Ashtadhyayi, an ancient text by Panini, mentions 'Karshapana' and 'Shatamana'. Which one of the following statements correctly describes 'Karshapana' and 'Shatamana'?
They were officers in charge of revenue collection in Mahajanapadas.
Incorrect AnswerThese terms were used for granaries, maintained to mitigate effects of drought.
Incorrect AnswerThese terms were used for the coins.
Correct AnswerThese terms were used as units of measure of weight.
Incorrect AnswerExplanation:
x The Ashtadhyayi is a grammar that describes a form of an early Indo-Aryan language: Sanskrit. Authored by Sanskrit philologist and scholar Pa?ini and dated to around 500 BCE, it describes the language as current in his time, specifically the dialect and register of an élite of model speakers, referred to by Pa?ini himself as sista. x The Ashtadhyayi mentioned two terms Kahapana and Shatamana. Kahapana or Karshapana, according to the Ashtadhyayi of Panini, refers to ancient Indian coins current during the 6th century BCE onwards, which were unstamped and stamped metallic pieces whose validity depended on the integrity of the person authenticating them. x Shatamana: The Shatamana coins or the coinage system is datable to 600 BC (onward) and continued for a long period, probably till the time when Chandragupta Maurya conquered Gandhara in 300 BC. The Shatamanas were also coins used during the period. x Hence option (c) is the correct answer.
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By: Parvesh Mehta