Early medieval mint city unearthed in Rohtak

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has stumbled upon proof of a seventh-to-ninth-century mint city at an ongoing construction site of a residential colony in the heart of Rohtak in Haryana.

The ASI team, led by Additional Director General B R Mani, has recovered 31 coin moulds along with 10 crucibles believed to have been used in minting coins during the early medieval period.

“We have got proof of the mint city which existed in early medieval period at the location. There has been recovery of coins of this period from various locations in Haryana. But it seems we have now been able to locate the actual site where these coins were minted,” Mani told Deccan Herald.

The discovery of the mint city at Mohra Majra in Rohtak, indicated by the recovery of a good number of coin moulds along with crucibles (used to melt metals) from the site, assumes significance as it is very rare to come across such a location where coins were minted between the seventh and ninth centuries.

“We had discovered mint cities of early medieval period earlier too, including one in Mathura, but they are very few,” added Mani.

The ASI believes the coin moulds could also throw light on the minting procedures of the Indo-Sassanid period.

“One of the coin moulds that we have recovered appears to be of the ninth century, when King Mihir Bhoja ruled the region. His kingdom spread from Gwalior to Haryana-Punjab. Some of the coin moulds look like those used in making Adi-Varah type of coins,” said Mani. 

Mihir Bhoja was a ruler of the Gurjar-Pratihara dynasty of India.

The ASI team has also recovered some other artefacts, including pottery and some brick structures, at the site.

“Construction work has damaged almost half the site, which appears to be spread over about 1.5 km. The spot from where we recovered coin moulds and other artefacts remained untouched because there was a power grid with high-tension wires nearby,” said Mani.

The ancient site came to the ASI's notice after one Manmohan Kumar, a professor of ancient history at Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak, saw some of the remains emerge from the mound at the site where construction of a colony was in progress.