Miscellany – Kapardaka Purāṇa
By Surendra Kishore Chakraborty
Summary
This short essay reconsiders the term kapardaka‑purāṇa found in Sena dynasty copper‑plate inscriptions. Previous scholars identified it with a silver coin called purāṇa, but the author argues that kapardaka here refers to cowries, which functioned as currency in Bengal during the early medieval period. He supports this interpretation by examining contexts where kapardaka and purāṇa occur together and by comparing similar terms in other inscriptions. The article notes that while gold and silver coins circulated among elites, everyday transactions depended on cowries and that the purāṇa mentioned in the Sena plates may have been a token coin backed by shells.
AI-generated summary, automatically checked against the article text.
Conclusion
The note concludes that the economic system of Sena Bengal relied on a dual currency: metallic purāṇas for large payments and kapardaka or cowries for daily trade. Recognising kapardaka as shells rather than silver coins improves our understanding of regional monetary practices and corrects earlier misconceptions.