below).
I really believe that this might be a Devaraya coin.
However, I have seen a few auctions (including the one I bought this from) identifying this as by Sadasiva Raya.