Assam, the ancient Kāmarūpa, had been invaded in A.D. 1228 by the
Ahoms, a Shan tribe from Burma, and finally subdued by them in 1540.
By the year 1695 the royal family had definitely submitted to the
influence of Hinduism. Previously to that date, expression of devotion
to the tribal gods Lengdun, Tara and Phatuceng appears on the coins;
but the reverse legend of a coin of the Śaka year 1618 (A.D. 1696),
struck by Rudra Siṁha (1696-1714), runs as follows, in the highly
poetical Sanskrit so characteristic of later coin inscriptions: “_A bee
on the nectar of the feet of Hara and Gaurī_.”
The earliest known coins are those of Śuklenmung (1539-52), but these
and the money of his five successors were struck for ceremonial
occasions, probably only at the coronation, and a yearly coinage was
first introduced by Rudra Siṁha. The strange octagonal shape of the
coins is said to owe its origin to a statement in the Yoginī Tantra,
which describes the Ahom country as octagonal. Some of the smaller
coins are, however, round, and Śiva Siṁha, for a coin of Ś. 1651, on
which he associates the name of his queen, Pramatheśvarī, and Rājeśvara
Siṁha (1751-69), for two of his issues, adopted the square Mug̱ẖal
form and style with legends in Persian. The inscription on Śiva Siṁha’s
coin is as follows: obverse, _Shāh Sheo Singh struck coin like the sun
by order of the Queen Pramatheśvarī Shāh_; reverse, _In the year 15 of
the fortunate reign at Gargāon 1651_ (= A.D. 1729). For this the Nūr
Jahān issues of Jahāngīr were obviously the model. With the exception
of a coin of Śuklenmung, all gold and silver was struck to a standard
of 176 grains, and half, quarter, eighth, and even smaller fractional
pieces were minted. Several of the earlier Rājas employed the Ahom
language and script for their legends. Sanskrit written in the Bengālī
script was first used by Sūrya Nārāyaṇa (1611-49). Pramatta Siṁha
(1744-51) and Rājeśvara Siṁha employ both, but after the coronation
ceremony of the latter Sanskrit alone was used. The legends, in either
script, are always enclosed within dotted borders (Pl. XII, 8). These
thick rather solid-looking coins, though attractive on account of
their unusual shape, are entirely without artistic merit; they ceased
to be minted with the cession of Assam to the British in 1826. The
broad round silver pieces of the Rājas of Jaintia (Jayantāpura) of the
eighteenth century, and the coins of the hill state of Tipperah, bear
legends similar in style to the Assamese Sanskrit coins, and, like
them, are dated in the Śaka era. The dates on the Ahom coins of Assam
are reckoned according to the Jovian cycle of sixty years.