The Forgotten History of South Indian Currency System

Now, before I go deep into the history, I really wanted to set the stage here.I felt something
was missing in my mind puzzle, so I digged deeper to understand how my ancestors ‘South
Indians’ dealt with the money system.To my surprise, I came across a mind blowing history
about the currency system that almost went forgotten.Well, I really don’t want to get this
history forgotten!

The Barter System using ‘Paddy’

Barter system (exchange of goods) were the only medium of transaction happened among our
ancestors since 200 BC.The ‘Sangam’ period, 200 BC to 400 BC, marks the barter system in
south india. Paddy that is produced in abundance in South India was the common medium of
exchange.For example, 10 Kg of Paddy can be exchanged for a 10 kg of spices or 10 kgs of
Fish; but 10 Kgs of Fish cannot be exchanged for 10 Kgs of Spices, we need Paddy to get
anything.

Ancient Loan System ‘Kuri Edirppai ‘

The world famous Tamil epic ‘Purananuru’ describes the rich land of Pandya Kingdom which
had abundance of Paddy – every house of Pandya land had stocks and stocks of Paddy that a
housewife got it exchanged for spices, grams, cattles and lot more.Infact, we were dealing
with a special loan during barter system called ‘Kuri edirppai ‘ where a person could get 20
kgs of Paddy upfront as a loan and start harvesting it, and pay back the same amount of
Paddy that is gotten after a specified amount of time.

How was Paddy Measured to Exchange?

The following were the Paddy measurement units used in the ancient south india. The first
one called ‘Nazhi’ is still in use in the rural areas to measure the rice that is to be cooked. I
had personally seen my grandma and mom using ‘Nazhi’ since I was young.

Paddy Measurement Units – Nazhi, Sangazhi, Thuni, Marrakkai (Image credit

-tamilpaddycivilization.blogspot.com)
The Paddy measurement system of Kerala has similar units, so considering the kerala units as
reference the following calculation were taken (this may not be so accurate)

1 Nazhi is almost 200gms, and 4 Naazhi = 1 Sangazhi, 10 Sangazhi = 1 Thuni, 7 Thuni = 1

Marakkai, 10 Marakkai = 1 Cartload (a bullock cart can draw in olden days).

Emergence of Coins

Since 114 BCE – 1450s CE, seeing our abundant natural resources Paddy, Cotton, Millets,
Grams, Spices, Ivory, Steel; foreigners came running to buy and enjoy the enormous natural
wealth.Of course it’s true, India was the world’s richest country during this time!
History says that India almost drained all the gold from Rome by selling the inland goods,
and in turn rome struggled to mine more gold.Pepper and cotton were the main exports along
with Steel, pearls etc.

Roman Gold Coins excavated from Pudukottai shows the proof of foreign trade that existed
for centuries. Image source – Wikipedia Trade flourished so much that we ‘South Indians’
started importing horses, wine, topaz, glass, coffee beans. Though we imported these, the
exports from India were not equal to the imports.That’s the reason they started compensating
the difference with gold, silver and copper. And in order to identify the coins of particular
country, the country’s stamp was stamped on the gold pieces.‘Purananuru’ has a poem
mentioning the sale of pepper for 15 gold pieces in the ancient Madurai Market.

The Forgotten ‘South Indian’ Currencies

Fast forwarding to 18th century, the British East India Company took over almost all the
trade that was happening in the country.Before India was formed in 1947, there were three
types of coins in circulation since 13th century. They were Pagodas or Varahan, Falam or
Panam and KasuThe coins ‘Pagoda’ or ‘Varahan’ were used exclusively for the foreign trade
only. The coin is made of 1.2gms of gold.That’s the reason for having 4 languages Persian,
English, Tamil and Telugu. I was really astonished to see the ‘Tamil’ and ‘Telugu’ text
inscription, it clearly tells that ‘South India’ was so strong economically in the history.
1 Varahan Gold Coin ( Taken from numista.com)

The temple in the coin may represent Srivilliputhur temple in Tamilnadu , and the rear back
holds the punch mark of ‘Lord Vishnu’ seated on lotus.The coinage system was in existence
since very long, and the representation of Vishnu may be due to impact of Vijayanagar
Empire.The calculation of Varahan or Pagodas were : 1 Varahan or Pagoda = 36 or 42 Fanam/
Panam, 1 Panam = 80 kasu / dubbu / dubbulu.

Half Pagoda or Half Varahan Silver Coin – Taken from numista.com

1 Fanam or Panam Coin dated back to 18th century ( Taken from numista.com)

The coin ‘Panam’ was mainly used for inland transactions inside South India. Panam is made
of 0.92gms of silver, and 1 Panam equals 42 kasu or dubbu.The words ‘Panam’ in Tamil as
seen in the coin above is restated in English as ‘Fanam’, but both represent the same
meaning. Many Tamil words may have been translated in to English during this period. For
e.g. ‘Kasu’ to ‘Cash’The coloqial words ‘Panam Kasu’ in Tamilnadu aren’t just words, they
represent coins!
Copper Coin ‘Kasu’ or ‘Dubbu’ used during 18th Century ( Taken from numista.com)

The copper coin ‘Kasu’ above were used in day-to-day transactions of common people in
South India. The inscription in the coin says ‘Idhu 2.5 Kasu’ in Tamil, meaning it is 2.5 cash.
42 Kasu makes 1 Panam.

The words Panam, Kasu, Dubbu or Dubbulu are still in use in Telugu and Tamil. Many think
that they are just colloqial words but it is definitely not. The Copper coin that is seen above is
called as Kasu, dubbu or dubbulu – those are not just words, they were the real coins.

How our Economy fell down?

Inspite of having such a great economic currency system, we lost almost all the treasury and
wealth during the foreign invasion.

Our economic system was SO much dependent on each community – Agriculturalists

ploughed the land and grew healthy food, Kshatriyas had healthy food, maintained physical
fitness and protected the country, the black smiths made strong weapons for Kshatriyas to
fight, the merchants traded in metal for blacksmiths, and so on it goes… So when one
community fails, the whole system fails.

When the trade generated too much wealth, the wealth wasn’t divided to the poor and the
needy. The whole system failed just because of greed, jealousy, unequal division of
accumulated wealth. This lead to the economic classes Wealthy, Middle-class and Poor. The
poor struggled to survive, and the economy was shaken.