HINDU SHAHIS OF KABUL, SAMANTA DEVA JITAL

Ruler : Samanta Deva.
Era : AD. 850-1000
Dynasty : Hindu Shahi
Denomination : Jital
Weight : 3.10 g
Diameter : 18.1 mm
Reference Number : Tye# 15.1

Obverse :
Bull seated left with Nagari legend 'Sri Samanta Devah' above.

Reverse :
Horseman advancing right, with additional Nagari letter above the horse’s head.

Comment :
The Hindu Shahis were a dynasty that held sway over the Kabulistan, Gandhara and western Punjab during the early medieval period in the Indian subcontinent. Details regarding past rulers can only be assembled from disparate chronicles, coins and stone inscriptions. The Hindu Shahis issued silver coinage which underwent wide circulation from nearby Sindh to northeastern Europe. They were first "discovered" by James Tod, a British orientalist in 1822. Coins exhibit progressive debasement with time, with a regular decrease of silver content, allowing for the sequencing of the coinage. Early issues do not mention personal names but only generic titles, thereby not matching with the names found from literature. The characteristic motif of a horseman on the reverse with a bull on the obverse goes back to the Indo-Scythian ruler Azes I.
Scarce.