THE figure on the obverse of thesecoins is commonly called the Octopus

Man because he looks like an octopus.His appearance is only one of the strangefeatures of these peculiar coins. To under-stand them we must know somethingabout the history and geography ofsouthern India.We begin with the Chola dynasty. This

family had been ruling parts of thecountry for centuries before they cameto prominence in the 10th century whenParantaka I (907-953 AD) expanded his

territory by invading the Pandyas, wholived in the southern tip of India. Hiscapital was Tanjore (Thanjavur) on theKauveri River about 50 miles from thecoast, and he destroyed Madurai, thePandya capital. See Map. (Figure 1)Uttama Chola (973-985) issued silver

coins referring to the Chola defeat of thePandyas. On the obverse of the coin aseated tiger (Chola symbol) faces twofish (Pandya symbols). On Pandya coinsthe fish are alive and swimming horiz-ontally, but on Uttama’s coin they are

hanging vertically indicating that theyare dead. (Figure 2)The religion of the people of southern

India was Hinduism and as the Cholasbecame more powerful Hindu cultureflourished. Their art, as seen in sculptureand architecture, reflected Hindu myth-ology, which included stories about Ramaand Sita. Rama was a divine hero whohad many adventures, and Sita was hisconsort. In Tanjore the Cholas builtseveral temples including the greatBrihadeshwara Temple. (Figure 3) This

THE OCTOPUS MANCoins of the

Chola Empireand

Sri Lankaby Peter E. Lewis

Coin of the Chola Empire. An octopus.

Figure 2 – A silver (billon) coin of Uttama Cholawith his name on the reverse. On the obversea seated tiger faces 2 fish. Behind the tigerthere is a bow and above there is an umbrella.Figure 1 – Map of southern India. (Author’s drawing)

temple is one of the largest in India andis a UNESCO World Heritage site.Rajaraja Chola (985-1014) built it in 1010and one thousand years later the Indiangovernment issued coins in commemo-ration. (Figure 4) In the temple thereis a statue of Rajaraja (Figure 5) and itappears on the 5 rupee coin issued in2010. By the time the Cholas came topower Buddhism had virtually disap-peared from India but it continued tobe the dominant religion in Sri Lanka(Ceylon) ever since the Indian emperorAshoka sent his son and daughter thereas missionaries in the 3rd century BC. South India and Sri Lanka were pros-

perous places because they were at thecentre of trade routes from east andwest. From Africa and the Red Sea Arabdhows sailed there regularly while from

the east Chinese junks arrived ladenwith silk and other goods. Commercialactivity was intense and there was muchwealth. So when the Cholas conqueredother people in the region they were ableto build great temples with the booty.These temples still amaze tourists today.The Chola king Rajaraja invaded Sri

Lanka in 990 and incorporated the north-western part into his empire. It was hewho introduced the bronze coins with theOctopus Man on the obverse. (Figure 6)His name in the contemporary Nagariscript appears on the reverse. This scriptis syllabic, i.e. each character representsa consonant and a vowel. His coins areeasy to identify because the charactersfor RA and JA are repeated on the secondline. Rajaraja was probably responsiblefor a similar coin in gold although it does

not bear his name. (Figure 7) The in-scription on the reverse of the gold coinis Sri Lankesvara, which means “Lord ofSri Lanka.” This coin would have beenappropriate at the time. Rajaraja’s son Rajendra Chola (1014-

1044) completed the conquest of SriLanka. In 1021 he overran the Deccanregion, the large plateau in the centreof India, and even reached the GangesRiver. He also conquered parts of theMalay Peninsula. His name does notoccur on the Octopus-Man coins so heprobably just continued to issue hisfather’s coins, which must have beenminted in huge numbers because theyare common today.

Figure 3 – View of the Brihadeshwara Temple at Tanjore. (Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 4 – Indian 5-rupee coin commemorating one thousand years since the building of theBrihadeshwara Temple at Tanjore. The symbol of India is on the obverse and the temple with astatue of Rajaraja Chola is on the reverse.

Figure 5 – Head of Rajaraja Chola on a statue inthe Brihadeshwara temple. (Wikimedia Commons)

Rajendra Chola’s grandson, KulottungaI (1070-1122) abandoned the Deccanregion and just focussed on uniting theeast coast of the Indian peninsula. In1070 Vijaya Bahu I re-established localpower in Sri Lanka, but his successorscontinued to issue the Octopus-Man coinswith their names on the reverse. Theydid not introduce new coinage probablybecause the Octopus-Man coins hadbecome an integral part of the economy.Under Para Krama Bahu I (1153-1186)the kingdom of Sri Lanka reached its

greatest prosperity, but his brother-in-law, Nissanka Malla (1186-1196), was thelast effective ruler of this period. QueenLilavati ruled from 1197 to 1200 andagain from 1209 to 1211. (Figure 8)Sahasa Malla (1200-1202) ruled for onlytwo years. (Figure 9) Unlike the Cholasall of these kings were Buddhists andpatronized Buddhist institutions. Per-haps like many numismatists today theydid not understand what was on thecoins.In an article entitled “Coins of Candy,

Ceylon, 985-1284,” which appeared inthe April 2005 issue of Coin News NickDu Quesne Bird included an excellentdiagram showing all the coins of theserulers. Coin News has kindly grantedpermission for the diagram to be repro-duced here. (Figure 10)Who is the Octopus man? In the

Catalogue of the Coins in the IndianMuseum, Calcutta,Volume I, publishedin 1906 the author, Vincent A. Smith,states that on the type introduced byRajaraja there is a king on the obverseand a “monkey-like” figure on the reverse.No doubt the idea of a monkey camefrom the tail that the figure seems tohave. Since 1906 a variety of identitieshave been suggested for these figures,the most common being that the reign-ing monarch is standing on the obverseand reclining on the reverse because hisname is next to the reclining figure. Areclining figure is shown on an antiquewooden panel from South India. (Figure11) Some scholars thought that the“skirt” on the obverse figure indicateda goddess, while others thought thereverse figure was a goddess. In his article in Coin News Nick Du

Quesne Bird stated, “All the coins are ofcopper, the obverse showing what maybe the goddess Sita, or a ruler wearing adhoti. The reverse shows the god Hanu-man, of monkey form, with the name ofthe ruler to his right. In the HinduRamayana epic, it is in Ceylon that thegod Hanuman rescues the goddess Sita

Figure 6 – Bronze coin of Rajaraja Chola showing the Octopus Man on the obverse. The objectthat he is holding in his right hand is probably a lamp. His name appears to the right of thefigure on the reverse.

Figure 7 – Gold coin showing the Octopus Man on the obverse and a figure holding a flower on the reverse.

Figure 8 – Bronze coin of Queen Lilavati. The characters mean SRI RA JA LI LA VA TI. Figure 9 – Bronze coin of Sahasa Malla.

from the demon Ravanna, and the designpresumably relates to that.” I think heis right, but I consider that the obversefigure is more likely to be the god Rama,who sends his servant, the monkey-god

Hanuman, leaping across the strait toSri Lanka to rescue Sita who is heldcaptive by Ravana, the king of Sri Lanka.Hanuman leaping in the air is shown ina stone relief at Angkor Wat. (Figure

12) In the relief Hanuman’s thighs arein a position of extreme extension as heflies through the air to attack Ravana.The figure on the reverse of the coinshas his thighs in the same position. Also

Figure 10 – All the coins issued by the rulers of Sri Lanka from 985 to 1284. Some rulers didnot issue coins. The coins are about 20 mms in diameter and weigh about 4 grams. (Imagecourtesy of Coin News)

Figure 11 – Detail of an antique wooden panelin the Thanjavur style showing a reclining fig-ure, probably the god Vishnu, with his lefthand on his knee. (Image courtesy of MukeshKumar Solanki)

Figure 12 – Detail of a stone relief at Angkor Wat showing Hanumanleaping through the air to attack Ravana whose multiple heads andarms are in the lower right corner. Looking at the head of Hanuman one

can see how a coin engraver would have copied it so that it looks likeCE on the bronze coins. (Photocopied detail of an image in LarousseEncylopedia of Mythology, 1959)

in the relief Hanuman is grasping a lotusflower, presumably a symbol of Sita. Thefigure on the reverse of the coins is alsoholding a lotus flower, as clearly shownin Figure 7. Angkor Wat is a temple com-plex built in the 12th century by KingSuryavaram II (1113-1150) who ruled avast area with his capital at Angkor inCambodia. In the 12th century the religionreflected in the art at Angkor Wat wasHinduism.

In a stone sculpture in the SrivikuntamTemple, which was in the Pandya king-dom in South India, Rama stands withHanuman on his right and Sita on hisleft. (Figure 13) Notice the way thebands from Rama’s clothing extend downto the ground. These bands might wellbe what are shown on the obverse of thecoin and make the figure look like anoctopus. A feature of the clothing of thesemythological characters at that time isthe long bands and tassels hanging fromtheir clothing. The bands are more clearlyseen on a statue of a warrior, probablyRama, also in the Srivikuntam Temple.(Figure 14) The bands swing out as hemoves. On the statue in Figure 13 thereis a tassel that hangs down in front ofHanuman. It might be the “tail” seen onHanuman on the reverse of the coin.There is also a long band hanging downbetween Rama’s legs at the back. Belowthe statue of Rama there are five monkeyswhich represent the monkey army thatbuilt a bridge across the strait to SriLanka and they might be symbolized onthe coin by the five pellets on Rama’s left.Rama sending Hanuman to defeat

Ravana would, of course, be very appro-priate on the coins of Rajaraja, the Hinduking who conquered Sri Lanka. So theOctopus Man could well be Rajarajain the guise of Rama. On the coins the

object that he holds in his right hand isprobably a lamp which is meant to signifybringing the light of Hindu culture toSri Lanka. He really was like an octopusin the way he reached out to seize SriLanka and other territories in SouthIndia. Note: The coins shown in the figures arefrom the author’s collection.

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Figure 13 – Statue of Rama with Hanumanand Sita. (Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 14 – Statue of a warrior. (Wikimedia Commons)

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