Star Rating:
Synopsis of the book by Arun Ramamurthy:
Suvarna Mohur is a coffee table book where India’s history is expressed through a different perspective – it’s rare coins. Coins provide not only evidence of trade and economy but also bear testimony to the history, politics and art of a nation.
Suvarna Mohur traces India’s history from the time the first coins were minted about 2500 years ago. Our political and social landscape has changed significantly from century to century with each successive period enriching our ancient civilization and making it a more diverse country than it ever has been. Such diversity is also reflected in India’s coinage. Ranging from punch-marked types to rather uniquely shaped octagonal ones, from the world’s largest coins to the smallest ones, from coins used for everyday transactions to much sought after ones that were used as jewelry and from resplendent gold coins to the more ubiquitous copper varieties; India’s coins are not just a collector’s delight but also serve to illuminate our magnificent culture. The remarkable history of an epoch appears to spring to life when viewed in conjunction with the coinage representing that era.
Suvarna Mohur, while charting India’s history over the millennia, presents a bouquet of 133 rare coins which, in the author’s opinion, are best illustrative of our country’s antiquity, ethos and traditions.
My experience with the book:
Arun Ramamurthy is a devoted author who has developed keen interest in the world of coins and has attempted to illustrate 2500 years of history through said coins beautifully. He is not an avid coin collector, but someone who has studied the life of coins in India and has successfully provided a timeline and associated stories of the same. It is common to travel the world and and often try and have a cultural experience through the monuments and architecture retained from history like in Hampi or Delhi. But Arun has provided a view of this timeless existence of history through coins. So different, yet so similar to the monuments and it shows in his writing. He showcases that something as minute as a coin had its own significance and had the impact. The transition of different eras from one period to another is competently explained in this book which makes so much sense and leaves you with a better understanding of several events that took place in the history and several more concepts that you wish you knew during schooling. The learning has been so impact that I wish I had access to this content during 8th std because, although I truly enjoyed learning history, there were several sections that were content intensive and dry which would have not been the case if this book was available at that time of my life.
He begins the book from a concept as basic and preliminary as the barter system to new age money transaction. His description of the evolution of currency from exchanging cows from the start of Rig Vedic period to printed metal is truly bewitching. As he begins to explain the evolution of the coins, he associates interesting parts of the history with it and what lead to the creation and existence of the coins during that period. There are so many new and fascinating facts that I learnt not to mention the vivid images of the coins I got to see which helped me imagine what the exchange was like. He goes on to explain the kind of metals, the type of punches made on the metal and so on which may not interest many, but it is a good to know information. The beginning of coins from the time of Janapada along with Persian influence till the time of the British rule are displayed and depicted here. He closes with the dominating of electronic money over the physical currency . You can see how the coins evolved and the craftsmanship improved over the course of time and a lot of sections of the books revokes childhood memories. At the end of it all Arun provides statistics with respect to the coins which is again a good to know information and is pretty interesting.
All in all, Arun has managed to broaden my learning with respect to the country and although, coins might not be a subject of interest that would please or keep everyone engrossed, he has managed to keep me engaged throughout the book with solid information and corresponding story telling. I can confidently say that I've learnt so much more, not just about coins but also about the history of the country and all the credit goes to him. I truly did not expect to be consumed by a book that is conceptual and not a novel which is usually the kind of books I preferred and extra points to Arun for managing to pull this off with this book. He has managed to cover all them from historical coins to the latest Rs.1000 coin and it has definitely been some impactful learning. I know that I say this often, but I am truly glad that I read this book.
About the author and the novel:
Arun has keen interest in history apart from being a veteran numismatist.
Book Name - Suvarna Mohur
Author Name - Arun Ramamurthy
Genre - History & Politics
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