Adivardha Dramma

The Adivardha Dramma of the Siyadoni inscription is believed to be the name of a billon coin. Further, it is also generally included in the `Indo-Sassanian` coinage category. Portions of its reverse design are vestigial remnants from the Vigrahapala Dramma. The coin has on the obverse a depiction of the boar incarnation of Vishnu, the ddivardha. On the reverse, in addition to the pictorial elements, is the late Brahmi, proto-Devanagari legend `srimadadivardha` or `the fortunate primeval boar`. This is a biruda or name of Bhoja I Pratihara, and there is broad agreement on the attribution of the Adivardha coins of the Siyadoni inscription to that ruler.

Adivardha Dramma shows signs of considerable change with time, and it is evident that rulers subsequent, to Bhoja I continued issuing coins on the same pattern. The mean weight of 117 surviving specimens is around 3.79 g. These also show much wear, not to mention considerable evolution of design indicating a long period of issue. The upper standard deviation of 15 finer style coins is around 4.02 g, and of 12 much worn cruder style coins is 3.87 g; this range may represent the coin`s weights at time of issue. Analysis by scholars detected a silver content in this type of coin of 36.38 per cent, which gives an absolute silver content for the Adivardha Dramma of around 1.38 g. This was a lowering of precious metal value from the earlier Vigrahapala Dramma.

In AD 1318, the dealers of Delhi assayed the Adivardha coins then received for melting at an absolute silver content of 1.16 g per coin, still less than the modern assay. It is likely that the latest Adivardha issues (of most debased composition) were the ones most frequently tendered for remitting in the fourteenth century. Being of distinctive appearance, it is not likely that the Adivardha coins would be entered in treasure-trove reports under the general title `Indo-Sassanian`. The coin finds are generally within the bounds of Bhoja`s empire, and duplicate the territory where Vigrahapala Dramma circulated, although there is a tendency towards greater concentration in the Rajasthan borderlands and a proportionate lighter representation in the Bihar region. This is supposed to be a temporal trend, or it might indicate the dispersal of the earlier coins eastward by way of war booty during the Gurjara and Pala wars.