Telangana: Ikshvaku period coins unearthed during excavations at historic Phanigiri site in Suryapet

Hyderabad: As many as 3,730 lead coins belonging to Ikshavaku period were unearthed in ongoing excavations at early historic site Phanigiri village, on the left bank of the rivulet Bikkeru, a tributary of the Musi river located in Nagaram Mandal, Suryapet district, about 110 km from Hyderabad, the state capital of Telangana.

On March 29, a globular pot measuring 16.7 cm in diametre and 15 cm in height was unearthed at a depth of 40 cm from the ground-level in the southernmost monastic cell at Phanigiri village during ongoing excavations and after opening the pot, it came to light that the pot was filled with lead coins, said Ms Sailaja Ramaiyer, principal secretary, YAT&C, and Ms Bharathi Hollikeri, director, Department of Heritage Telangana, in a press release here on Thursday.

Around 3,730 coins, each weighing on an average 2.3 gram, were taken out from the pot, they said that the mouth of the pot was covered with a shallow pot on the outside and a broken base of a bowl on the inside.

This pot was unearthed and opened in presence of N Sagar, excavation director, B Mallu, co-excavator, S Rushikesh, site supervisor, S Raviteja, trench supervisor, Dhivya, trench supervisor, Satish, photographer, and all the other daily workers, they said.

After close observation by the team, it became clear that all coins are similar and made of lead and that coins have an elephant symbol on the obverse and Ujjain symbol on reverse, they said.

"Sith strata graphical and typological studies we can come to a conclusion that these coins belonged to the Ikshvaku period," they added.

Etymologically, Phanigiri village seems to have derived its name from the shape of a hillock located on the northern side of the village, which appears to be like a snake hood.

In Sanskrit, Phani means snake and Giri means hillock. This village was occupied by pre / proto-historic, early historic, early medieval and Asaf Jahi period inhabitants.

This village had a vibrant life from 1000 BCE to late 18th century CE.