A History of Money in India
Kushan and Gupta Gold Coins
How the Kushan and Gupta empires issued gold coins linked to trade with Rome, and what their coins reveal about economies and rulers.
In the early centuries CE, northern India saw a flowering of gold coinage.
The Kushans
The Kushan Empire, which ruled parts of Central Asia and northern India in the first to third centuries CE, issued large numbers of gold coins. Their weight standard was similar to Roman gold coins, reflecting trade links with the Roman world and along the Silk Road. Coins showed rulers and a variety of deities from Greek, Persian and Indian traditions.
The Guptas
The Gupta Empire, from around the 4th to 6th centuries CE, issued beautiful gold coins called dinaras, a name derived from the Roman denarius.
Gupta coins show:
- Kings as archers, horsemen or musicians, such as Samudragupta playing the veena.
- Goddesses such as Lakshmi.
- Inscriptions in Sanskrit.
What coins reveal
Historians use coins to learn about:
- Economic strength: plentiful gold coins suggest prosperity and trade.
- Political history: names and titles of rulers.
- Religion and culture.
Debasement
Later Gupta coins show declining gold content, which some historians link to economic strain and the empire’s decline.
Everyday money
Gold coins were used for large transactions. Ordinary people used copper coins, cowrie shells and barter for daily purchases.
A Gupta gold coin shows Samudragupta seated, playing the veena. Historians use it as evidence of the king's image as a patron of arts, as well as of the empire's wealth.
Gold coins were mainly for large transactions; everyday trade used copper coins, cowries and barter.
- The Kushans issued gold coins linked to Roman standards and Silk Road trade.
- Gupta gold coins, called dinaras, showed kings and deities.
- Coins reveal economic, political and cultural history.
- Later Gupta coins show declining gold content.
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