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| Wednesday, 24 December 2003 |
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Coins of the Jaffna and Kotte kings by O. M. R. Sirisena "The history of Ceylon from very early times down to the 14th century is the history of the struggles of the Aryan islanders to hold their own against the ever increasing numbers of the Dravidian hordes. Twelve times the Tamils became masters of the plains, and twelve times the Sinhalese issued forth again from their mountain strongholds and drove their enemies back across the sea. But each victory left the victors weaker than before. They felt they were fighting against overwhelming odds, and gradually withdrew the seat of government further and further south, until the long struggle was terminated at least by the devastation of the country; and the rich plains from the peninsula of Jaffna to the Northerly spurs of the Central hills relapsed into their present state of almost deserted jungle" - Professor Rhys Davids. The Setu coins in all probability formed the currency of the medieval kingdom of Jaffna under the Aryachakravartis, styled Setukavalar, the protectors of Setu (Ramesvaram). It is believed that they originally belonged to a dynasty of Ramesvaram of the lineage of Magha. A contemporary Sinhala poem, the Gira Sandesaya states that a large powerful army went to war with the Aryachackavarti, who would, from times past, not bow to the kings of Lanka. There is thus reason to believe that the Jaffna peninsula may have been at one time, an independent, though perhaps tributary state, probably for some time after the end of Magha's reign in AD 1236.
The place names in the peninsula confirm that the Sinhala people were its inhabitants at no very remote date, and it was certainly held by Parakramabahu the great as sole monarch of Lanka. The Setu coins are basically of two types. The Dambadeniya copper massa is the prototype of the coins of type I, but on the reverse, in lieu of the usual Nagari legend, appears the Tamil Setu vertically. In a variety of this type, the same design is retained, but the obverse has a recumbent bull in a vertical position. The coins are of coarse workmanship resembling the late Chola copper issues of the thirteenth century. The type II coins are far better executed; and on the reverse the sitting figure is replaced by the device of a recumbent bull surmounted by a crescent enclosing the sun, with the legend Setu in large Tamil letters beneath it. The half of the Setu bull coin of type II is rare. A progressive debasement of the design is apparent in the later type II pieces.
Parakramabahu VI (A.D. 1412-1467), the last of the Sinhala kings whose coins are extant, was crowned at Kotte. The king raised the nation to a height "never attained since the day of Parakramabahu II, and never afterwards rivalled". A contemporary record in some of the finest poetry, such as the Salalihini Sandesaya that the Sinhala people ever produced, describes elegantly the entry of general Senanayaka) Prince Sapumal (Sapukumaru) mounting his back stallion (nila thuranguta nagemin) into the royal capital of Kotte, to report to the king his conquest of Jaffna Patam (Yapapatuna) having slain the Ariyachakravarti. It is also recorded that the poem has been composed in the second month of the 35th year of the king's reign Parakum rajuta puntis vana navam masa); the conquest may thus be placed in A.D. 1447. Evidently, the king's 'Lion' massa struck at the capital Nallur seemed a victory coin commemorating Prince Sapumal's conquest of the peninsula, which, perhaps, was in the possession of its ruler for a spell about the middle of the fifteenth century. The coin closely resembles the Dambadeniya copper, but on the adverse, to the right of the coin, is a well-defined lion, sitting with the left foreleg uplifted, and mouth open; the reverse bears the legend Sri Parakramabahu in Nagari letters. The 'Lion" coins are by no means uncommon in the Jaffna peninsula, and it is not improbable that they together with the Setu pieces formed its usual currency medium. Later Prince Sapumal ascended the throne under the name of Bhuvanekabahu VI. He is given a reign of seven years in the Rajavaliya (A.D. 1470-1477). The writer is Senior Vice President, Sri Lanka Numismatic Society. |
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