Hoard of Ikshvaku period coins found in Telangana’s early historic site

Hyderabad: A hoard of lead coins belonging to the Ikshvaku period was found during the latest round of excavations by archeologists at the early historic site of Phanigiri in Suryapet in Telangana.

Phanigiri village lies on the left bank of the Bikkeru rivulet, a tributary of the river Musi, located in Nagaram Mandal, Suryapet district. This insipid village is located about 35 km from Suryapet the district headquarters, and 110 Km from Hyderabad, the state capital of Telangana.

The early historic site at Phanigiri was first discovered and protected during the period of Nizam and was excavated from 1941 to 1944 by Sri Khaja Mahamad Ahmad.

Phanigiri is not a lone site in this zone. There are several Buddhist sites neraby, such as Vardhamanukota, Gajula Banda, Tirumalagiri, Nagaram, Singaram, Aravapalli, Ayyavaripalli, Arlagaddagudem and Yeleswaram. it is one of the important Buddhist monasteries strategically located on the hilltop, on the ancient trade route (Dakshinapatha) connecting the west and the east coast of the Deccan. This evolved Buddhist monastery surpasses the monasteries at Amaravathi and Vijayapuri (Nagarjunakonda) in Andhra Pradesh.

At this site, the excavations were carried out for seven field seasons, i.e., 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2004-2005, 2006-2007, 2010-2011, 2013-2014 and 2018-2019.

As a continuation of previous excavations, the Department of Heritage, Telangana, undertook excavations during the field season of 2023-24 to know the complete history and picture of the site.

In the course of excavation on March 29, a globular pot measuring 16.7 cm in diameter and 15 cm in height was unearthed at a depth of 40 cm from the ground level in the Southernmost monastic cell.

“The mouth of the pot was covered with a shallow pot on the outside and a broken base of a bowl on the inside. After opening the pot it came to know that the pot was filled with lead coins. All the coins were taken out from the pot and counted, the coins are three thousand seven hundred thirty (3730) in number and the average weight of each coin is 2.3g,” said Telangana’s youth and cultural affairs principal secretary, Sailaja Ramaiye.

After close observation by the team, it came to know that all coins are similar and made of lead.

“The coins have an elephant symbol on the obverse and ujjain symbol on the reverse. With strata graphical and  typological studies we can come to a conclusion that these coins belong to the Ikshvaku period,” said Department of Heritage, Director Bharathi Hollikeri.

Besides these lead coins, beads of stone and glass, shell bangle fragments, stucco motifs, broken limestone sculptures, a toy cart wheel, iron nails, and pottery were also found during excavations.  

Earlier excavations at Phanigiri brought to light a Mahastupa, apsidal Chaitya Grihas, Votive stupas, pillared congregation halls, Viharas, platforms with staircases at various levels, octagonal stupa chaitya, a 24 pillared mandapa, a circular chaitya and cultural material inclduing terracotta beads, semi-precious beads, iron objects, shell bangle pieces, coins, stucco figures, Brahmi label inscriptions and holy relic casket. All the cultural material is datable from the 1st century BCE to the 4th century CE.

Etymologically, the village Phanigiri seems to have derived its name from the shape of a hillock located on the northern side of the village, which appears to be like a snake hood. In Sanskrit, Phani means snake and Giri means hillock. This village was occupied by pre/proto-historic, early historic, early medieval and Asaf Jahi period  inhabitants. This village had a vibrant life from 1000 BCE to late 18th century CE.