It is a far cry from the cowrie shells of ancient times to the present day credit cards or plastic money used in transactions, but the transition reflects the evolution of money. Numismatics has been generally considered the domain of students of history who rely on it as a source of information. For Joseph Thomas M., a physician, his interest in history developed as a natural outcome of his childhood hobby of collecting coins.
“Growing up in Thiruvananthapuram, it was not difficult to acquire coins particularly because I am a third generation resident of the city. I naturally had access to coins in circulation during my grandfather’s time. That was just a fancy. The collection kept growing. But it was in the last 15 years or so that coins have become a serious passion for me,” says Dr. Joseph, a urologist in Kasturba Medical College, Manipal.
His progression from a mere coin collector to a genuine numismatist who learnt to use the coins to reconstruct the history of a period has found fruition in the book – Legends of Travancore – A Numismatic Heritage .
How did he zero in on the coins of erstwhile Travancore as the subject for the book? “With a collection of coins from 300 countries (some of these countries have ceased to be, for instance, East European nations such as Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia) and the numbers growing, I gradually narrowed down my interest to the coins of colonial India,” he says. Once the colonial powers set foot on the sub-continent, barter system gradually made way for more a concrete payment arrangement. The native states started their own methods of minting coins.
Travancore and Venad became the focal point of his study. “For my personal use, I made a reference book that was a combination of catalogue-cum-history. Since access and availability of documents on the Travancore era were easier than the Venad phase of history, I commenced work on Travancore,” explains Dr. Joseph.
The book draws on coins from ancient Travancore to narrate the political history, as well as the manner in which the coins were used within the social hierarchy. Since coinage fell within the Diwan’s functions, the mints of Travancore were located in different places, Padmanabhapuram, Kollam, Mavelikara and the Paravoor. Wherever there was a Cutchery, there was a mint. An interesting feature, according to the author, is that every mint (Kammattam) had a temple with Ganapathy as the presiding deity! Gazette notifications regarding such temples exist to confirm the practice of having a Ganapathy temple adjacent or close to the mint.
He explains how the Kamattam Ganapathy Kovil located near the Ophthalmic Hospital on the General Hospital Road got its name, though no traces of the mint remain. It was during the reign of Swati Thirunal that the Diwan’s office (the Huzur Cutchery till then was located in Kollam) was relocated to the capital here. Archival evidence points to the practice of the mint defraying the expenses of the temple.
Citing yet another example, he speaks about the Kottaram Kulam Ganapathy temple in Kollam. While the mints at Mavelikara and Paravoor cannot be located, there is proof that the grounds of the Kalkulam Government School near Padmanabhapuram, housed a temple, and the mint was in close proximity. He further adds that the Chetties and traditional goldsmiths were brought from Tamil Nadu and permitted to take up residence on the periphery of the temple, all of which indicate the existence of guilds which facilitated the minting too.
Speaking on the status of Travancore coins in the interregnum – from a princely state to becoming a part of the Indian Union – the explanation is “With independence, minting was stopped in Travancore but continued to be valid currency till 1956.”
The book, according to the author, offers illuminating details on the use of coins within the social hierarchy, the coming of the kaashu, phanam, chuckram, practice of thulabharam by the rulers, how the first machine-struck coins were issued under Maharaja Ayilyam Thirunal, changing dynamics in minting with the arrival of the British Resident, procuring coins from the Birmingham and Bombay mints, how documents reveal methods of identifying counterfeit coins, all nuggets that are interesting facets of Travancore history. The book release is on May 11 at Fourth Estate Hall, Press Club, at 4.30 p.m.
