Samudragupta's Aśvamedha coins in the patterning of early Gupta coin designs

Samudragupta’s gold coins of Asvamedha Type are frequently mentioned by historians of ancient India for their obvious link to this king’s Vedic Horse Sacrifice. Surprisingly limited attention has been given to their actual ‘looks’. And what do these coins tell us about the minting processes at mints operating in the time of Samudragupta? This paper discusses the textual, archaeological and sculptural testimonies to the Asvamedha sacrifice as a recurring royal event. Its main focus, however, are the details of the designs and Sanskrit legends in Brahmi script on the coins. The approach is through the mint idiom of the coins—that conglomerate of styles, iconographies, fabric, palaeography of legends and shaping of symbols shared by coins from the same mint. This analysis brings out that the coins were probably struck at one and the same mint, although we do not yet know where this site was located. A comparison with other coins struck for Samudragupta suggests that the minting of Asvamedha Type coins was also restricted time wise. Keywords: Asvamedha Type, gold coins, Guptas, Horse Sacrifice, mints, mint idioms, yupas, forgeries.Asian Studie