Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/zd4aatp
The note discusses the possibility that Indus Script cipher tradition evidenced in Sanchi/Bharhut sculptural friezes also provides for signifying kārṣāpaṇá, 'Eng.cash, Kannada kāsu, copper pice'. The copper pice is so-called because it is derived in a smelting process from a fire-pit, straits: kārṣū, kāci. Such a smelting process is, perhaps, signified on a Harappa tablet h386 by a unique hieroglyph of two horizontal lines which occupies the entire field of one side of a tablet.
In the expression,kārṣāpaṇá, paṇá, 'equivalent of 80 cowries'(Sinhalese) is a semantic determinant of the karsha as a 'coin, a unit of exchange value'.
It is a debatable argument in linguistics if the Old Persian word karsha is cognate with and derived from the Samskrtam word, karsha, 'unit of weight, coin unit of money'. Since the rebus reading of 'khambhaṛā' (Lahnda) rebus: kammaTa 'mint, coinage' (Kannada) is attested in some Indus Script orthography of focus on 'fish-fins', it is likely that the word karsha meaning 'coin' was also a gloss in the metalwork lexis of Prakrtam, the spoken forms of the word. Some indications are provided by the phonetic forms in languages of the Indian sprachbund, such as: Ko. ka·c rupee. To. ko·s id. Ka.
kāsu the smallest copper coin, a cash, coin or money in general. Tu. kāsů an old copper coin worth half a pie, a cash. Te. kāsu a cash, a coin in general, a gold coin, money. Go. (Ko.) kāsu pice -- all traceable to the word karsha 'a weight of silver or gold equal to 1⁄400 of a tulā' (Samskrtam).
There is a possibility that the hieroglyph which could read rebus as kāci was an orthograph signifying 'furrow, ploughing'. Such a signifier is present in an Indus Script inscription: Harappa tablet h386.
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The hieroglyphs 'fish', 'water-carrier PLUS rim of jar', three linear strokes are read rebus:
aya 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'metal' PLUS 'khambhaṛā' (Lahnda) rebus: kammaTa 'mint' (Kannada)
kuTi 'water-carrier' rebus: kuThi 'smelter' PLUS karNika 'rim of jar' rebus: karNI 'supercargo', karNIKa 'writer, engraver, account-keeper.
On side h386E, two horizontal lines signify a furrow which can be read rebus: karṣūˊ -- f. ʻ furrow, trench ʼ (Vedic) rebus: karsha 'a unit of weight, a coin'.
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HARP team has discovered a potsherd at Harappa with Indus Script dated to ca. 3300 BCE making this perhaps one of the earliest writing systems of the world. Contemporary to this discovery is Proto-Elamite script which was used in southwestern Iran between c. 3400-2800 BCE, (See discussion at http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/07/ancient-near-east-transition-fro-bullae.html) Bronze Age revolution in metal crafts was complemented by a writing system to create document innovative processes in such metal crafts. (This five-petal flower may signify tabernae montana as a hieroglyph read rebus: tagaraka'fragrant flower' (Samskrtam) rebus: tagara'tin' (a mineral which alloys with copper to produce a hard alloy of bronze for castings, tools, weapons).
The Bronze Age metallurgical discoveries of alloying and cire perdue (lost-wax) created an industrial revolution. The production of metal implements, weapons, pots and pans. The production of metal coins (copper, silver, gold) also rtransformed an exchange economy based on barter transactions into a market economy based on the use of 'money or cash'.
There is considerable force in the argument that signs incised on pottery in the Pre-Harappan period did develop as glyphs used on Indus writing. Lal has shown that the signs continued in use after the Indus writing ceased to be used. It is not unreasonable to build on the assumption that the potter's marks provided sign-substratum for Indus writing and also for Proto-Elamite writing. Thus, Potts makes a reasoned statement: "If there is any connection between the corpus of Proto-Elamite signs used at the beginning of the third millennium and the later Harappan signary, I suggest it is via the medium of the potter's marks in use throughout the Indo-Iranian borderlands which absorbed certain signs of ultimate Proto-Elamite origin, some of which were in time incorporated into the Harappan script." (Potts, D.T., 1981, The Potter's Marks of Tepe Yahya, in: Paleorient, Vol. 7, Issue 7-1, p.116)..
Thus, not only World Monetary History is born but a writing system evolved to describe the metallurgical techniques and mineral resources used to create metal products of exchange value.
The roots of the word 'cash' in English are traced to Indus Script hieroglyph writing tradition.
See: Indus Script hieroglyphs on early Magadha pre-karshapana 5 punch-marked coins 6th centBCE deciphered http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/03/indus-script-hieroglyphs-on-early.htmlThe decipherment based on Indus Script cipher establishes the continuum of a writing system into the historical periods and use in ancient mints starting with pre-Mauryan janapadas.
Such karshapana, ancient coins of ca. 7th cent. BCE are identified by the punch-marks which are Indus Script hieroglyphs.
The English word 'cash' is derived from karsha. (C.A.S.Williams. Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs. Tuttle Publishing. p. 76).So is, kAsu of Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada. D.R.Bhandarkar.indicates that nishka, krishnala (Vedic terms) as karshapana were stored in treasuries and the possibility that such coins were in vogue ca. 10th cent. BCE. (Bhandarkar, DR, Lectures on Ancient Indian Numismatics. Asian Educational Services. pp. 55, 62, 79).
(Arabo-Pers. sekka), standardized units of metal used as a medium of exchange, first introduced into Persia by the Achaemenid Darius I (521-486 B.C.E.)"... a papyrus document from Egypt dating from the 5th century B.C.E. confirms that merchants paid “according to the stone (weight) of the king”: 1 kereš (O.Pers. karša) = 10 shekels, 1 shekel = 4 quarters, 1 quarter = 2 dānaka (O.Pers. *dānaka; attested in El. da-na-kaš; Cameron, p. 132; > Gk. dana′kē “obol,” i.e., one-sixth drachmḗ “drachma” > Mid.Pers. dāng, Pers. dāng“one-sixth”; Horn, Etymologie, no. 536; Bivar, p. 622)..." http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/coins-and-coinage-
Thus, it is seen that shekel which became a currency unit was preceded by kereš (O.Pers. karša) = 10 shekels. This kereš (O.Pers. karša) = 10 shekels, is related to the Samskrtam word karsha which meant 'a weight of silver or gold equal to 1⁄400 of a tulā' (Samskrtam).
I suggest that the Latin and French cognate words together with Old Persian karša are derived from the Samskrtam gloss. Latin: capsa 'money box', French caisse, English cash, Portuguese caixa are thus derivatives from Samskrtam and OPersian karsha, 'a particular weight, money unit'.
kārṣāpaṇá m.n. ʻ a partic. coin or weight equivalent to one karṣa ʼ. [karṣa -- m. ʻ a partic. weight ʼ Suśr. (cf. OPers. karša -- ) and paṇa --2 orāpana -- EWA i 176 and 202 with lit. But from early MIA. kā̆hā°]Pa. kahāpaṇa -- m.n. ʻ a partic. weight and coin ʼ, KharI. kahapana -- , Pk. karisāvaṇa -- m.n., kāhāvaṇa -- , kah° m.; A. kaoṇ ʻ a coin equivalent to 1 rupee or 16 paṇas or 1280 cowries ʼ; B. kāhan ʻ 16 paṇas ʼ; Or. kāhā̆ṇa ʻ 16 annas or 1280 cowries ʼ, H. kahāwan, kāhan, kahān m.; OSi. (brāhmī) kahavaṇa, Si. kahavuṇa, °vaṇuva ʻ a partic. weight ʼ.kāˊrṣāpaṇika ʻ worth or bought for a kārṣāpaṇa ʼ Pāṇ. [kārṣāpaṇá -- ]Pa. kāhāpaṇika -- , Or. kāhāṇiã̄.(CDIAL 3080, 3081) Ta. kācu gold, gold coin, money, a small copper coin. Ma. kāśu gold, money, the smallest copper coin. Ko. ka·c rupee. To. ko·s id. Ka. kāsu the smallest copper coin, a cash, coin or money in general. Tu. kāsů an old copper coin worth half a pie, a cash. Te. kāsu a cash, a coin in general, a gold coin, money. Go. (Ko.) kāsu pice (< Te.; Voc. 663). / ? Cf. Skt. karṣa-. (DEDR 1431) kāsi 'coin' (Sinhalese).
The early Portuguese writers represented the native word by cas, casse, caxa, the Fr. by cas, the Eng. by cass: the existing Pg. caixa and Eng. cash are due to a natural confusion withCASH n.1. From an early date the Portuguese applied caixa (probably on the same analogy) to the small money of other foreign nations, such as that of the Malay Islands, and especially the Chinese, which was also naturally made into cash in English. (Yule)" ("Cash, n.²". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005.)The English word "cash," meaning "tangible currency," is an older word from Middle French caisse.(Douglas Harper (2001). "Online Etymology Dictionary").
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash_(currency) In Latin, capsa means a “money box” (cf. OPers. Kshatrapavan = Satrap “an ancient Persian commercial and state confinement”) and a cognate word is: case which refers to a box. French word caisse means “money in hand, coin.” Old Persian karsha means “a unit of value equivalent to one cash coin” and "was first employed during the reign of Cyrus II followed by the establishment of the “formal” banking system and around the same time of the establishment of the credit and checking unions during the reign of Darius I who also minted the first face-coins." (Jean-Luc Dumont. "The Establishment of the Banking “Industry” – a 2500 Year Old Aryan ICH and Commercial Industry" |https://docs.google.com/document/d/1USeT6-9KtdA0zdQ73GGh-N_k9JYvUW7y-8zDnPdIhcM/edit?usp=sharing, ACHF, 2016.)
Kārshāpaṇa (Sanskrit: कार्षापण) is attested by Panini ca. 6th cent. BCE and in Samvidhān Brāhmana, S'atapatha Brāhmana, Dhammapada verse 186. They are generally silver pieces with 5 or 6 punch-marks (Indus Script hieroglyphs) and attested in mints of many early janapadas of Bharatam. Patanjali refers to it as a coin: कार्षापणशो ददाति "he gives a Karshapaṇa coin to each" or कार्षापणम् ददाति "he gives a Kārshāpaṇa", The suffix – शस् taken up by Pāṇini in Sutra V.iv.43 indicates that a coin is referred to. "During the Mauryan Period, the punch-marked coin called Rūpyārūpa, which was same as Kārshāpaṇa or Kahāpana or Prati or Tangka, was made of alloy of silver (11 parts), copper (4 parts) and any other metal or metals (1 part)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karshapana While Kārshāpaṇa were of copper, Dharana or Purana were of silver and Suvarna were of gold. PaNa were punch-marked coins. The Vedic weight of karsha was equal to 16 mAshas. Lakshanadhyaksha of Arthas'astra could identify the symbols (hieroglyphs); he was a Rupadarshaka, 'examiner of coins'.
Thanks to Indus Script cipher, it is now possible to pin-down the meanings of the punch-marks which are a continuum of Indus Script hieroglyph tradition.
कार्षा* पण[p= 276,3]mn. (g. अर्धर्चा*दि ; cf. कर्ष्) " weighing a कर्ष " , a coin or weight of different values (if of gold , = 16 माषs » कर्ष ; if of silver , = 16 पणs or 1280 Kowries , commonly termed a Kahan ; if of copper , = 80 रक्तिकाs or about 176 grains ; but accord. to some = only 1 पण of Kowries or 80 Kowries) Mn. viii , 136 ; 336 ; ix , 282(ifc.) worth so many कार्षापणs Pa1n2. 5-1 , 29n. money , gold and silver L. कर्ष [p=260,1]mn. a weight of gold or silver (= 16 माषs = 80 Rettis = 1÷4 पल = 1÷400 of a तुला = about 176 grains troy ; in common use 8 Rettis are given to the माष , and the कर्ष is then about 280 grains troy) Sus3r. VarBr2S. &c
कर्ष mn. Terminalia Bellerica (also called अक्ष q.v.) L.
"The nuts of the tree are rounded but with five flatter sides. It seems to be these nuts that are used as dice in the epic poem Mahabharata. A handful of nuts would be cast on a gaming board and the players would have to call whether an odd or even number of nuts had been thrown." ( Bennett, Deborah (1999). Randomness. Boston: Harvard University Press. p. 24.). A synonym for कर्ष mn. Terminalia Bellerica in Samskrtam is अक्ष
![]()
Terminalia bellirica hanging fruit at 23 Mile near Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India.
The seed of this nut is used as a die in the game of dice. akSa also means a sensual perception, a law-suit, hence अक्ष--पटल [p= 3,2] n. court of law depository of legal document Ra1jat.
Hieroglyphy: furrow, trench: कर्ष [p=259,3] m. ( √कृष्) , the act of drawing , dragging Pa1n2.(with and without हलस्य) ploughing , agriculture A1p. Ya1jn5. ii , 217 karṣí ʻ furrowing ʼ Kapiṣṭh. [Cf. kāˊrṣi -- ʻ ploughing ʼ VS., karṣūˊ -- f. ʻ furrow, trench ʼ ŚBr.: √kr̥ṣ ] Pr. kṣe_ ʻ plough -- iron ʼ, Paš. kaṣí ʻ mattock, hoe ʼ; Shum. káṣi ʻ spade, pickaxe ʼ; S. kasī f. ʻ trench, watercourse ʼ; L. kass m. ʻ catch drain, ravine ʼ, kassī f. ʻsmall distributing channel from a canalʼ; G. kã̄s m. ʻartificial canal for irrigationʼ -- Dm. Phal. khaṣīˊ ʻ small hoe ʼ perh. X khánati . Addenda: karṣí -- (kaṣĭ̄ -- f. ʻ spade ʼ lex.). [Like Av. karšivant<-> ʻ cultivator ʼ < IE. *kw orsi -- with alternative development of IE. o ~ kāˊrṣi -- , kārṣīvaṇa -- ʻ cultivator ʼ T. Burrow, BSOAS xxxviii 63, 70; cf. karṣūˊ -- ~ †*kārṣū -- Turner BSOAS xxxvi 425](CDIAL 2909) *kārṣū -- f. ʻ furrow, trench ʼ ~ karṣūˊ -- with dial. IA. a for ā < IE. o as in Av. karšū ʻ ploughed land ʼ and in karṣí -- ~ kāˊrṣi -- T. Burrow BSOAS xxxviii 70, Turner BSOAS xxxvi 429. Pa. kāsū -- in aṅgāra -- kāsū -- f. ʻ fire -- pit ʼ.(CDIAL 3081a).Ta. kāci difficulty, straits (< Te.). Ka. gāsi, ghāsi trouble, fatigue, pain. Tu. gāsi id. Te. gāsi id.; gāsincu to harass, vex, fatigue, exhaust; gāsil(l)u to labour, be wearied, be harassed. (DEDR 1430)
Kasi and Kasī (f.) [fr. kasāti] tilling, ploughing; agricul- ture, cultivation M ii. 198; S i. 172, 173=Sn 76 sq.; Vin iv. 6; Pv i. 56 (k˚, gorakkha, vaṇijjā); PvA 7; Sdhp 390 (k˚, vaṇijjā); VvA 63. -- ˚ŋ kasati to plough, to till the land J i. 277; Vism 284.
The note discusses the possibility that Indus Script cipher tradition evidenced in Sanchi/Bharhut sculptural friezes also provides for signifying kārṣāpaṇá, 'Eng.cash, Kannada kāsu, copper pice'. The copper pice is so-called because it is derived in a smelting process from a fire-pit, straits: kārṣū, kāci. Such a smelting process is, perhaps, signified on a Harappa tablet h386 by a unique hieroglyph of two horizontal lines which occupies the entire field of one side of a tablet.
In the expression,kārṣāpaṇá, paṇá, 'equivalent of 80 cowries'(Sinhalese) is a semantic determinant of the karsha as a 'coin, a unit of exchange value'.
It is a debatable argument in linguistics if the Old Persian word karsha is cognate with and derived from the Samskrtam word, karsha, 'unit of weight, coin unit of money'. Since the rebus reading of 'khambhaṛā' (Lahnda) rebus: kammaTa 'mint, coinage' (Kannada) is attested in some Indus Script orthography of focus on 'fish-fins', it is likely that the word karsha meaning 'coin' was also a gloss in the metalwork lexis of Prakrtam, the spoken forms of the word. Some indications are provided by the phonetic forms in languages of the Indian sprachbund, such as: Ko. ka·c rupee. To. ko·s id. Ka.
kāsu the smallest copper coin, a cash, coin or money in general. Tu. kāsů an old copper coin worth half a pie, a cash. Te. kāsu a cash, a coin in general, a gold coin, money. Go. (Ko.) kāsu pice -- all traceable to the word karsha 'a weight of silver or gold equal to 1⁄400 of a tulā' (Samskrtam).
There is a possibility that the hieroglyph which could read rebus as kāci was an orthograph signifying 'furrow, ploughing'. Such a signifier is present in an Indus Script inscription: Harappa tablet h386.
The hieroglyphs 'fish', 'water-carrier PLUS rim of jar', three linear strokes are read rebus:
aya 'fish' rebus: aya 'iron' ayas 'metal' PLUS 'khambhaṛā' (Lahnda) rebus: kammaTa 'mint' (Kannada)
kuTi 'water-carrier' rebus: kuThi 'smelter' PLUS karNika 'rim of jar' rebus: karNI 'supercargo', karNIKa 'writer, engraver, account-keeper.
On side h386E, two horizontal lines signify a furrow which can be read rebus: karṣūˊ -- f. ʻ furrow, trench ʼ (Vedic) rebus: karsha 'a unit of weight, a coin'.
HARP team has discovered a potsherd at Harappa with Indus Script dated to ca. 3300 BCE making this perhaps one of the earliest writing systems of the world. Contemporary to this discovery is Proto-Elamite script which was used in southwestern Iran between c. 3400-2800 BCE, (See discussion at http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/07/ancient-near-east-transition-fro-bullae.html) Bronze Age revolution in metal crafts was complemented by a writing system to create document innovative processes in such metal crafts. (This five-petal flower may signify tabernae montana as a hieroglyph read rebus: tagaraka'fragrant flower' (Samskrtam) rebus: tagara'tin' (a mineral which alloys with copper to produce a hard alloy of bronze for castings, tools, weapons).The Bronze Age metallurgical discoveries of alloying and cire perdue (lost-wax) created an industrial revolution. The production of metal implements, weapons, pots and pans. The production of metal coins (copper, silver, gold) also rtransformed an exchange economy based on barter transactions into a market economy based on the use of 'money or cash'.
There is considerable force in the argument that signs incised on pottery in the Pre-Harappan period did develop as glyphs used on Indus writing. Lal has shown that the signs continued in use after the Indus writing ceased to be used. It is not unreasonable to build on the assumption that the potter's marks provided sign-substratum for Indus writing and also for Proto-Elamite writing. Thus, Potts makes a reasoned statement: "If there is any connection between the corpus of Proto-Elamite signs used at the beginning of the third millennium and the later Harappan signary, I suggest it is via the medium of the potter's marks in use throughout the Indo-Iranian borderlands which absorbed certain signs of ultimate Proto-Elamite origin, some of which were in time incorporated into the Harappan script." (Potts, D.T., 1981, The Potter's Marks of Tepe Yahya, in: Paleorient, Vol. 7, Issue 7-1, p.116)..
Thus, not only World Monetary History is born but a writing system evolved to describe the metallurgical techniques and mineral resources used to create metal products of exchange value.
The roots of the word 'cash' in English are traced to Indus Script hieroglyph writing tradition.
See: Indus Script hieroglyphs on early Magadha pre-karshapana 5 punch-marked coins 6th centBCE deciphered http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/03/indus-script-hieroglyphs-on-early.htmlThe decipherment based on Indus Script cipher establishes the continuum of a writing system into the historical periods and use in ancient mints starting with pre-Mauryan janapadas.
Such karshapana, ancient coins of ca. 7th cent. BCE are identified by the punch-marks which are Indus Script hieroglyphs.
The English word 'cash' is derived from karsha. (C.A.S.Williams. Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs. Tuttle Publishing. p. 76).So is, kAsu of Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada. D.R.Bhandarkar.indicates that nishka, krishnala (Vedic terms) as karshapana were stored in treasuries and the possibility that such coins were in vogue ca. 10th cent. BCE. (Bhandarkar, DR, Lectures on Ancient Indian Numismatics. Asian Educational Services. pp. 55, 62, 79).
(Arabo-Pers. sekka), standardized units of metal used as a medium of exchange, first introduced into Persia by the Achaemenid Darius I (521-486 B.C.E.)"... a papyrus document from Egypt dating from the 5th century B.C.E. confirms that merchants paid “according to the stone (weight) of the king”: 1 kereš (O.Pers. karša) = 10 shekels, 1 shekel = 4 quarters, 1 quarter = 2 dānaka (O.Pers. *dānaka; attested in El. da-na-kaš; Cameron, p. 132; > Gk. dana′kē “obol,” i.e., one-sixth drachmḗ “drachma” > Mid.Pers. dāng, Pers. dāng“one-sixth”; Horn, Etymologie, no. 536; Bivar, p. 622)..." http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/coins-and-coinage-
Thus, it is seen that shekel which became a currency unit was preceded by kereš (O.Pers. karša) = 10 shekels. This kereš (O.Pers. karša) = 10 shekels, is related to the Samskrtam word karsha which meant 'a weight of silver or gold equal to 1⁄400 of a tulā' (Samskrtam).
I suggest that the Latin and French cognate words together with Old Persian karša are derived from the Samskrtam gloss. Latin: capsa 'money box', French caisse, English cash, Portuguese caixa are thus derivatives from Samskrtam and OPersian karsha, 'a particular weight, money unit'.
kārṣāpaṇá m.n. ʻ a partic. coin or weight equivalent to one karṣa ʼ. [karṣa -- m. ʻ a partic. weight ʼ Suśr. (cf. OPers. karša -- ) and paṇa --
The early Portuguese writers represented the native word by cas, casse, caxa, the Fr. by cas, the Eng. by cass: the existing Pg. caixa and Eng. cash are due to a natural confusion withCASH n.1. From an early date the Portuguese applied caixa (probably on the same analogy) to the small money of other foreign nations, such as that of the Malay Islands, and especially the Chinese, which was also naturally made into cash in English. (Yule)" ("Cash, n.²". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005.)The English word "cash," meaning "tangible currency," is an older word from Middle French caisse.(Douglas Harper (2001). "Online Etymology Dictionary").
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash_(currency) In Latin, capsa means a “money box” (cf. OPers. Kshatrapavan = Satrap “an ancient Persian commercial and state confinement”) and a cognate word is: case which refers to a box. French word caisse means “money in hand, coin.” Old Persian karsha means “a unit of value equivalent to one cash coin” and "was first employed during the reign of Cyrus II followed by the establishment of the “formal” banking system and around the same time of the establishment of the credit and checking unions during the reign of Darius I who also minted the first face-coins." (Jean-Luc Dumont. "The Establishment of the Banking “Industry” – a 2500 Year Old Aryan ICH and Commercial Industry" |https://docs.google.com/document/d/1USeT6-9KtdA0zdQ73GGh-N_k9JYvUW7y-8zDnPdIhcM/edit?usp=sharing, ACHF, 2016.)
Kārshāpaṇa (Sanskrit: कार्षापण) is attested by Panini ca. 6th cent. BCE and in Samvidhān Brāhmana, S'atapatha Brāhmana, Dhammapada verse 186. They are generally silver pieces with 5 or 6 punch-marks (Indus Script hieroglyphs) and attested in mints of many early janapadas of Bharatam. Patanjali refers to it as a coin: कार्षापणशो ददाति "he gives a Karshapaṇa coin to each" or कार्षापणम् ददाति "he gives a Kārshāpaṇa", The suffix – शस् taken up by Pāṇini in Sutra V.iv.43 indicates that a coin is referred to. "During the Mauryan Period, the punch-marked coin called Rūpyārūpa, which was same as Kārshāpaṇa or Kahāpana or Prati or Tangka, was made of alloy of silver (11 parts), copper (4 parts) and any other metal or metals (1 part)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karshapana While Kārshāpaṇa were of copper, Dharana or Purana were of silver and Suvarna were of gold. PaNa were punch-marked coins. The Vedic weight of karsha was equal to 16 mAshas. Lakshanadhyaksha of Arthas'astra could identify the symbols (hieroglyphs); he was a Rupadarshaka, 'examiner of coins'.
Thanks to Indus Script cipher, it is now possible to pin-down the meanings of the punch-marks which are a continuum of Indus Script hieroglyph tradition.
कार्षा* पण[p= 276,3]mn. (g. अर्धर्चा*दि ; cf. कर्ष्) " weighing a कर्ष " , a coin or weight of different values (if of gold , = 16 माषs » कर्ष ; if of silver , = 16 पणs or 1280 Kowries , commonly termed a Kahan ; if of copper , = 80 रक्तिकाs or about 176 grains ; but accord. to some = only 1 पण of Kowries or 80 Kowries) Mn. viii , 136 ; 336 ; ix , 282(ifc.) worth so many कार्षापणs Pa1n2. 5-1 , 29n. money , gold and silver L. कर्ष [p=260,1]mn. a weight of gold or silver (= 16 माषs = 80 Rettis = 1÷4 पल = 1÷400 of a तुला = about 176 grains troy ; in common use 8 Rettis are given to the माष , and the कर्ष is then about 280 grains troy) Sus3r. VarBr2S. &c
कर्ष mn. Terminalia Bellerica (also called अक्ष q.v.) L.
"The nuts of the tree are rounded but with five flatter sides. It seems to be these nuts that are used as dice in the epic poem Mahabharata. A handful of nuts would be cast on a gaming board and the players would have to call whether an odd or even number of nuts had been thrown." ( Bennett, Deborah (1999). Randomness. Boston: Harvard University Press. p. 24.). A synonym for कर्ष mn. Terminalia Bellerica in Samskrtam is अक्ष
Terminalia bellirica hanging fruit at 23 Mile near Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India. The seed of this nut is used as a die in the game of dice. akSa also means a sensual perception, a law-suit, hence अक्ष--पटल [p= 3,2] n. court of law depository of legal document Ra1jat.
Hieroglyphy: furrow, trench: कर्ष [p=259,3] m. ( √कृष्) , the act of drawing , dragging Pa1n2.(with and without हलस्य) ploughing , agriculture A1p. Ya1jn5. ii , 217 karṣí ʻ furrowing ʼ Kapiṣṭh. [Cf. kāˊrṣi -- ʻ ploughing ʼ VS., karṣūˊ -- f. ʻ furrow, trench ʼ ŚBr.: √
-- kamma the act or occupation of ploughing, agriculture J ii. 165, 300; iii. 270. -- karaṇa ploughing, tilling of the field PvA 66; -- khetta a place for cultivation, a field PvA 8 (kasī˚); -- gorakkha agriculture and cattle breeding D i. 135; -- bhaṇḍa ploughing implements DhA i. 307. Kasati [kṛṣ or karṣ] to till, to plough S i. 172, 173=Sn 80; Th i. 531; J i. 57; ii. 165; vi. 365. -- kassate (3rd sing. med.) Th 1, 530. -- pp. kattha (q. v.) Caus. II. kasāpeti Miln 66, 82; DhA i. 224.Kasana (nt.) ploughing, tilling J iv. 167; vi. 328, 364; Vism 384 (+vapana sowing). Kasita (pp. of kasati) ploughed, tilled Anvs 44; -- a˚ un- tilled ibid. 27, 44. -- Cp. vi˚. Kassaka [fr. kasati] a husbandman, cultivator, peasant, farmer, ploughman D i. 61 (k˚ gahapatiko kārakārako rāsi -- vaḍḍhako); A i. 241; A. i. 229, 239 (the three duties of a farmer); S i. 172=Sn 76; iii. 155 (v. l. for T. kasaka); iv. 314; Vin iv. 108; Bdhd 96; DA i. 170; often in similes, e. g. Pv i. 11 ; ii. 968 (likeness to the doer of good works); Vism 152, 284, 320. -- vaṇṇa (under) the disguise of a peasant S i. 115 (of Māra). (Pali)
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Square coins are carried as a banner by the elephant rider in the middle. These are kahapana (Pali). This is a proclamation of the coinage work carried out by the artisans of Bharhut..
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Square coins are spread out in the Jetavana narrative at Bharhut. Anathapindika covers Jetavana with coins (Bharhut, Brahmi text: jetavana ananthapindiko deti kotisanthatena keta. Also called Sudatta, he was a banker (setthi) of Sāvatthi who became famous because of his unparalleled generosity to the Buddha. His first meeting with the Buddha was during the first year after the Enlightenment, in Rājagaha (the story is given in Vin.ii.154ff; SA.i.240ff, etc.), whither Anāthapindika had come on business.These square coins shown on Bharhut sculpturl frieze are: Kahāpaṇa [doubtful as regards etym.; the (later) Sk. kārṣāpaṇa looks like an adaptation of a dial. form] 1. A square copper coin Mii. 163; A i. 250; v. 83 sq.; Vin ii. 294; iii. 238; DhsA 280 (at this passage included under rajataŋ, silver, together with loha -- māsaka, dārumāsaka and jatu -- māsaka); S i. 82; A i. 250; Vin ii. 294; iv. 249; J i. 478, 483; ii. 388; Mhvs 3014 . The extant specimens in our museums weigh about 5/6 of a penny, and the purchasing power of a k. in our earliest records seems to have been about a florin. -- Frequent numbers as denoting a gift, a remuneration or alms, are 100,000 (J ii. 96); 18 koṭis (J i. 92); 1,000 (J ii. 277, 431; v. 128, 217; PvA 153, 161); 700 (J iii. 343); 100 (DhA iii. 239); 80 (PvA 102); 10 or 20 (DhA iv. 226); 8 (which is considered, socially, almost the lowest sum J iv. 138; i. 483). A nominal fine of 1 k. (=a farthing) Miln 193. -- ekaŋ k˚ pi not a single farthing J i. 2; similarly eka -- kahāpaṇen' eva Vism 312. -- Various qualities of a kahāpaṇa are referred to by Bdhgh in similes at Vism 437 and 515. Black kahāpaṇas are mentioned at DhA iii. 254. -- See Rh. Davids, Ancient Measures of Ceylon; Buddh. India, pp. 100 -- 102, fig. 24; Miln trsl. i. 239 -- gabbha a closet for storing money, a safe DhA iv. 104; -- vassa a shower of money Dh 186 (=DhA iii. 240).(Pali)
See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/03/indus-script-hieroglyphs-on-early.html
Indus Script hieroglyphs on early Magadha pre-karshapana 5 punch-marked coins ca. 6th cent BCE deciphered as metalwork catalogues
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
Mrch 29, 2016
Square coins are carried as a banner by the elephant rider in the middle. These are kahapana (Pali). This is a proclamation of the coinage work carried out by the artisans of Bharhut..
Square coins are spread out in the Jetavana narrative at Bharhut. Anathapindika covers Jetavana with coins (Bharhut, Brahmi text: jetavana ananthapindiko deti kotisanthatena keta. Also called Sudatta, he was a banker (setthi) of Sāvatthi who became famous because of his unparalleled generosity to the Buddha. His first meeting with the Buddha was during the first year after the Enlightenment, in Rājagaha (the story is given in Vin.ii.154ff; SA.i.240ff, etc.), whither Anāthapindika had come on business.These square coins shown on Bharhut sculpturl frieze are: Kahāpaṇa [doubtful as regards etym.; the (later) Sk. kārṣāpaṇa looks like an adaptation of a dial. form] 1. A square copper coin M
See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/03/indus-script-hieroglyphs-on-early.html
Indus Script hieroglyphs on early Magadha pre-karshapana 5 punch-marked coins ca. 6th cent BCE deciphered as metalwork catalogues
paṇa1 m. ʻ wager ʼ Yājñ., ʻ stake, wages ʼ MBh. [Cf. páṇatē ʻ barters ʼ ŚBr. (EWA ii 194 < *pr̥ṇāti?), Pa. paṇati ʻ bargains, bets ʼ. -- √paṇ ]Pk. paṇa -- ʻ wealth, bet, promise ʼ; A. pan ʻ wager, vow ʼ; B. pan ʻ oath, promise, dowry ʼ; Or. paṇa ʻ vow ʼ; OMth. pana ʻ stipulation, bargain ʼ; H. pan m. ʻ promise ʼ; OG. paṇa m. ʻ stake ʼ; G. paṇ n. ʻ promise ʼ; M. paṇ m. ʻ bet, promise ʼ; Si. paṇa ʻ bet, wages ʼ.*agryapaṇa -- , *gharapaṇa -- . paṇa2 m. ʻ a coin (= 80 cowries) ʼ Mn. [← Austro -- as. EWA ii 196 with lit.]S. paṇu m. ʻ a dry measure ʼ; Si. paṇa ʻ a measure of account in cowries (= 80) ʼ.(CDIAL 7714, 7715).
Hieroglyph: drum: paṇava m. ʻ drum ʼ MBh. (hypersanskritism in pra- ṇava -- m. lex.). [← Drav. T. Burrow TPS 1946, 10]Pa. Pk. paṇava -- m. ʻ small drum ʼ, Si. paṇā.(CDIAL 7716) Ta. paṇai drum, large drum. Ka. paṇe, paṇa small drum or tabor. / Cf. Skt. paṇava- id.; Turner, CDIAL, no. 7716.(DEDR 3893)
Hieroglyph: drum:
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
Mrch 29, 2016