Roman Coin find 1847, Kizhur - Cannanore
Calicut faced nervous days in 1847, as a great storm hit the Laccadives and the mainland. Logan mentioned it in his manual and CHF had written about it. The storm waves dashed on the coast in a very unexpected manner and its effects were felt from Cannanore to Chetwai. The wave destroyed the Cannanore Custom house, it came in so suddenly that the officials had hardly time to escape by the rear as the sea swept in at the front. It was also the year when Richard Burton visited and wrote about the town, the year when a lighthouse was constructed on the Calicut beach, and also the year when the collector HV Conolly had all the shops of the big bazaar tiled. But unrelated to this, the period witnessed a major discovery near Cannanore which kept many a goldsmith near Calicut’s Big Bazar, busy.
The laborers would not divulge the location of the original
hoard, and even after much interrogation, no detail could be gleaned about the
location. Coins continued to arrive and were sold and melted, and sadly neither
the buyer nor the seller bothered about the historical value of these coins, interested
only in the gold content. It was after 4-5 years, that the astounding story of the discovery of
a treasure trove of ancient Roman coins which they were, came out.
Initial reports revealed that they were accidentally
discovered when laborers searching for gold dust, on the slope of a small hill
in the Kottayam-Cotiote region near Cannanore discovered the hoard. Kizhur,
situated in Kottayam (British Cotiote) was identified as the location and thus the
find was known as the Kottayam hoard. The Kingdom of Kottayam (where the famous
Pazhassi Raja was from) in those days covered much of Tellicherry, Iritty, and parts
of Wayanad. Reports stated that the coins were originally found in a brass (some
felt it was Bronze – like the Trier hoard, see pic) vessel. It was determined
without much by way of proof that the overall hoard was no less than five cooly
loads of gold coins.
Turner states- The number of coins found at Kottayam
seems to have been nothing short of fabulous, being said to have amounted to
‘no less than five cooly-loads’. If a cooly is deemed capable of carrying a
modest 251b. of gold, then the hoard consisted of at least 8,000 aurei. Based
on the number of gold coins being approximately 8,000, and an average street
price of some $8,000 per Aurei, the
hoard could have been worth a staggering
64 million dollars today!
From the period and the perfect mint condition of the coins,
with figures sharp and distinct, and the inscriptions clear and legible, it was
clear that they were mint condition Aurei, never used, till their discovery. These
coins were determined to be products of Imperial Rome, from the times of
Augustus in the latter half of the 1st century. Just imagine, mint
condition 1700-year-old coins! The oldest coins in the collection are those of
Augustus, and the latest those of Antoninus Pius, embracing a period of about
one hundred and forty years. So, it is quite clear that they were shipped out
to India during or just after the reign of Pius, 161 AD.
This announcement came at the heels of yet another trove of
coins discovered near Coimbatore in 1842 and added up to numerous finds of
Roman coins here and there in South India, testifying to a robust intercourse of
trade between Rome and India.
Perhaps real interest peaked when the Travancore Raja, Uthram
Thirunal Marthanda Varma (1814-1860) expressed his interest, and the British
got involved. This was the period when Gen Cullen was the resident in
Travancore, TH Baber had gone back for England earlier after a long spell in
Tellicherry, and HV Connolly reigned as the collector at Calicut. As the initial
news broke, the Travancore Raja expressed his desire to acquire some of the
coins and accordingly, a large number was acquired by General Cullen and sent
to Travancore, proving that even after the lapse of more than a year from their
first discovery, they were still procurable from the natives about Tellicherry
and Calicut. While the Travancore Raja picked up about 80 or so coins, Cullen
seems to have added an equal or higher number to his collection. We do not know
what became of Cullen’s collection except for 8 coins that he donated to the
India Museum/EIC. The Travancore Raja’s collection comprised 8 Augustus coins,
3 of Antonia Pius, 28 of Tiberius, 2 of Caligula, 16 of Claudius, and 16 of
Nero, totaling 73.
These were the first perceptions, relating to the find. The
questions that swirled around it were numerous and continue to remain. Over
time, some historians confused the locale Kottayam with the Southern
counterpart and connected it all with the Muziris trade, but others focused on
the correct hilly location, in North Malabar.
The discovery of the hoard
Let us now see what additional information became available in
1850 after Capt H Drury got on to uncovering the details and reporting it in
1851.
Quoting Capt Drury (he wrote to Gen Cullen) - One day
whilst they were engaged in digging the bed of the river a number of gold coins
were found in a part where there was a mixture of sand and mud. These were
lying buried in the ground but not in a vessel. A great quantity was taken but
nobody knows how many. Some suppose that these might have been buried here in
bags, which have been destroyed. At a distance of ten Koles east of this, there
is a garden belonging to a Maplay in which are situated a small shop and two
houses belonging to some low caste people who always reside there. During the
hot season, there is water to a man’s depth whilst in the monsoon there is a
depth equal to four or five men. The stream runs through one side of the dry
bed of the river, whilst the other is so filled up with sand that it is like an
island. Below this island on the other side, there is another current
resembling a small canal which is the place whence the coins are taken. Certain
Maplamars of Curvoye (?)
Taluk hearing of the discovery of gold at this canal proceeded thither and
tried to collect some, and it is said, that they also got some coins. Although
what these people got, is not so much as taken formerly by others, nobody knows
what the exact quantity was.
While some believe that traders from Coorg brought the hoard down and buried it on the island, others felt that these were gold coins ferried for trade by the Romans, as bullion. Perhaps their vessel was shipwrecked or taken by pirates and the booty was taken up the Valapatanam river by boat and buried at the said island. Valapatanam was quite well known to Roman sailors and could have been the port Nalopatana mentioned by Pliny and Cosmas.
Cosmas mentions the ports of Mangarouth, Salopatana, Nalopatana, and Poudopatana in the sentence - The most notable places of trade in India are these: Sindu, Orrhotha, Calliana, Sibor and then the five marts of Male which export pepper: Parti, Mangarouth, Salopatana, Nalopatana, Poudopatana. We know that Mangarouth was Mangalore; and Salopatana, Nalopatana, and Poudopatana were situated between Mangalore and Calicut. While many agree that Valapatanam could be Nalopatana, KS Mathew believes it could be Dharmapatanam in the vicinity. These three ports appear to have been situated on the coast of Cottonarikê, (Kottayam?) the pepper country, somewhere between Mangalore and Calicut. The termination patana means "town".
Just to note for perspective, the Payyanur patola mentions
the 13th and 14th century trade with Yavanas whereas the Ben
Yiju Jewish Aden trade was from the 12th, but here we are talking of
1st-century trade!
What happened to the Coins donated by Gen Cullen?
In 1856, Col Sykes stated to the Statistical Society- General
Cullen, at my request, was so obliging as to present a dozen of these coins to
the Museum of the India House, where they can now be seen. The coins are of
pure gold, and the impressions are so sharp and clear, that they appear as if
recently from the mint. They bear the effigies of the Roman Emperors from
Augustus down to Antoninus Pius.
That they were in the cabinet in 1854 is testified by Mr.
Freeling of the Asiatic society – He says - It is in Roman coins the Society
is peculiarly rich, and a reference to the earliest numbers of the Journal
would probably enable any numismatist easily to re-arrange and identify the
specimens there described. I had no time to do it myself, so have merely put
all these together. Some appear very fine specimens, and there are 13 silver
besides 8 beautiful gold, these last presented by General Cullen from Travancore.
This is at variance with what Paula Turner concluded - General
Cullen obtained many coins from the hoard, and he donated eight examples to the
Indian Museum in Calcutta but further attempts to locate the rest of the coins
have not been successful, indeed the eight given to the Indian museum are no
longer in that cabinet.
Well, they were moved to Fife house in England, according to Col Sykes. Sykes
reconfirmed in 1863 that they were in Fife house. Quoting Sykes - You may see some of the coins in the
Indian Museum - Fife House, Scotland Yard, which at my request General Cullen,
the resident at the Court of Travancore, was good enough to present to the East
India Company.
Some of the coins from the massive Kottayam hoard went to
the Rajah of Travancore, who allowed Bishop Caldwell, a numismatist, to study
such coins as he had acquired; this was in the same year, 1851. So,
surely some of them should still be part of the Travancore palace collection.
Turner adds – One Dr Kennet (Is he the Anglo Indian, Charles Egbert Kennet 1826-1884, who taught at
the Madras Theological College and published a book on St Thomas?) sold
several coins from this hoard to the Madras Museum in 1882, among them a
denarius of Tiberius; denarius is the word used in the Accession Register, but
it is unclear whether the coin was actually of silver.
How did the hoard find its way to Kottayam?
Dury initially believed that they were carried to Malabar by
Palestine Jews who arrived about the
year 68, A. D or Nestorian Christians who followed later, but then decided - But
I do not consider this theory entitled to so much consideration, from the fact
of the coins being found in greater number on or near to the sea-coast, on
which account it would assuredly be more plausible to support the idea of their
having been brought by the Romans from Egypt, or the Jews from Palestine,
presuming the latter people, in their emigration, came either by the way of the
Red Sea or the Persian Gulf.
Raoul McLaughlin thinks that the Kottayam hoard might have
been stashed by a shipwrecked Roman crew en route to Tamil ports, who, for
whatever reason, were unable to return to the site to recover their wealth. This
would mean they had local help in taking the hoard in a boat and rowing it up
the river to the Iritty area. I would guess that the Roman ship was robbed by
pirates who then took the booty up the river and concealed it but were unable
to recover it for whatever reason.
Caldwell stated in 1851 - It would be very desirable to endeavor
to collect and examine the whole of the coins discovered near Calicut, (of
which these are a portion, and) which are said to have numbered several
hundred, all gold coins, and all it is supposed Roman Imperial Aurei. As far as
it appears at present, they may have been concealed about A. D. 70. If an
opinion can be formed from the worn, or fresh appearance of the coins, as
compared with their earlier, or later date, and the absence of all coins later
than the reign of Nero, it would appear that they could not have remained in
circulation after A. D. 70, and probably not so long. As the coins in question
were discovered in the interior of the country, (it is said in the bed of a
river,) it appears improbable that the persons who concealed them were
themselves Roman merchants; but they may have been native agents of the Roman
merchants, or persons extensively engaged in trade, at the time the Romans
maintained their intercourse with India. Money and valuables were concealed in
emergencies of various kinds, but especially on the breaking out of war between
two neighboring princes. Only one or two persons would be acquainted with the
place of concealment; and if it happened that they were killed in the war, or
through the continuance of hostilities unable to return to the place, their
secret died with them; and it was reserved for well diggers or miners, for the
action of rain, or changes in the course of rivers, to bring the hidden wealth
to light.
Drury also takes that line - About the year 964 ME (1789
CE) it is supposed that certain Gentoo inhabitants of
Coorg or Mysore, were in the habit of trading in these parts. This being
the time of war some wealthy merchants might have for competent reasons cast
their gold coins into the river. There is no story of a wealthy man having ever
resided in any of the adjacent villages.
A local raja of the region at that time may have buried it
for safekeeping, but that seems unlikely as the coins are in mint condition. Looking
at the possibility of transfer from the eastern ports, it seems virtually
impossible as such heavy loads were usually moved to the hinterland through
rivers, so it could not have come from the Tamilakam eastern ports or for that
matter Muziris down South – hitherto ports which conducted trade with the
Romans. Notwithstanding all this, modern historians like Cobb called it a fluke
find and that it does not fit the traditional timelines.
Caldwell adds - From the conquest of Egypt by the Romans
about B.C. 30 till the decline of their power, Roman merchants traded
extensively with India, and especially with the towns on the Malabar coast, to
which they learned to sail directly with the monsoon from the ports of the Red
Sea. Having few commodities that would be considered valuable' in India to
exchange for silks and muslins, gems and spices, ivory and steel, they were
obliged to pay for the greater part of their purchases in specie. Roman coins
were in consequence introduced into India so plentifully that they appear to
have formed part of the ordinary currency of the country, and even the name of
the Roman Denarius has survived to our own day in that of the Indian Dinar. The
beauty of the Roman coins, as compared with those of the Hindu princes,
contributed to their diffusion throughout all parts of India, and was, perhaps,
the principal cause of their preservation. The ordinary Hindu coins were
without hesitation broken up to be made into jewelry, but the Roman coins must
have been considered by many as jewels in themselves and carefully preserved
accordingly.
To this Drury added - I have seen an aureus on the neck
of a cooly woman, who was carrying a portmanteau up the Shevaroy hill
(Sevarayan near Salem in Tamil Nadu) ghat.
Many now believe that the coins were commodities. During a UK
parliamentary debate in 1583 concerning minting gold coins in India, JB Smith
based on inferences drawn by Col Sykes stated - Why had these (Kottayam
hoard) coins been sent there? The Romans, when they wanted to get the products
of the Malabar coast, had nothing but gold to pay for them, for they had no
acceptable manufactures to offer in exchange. So, again, the Venetians, when
they traded with India, took with them the sequin a pure gold coin, with the
figure of the Virgin Mary upon it; and that coin, under the name of the Pootlee
or figured coin, still existed in India, and was treated entirely as a
commodity at its market value.
Moved to Great Britain
The fate of the Travancore Raja’s collection is also not
clear. While it was in the palace museum and studied by Dr Caldwell, the
whereabouts at present are not apparent to me. I hope Travancore historians
such as Prof Sharath Sunder can track it down.
That then is the available history of the Kottayam hoard,
which simply vanished, or became part of local jewelry, for the most part. Strange,
these coins moved from Rome to Egypt, through the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea
to North Malabar, and lay there for 1700 years, some are still part of Indian
jewelry, and others moved to Calcutta and eventually ended up in London.
References
A Description of the Roman Imperial Coins Found near Calicut - Bishop R. Caldwell
Roman Coins from India - Paula J Turner
Speculation is Futile: Reflections on 30 Years of Studies of Roman Coins Found in India - P.J. Turner
The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean - Raoul McLaughlin
Rome and the Indian Ocean Trade from Augustus to the Early Third Century CE + The Indian Ocean Trade in Antiquity: Political, Cultural and Economic Impacts - Matthew A. Cobb
Roman Coins Found in India - Robert Sewell
Money and Flows of Coinage in the Red Sea Trade - Dario Nappo
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