In the Arthashastra, the officer in charge of the mint was called
- A.Rupadarshaka
- B.Lakshanadhyaksha
- C.Samasthadhyaksha
- D.Panyadhyaksha
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Lakshanadhyaksha. The Arthashastra of Kautilya describes a large body of superintendents, and the Lakshanadhyaksha was the superintendent of the mint, responsible for striking coins of the prescribed weight and alloy. Option A is wrong because the Rupadarshaka was a different officer, the examiner of coins, who tested pieces and certified them before they passed in payment; the two are regularly swapped in the options. Option C is wrong because Samasthadhyaksha, mentioned as the superintendent of markets or of pasture lands in various readings, has nothing to do with coinage. Option D is wrong because the Panyadhyaksha looked after commerce and state trade. The safest way to remember is mint master Lakshanadhyaksha, coin examiner Rupadarshaka, and the pair is worth learning together because papers almost always place the two names side by side in the same set of options.
Read the full article: Coins and Currency in Indian History: Exam Notes
Practice Questions
View allThe earliest coins of India, stamped with separate symbols and carrying no legend, are known as
- A.Punch-marked coins
- B.Dinara coins
- C.Jital coins
- D.Potin coins
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These are the oldest Indian coins, mostly silver pieces cut into irregular shapes and impressed with symbols punched one at a time, such as the sun, a six-armed wheel, hills, trees and animals.
Read the full explanation →The silver tanka and the copper jital were introduced in India by which ruler?
- A.Qutb-ud-din Aibak
- B.Iltutmish
- C.Alauddin Khalji
- D.Firoz Shah Tughlaq
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Iltutmish gave the Delhi Sultanate its standard coinage by issuing the silver tanka and the copper jital, with purely Arabic legends and the name of the mint, and this pair remained the basis of Sultanate currency.
Read the full explanation →The token currency of brass and copper, made legal tender at the value of silver, was issued by
- A.Balban
- B.Muhammad bin Tughlaq
- C.Sikandar Lodi
- D.Akbar
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In 1329 or 1330 he issued brass and copper tokens declared to be worth a silver tanka.
Read the full explanation →The silver coin called rupiya, the ancestor of the modern Indian rupee, was first issued by
- A.Sher Shah Suri
- B.Humayun
- C.Akbar
- D.Jahangir
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As part of his reform of the currency he issued a silver coin of about one hundred and seventy-eight grains called the rupiya, together with a copper dam and a gold mohur, and fixed their rates of exchange.
Read the full explanation →Coins bearing the twelve signs of the zodiac were issued by which Mughal emperor?
- A.Akbar
- B.Jahangir
- C.Shah Jahan
- D.Aurangzeb
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Jahangir struck a celebrated series of gold and silver coins showing the twelve signs of the zodiac, and another series carrying his own portrait, which is unusual in Islamic coinage; he also issued coins in the name of Nur Jahan.
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