Besides being an internationally renowned numismatist, Dr Gupta is also well known as historian and archaeologist. He is the author of a number of books in English and Hindi. Of them, the most outstanding are Coins, The Silver Punch-marked Coins of the Magadh-Mauryan Karshapana Series, The Imperial Gupta (Gupta Samrajya in Hindi), Bhartiya Vastu Kala and Prachin Bharat Ke Pramukh Abhilekh.
Dr. Gupta was born in 1914 at Azamgarh, U.P.; obtained the Ph.D. Degree from the Banaras Hindu University in 1960; worked at Bharat Kala Bhavan (The Museum of Art and Archaeology, Banaras Hindu University), the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay and retired as Curator, Patna Museum, Patna in 1972. He is now the Director of the Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies, Anjaneri (Nasik, Maharashtra).
Many hoards of coins are discovered by chance every year in the State but are not reported. It is hoped the publication of this volume will arouse genuine interest of the people of the State in ancient coins and they will show eagerness to save the hoards of coins discovered in the State and their preservation in the museums. I am sure the book will be well received by the scholars interested in the study of history of this region.
Printing work was assigned to M/s B.R. Publishing Corporation who has evinced interest in this region in their publication work and possesses necessary experience in this field.
In the course of preparation of the Catalogue, it was realized that it needs an exhaustive introduction, exposing the potentialities of the coins of the Himachal Pradesh as the source for its history. Consequently, to make it more useful. I thought of writing the Numismatic History of Himachal Pradesh itself, instead of any formal introduction. This forms Part 1 of this work. The work was completed and sent to Dr V.C. Ohri in 1983 to take up its publication. But it took quite some time to finalize arrangements for its publication. In the meantime some new material had come to my knowledge and my suggestion was agreed to and the whole history portion was revised. Here, an outline history of Himachal Pradesh is presented mainly on the basis of the numismatic materials. I have used, besides the coin collections of the two Museums, such materials also that were available elsewhere. They are supplemented with other evidence, where the numismatic evidence is lacking. History based on other sources is added to provide a consistency. Here are a few points that merit the attention of the scholars, writing history of this region.
1. It is pointed out here that Jalandhara was the ancient name of Himachal Pradesh and Kangra was known by this name for a long time. This was necessary as our scholars often err in properly interpreting this geographical term. They generally take it to be Jullundhar, the modern district in the plains in Punjab.
2. An assessment is made here of all that was so far said about the early Tribal States that existed in the region of Himachal Pradesh in pre-Chris- tian and early Christian era. Besides throwing some fresh light on them, of the existence of a few other Tribal States here, is also indicated. Outlining the political history of these Tribal States, considerable light on their religious beliefs and their administrative set-up is also thrown on the basis of coins.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
For privacy concerns, please view our Privacy Policy
Hindu (872)
Agriculture (84)
Ancient (991)
Archaeology (567)
Architecture (524)
Art & Culture (843)
Biography (581)
Buddhist (540)
Cookery (160)
Emperor & Queen (488)
Islam (233)
Jainism (271)
Literary (868)
Mahatma Gandhi (377)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist