Author S. G. Dhopate has written the book Quest in Indian Numismatics. He has written more than 55 research papers on numismatics. He has received so many awards as the recognition of his work in numismatics. We are publishing here the foreword written by Padmashri Laureate M. K. Dhavalikar for the book Quest in Indian Numismatics. This book is published by Satavahana Charitable Trust (Badlapur, Thane).
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Foreward
It is heartening that people have started taking interest not only in collecting coins but also in studying them with a view to throwing light on our ancient past and culture. Shri Dhopate is one of them. His grounding is in science but he has utilized his knowledge for the study on numismatics. He collects coins, cleans them chemically, studies their metallic content, their metallurgy, alloys and so on.
He has outlined in his preface how he began the study of coins and how the hobby developed later in course of time into passion. His study led to research and he then started publishing his research papers. He is now a well known figure in numismatic circles and has also presided over a Numismatic Conference. He is an industrialist, specializing in the manufacture of Paint Additives but devotes all his spare time to the study of numismatics. Such part time specialists constitute the backbone of Westerner Scholarship.
The study of ancient coins involves the knowledge of history and acquaintance with ancient scripts and languages also. In a way one can say that ever body has interest in coins, mostly in current ones, but even collecting them these days is not easy.
Shri Dhopate has therefore studied history, learnt deciphering ancient scripts and languages, from Buddha’s time 2500 years ago to the Maratha period, and even colonial coionage of the 19th century. He has been making sterling contributions to Indian Numismatic studies. He knows how and where to search for ancient coins; shrifts in many towns recognise him and keep helping him whenever he contact them. His numismatics trips have always been successful.
Shri Dhopate is now deeply interested in numismatic studies and the wonderful part of research is that is never stops. You acquire a coin after a tiring hunt, study it, shed a welcome light on a small corner of history. This journey has no end; finding solution to one problem leads to new problems. But this is how knowledge grows. This process I noticed in Shri Dhopate’s articles in the book. He found Satavahana coins in Thane which was the capital of the Silaharas who ruled over the Kokan for nearly four hundred years continuously, but never as sovereigns; they remained feudatories, first of the Rashtrakutas and later of the Devgiri Yadavas. Antiquities such as sculptures have been turning up in Thane from time to time mostly during the desalting of the tanks in the city. The new problem is that although Satavahana coins have been found, as reported by Dhopate, there is absolutely no mention of Thane in the works of Greek and Roman writers like Ptolemy, while Sopara, Kalyan Chaulfigure frequently. Why?
Similarly from Elephanta Island a large hoard of Traikutaka coins came into the hands of Shri Dhopate for study. He thinks that there must have been a mint on the Island which is not unlikely. The traikutakas were the feudatories of the Western Kshatrapas and naturally copied the currency of their overlords. On the reverse of their coins we see the sun the moon, hill river etc. The significance of these motifs can be explained with the help of kalidasa. In the Raghuvamsa the poet describes how because of Raghu’s conquest his fame reached the heaven. Beyond mountains, the sky, the sun and the moon, and even netherworld which is represented by wavy lines on the coin.
The author has also written on the coins of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and those of the Peshwaz. It is therefore an interesting journey through two thousand years of coinage in India and I am sure the readers, specialists and laymen will find it interesting.
- M. K. Dhavalikar
(Padmashri laureate)
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