Fishman, A.M. & Todd, I.J. - The Silver Damma: On the mashas, daniqs, qanhari dirhams and other diminutive coins of India, 600-1100 CE (2018)

Fishman, A.M. & Todd, I.J. - The Silver Damma: On the mashas, daniqs, qanhari dirhams and other diminutive coins of India, 600-1100 CE (2018)

Paperback, 2018, 424 pages

The result of over a decade of study, this work presents in 423 pages a vast range of new material on a super-series of coins which uniquely bridges Hindu and Islamic India from the 7th century CE onwards; its interpretations open a whole new horizon in the numismatic history of early medieval India. The book comprehensively examines the nature and historical context of the earliest native tiny silver dammas as well as all their various Islamic and Hindu descendants, traversing the early coinages of Sindh, Punjab and ancient Gandhara, as well as the later Sindhi, Multani and Ghaznavid types, and subsequent coins from north-western and central India, covering the period from about 600 to 1100 CE. A survey of later coins from western, central and south India is included in the Addendum to the main work for the sake of completeness and to demonstrate the pervasiveness of the tiny silver damma over time and throughout India. Comprehensive descriptions, translations and historical notes are provided for every one of the hundreds of coin types, together with illustrations of one or more specimens of each, including line drawings where appropriate. 

Our Review:

"Fishman and Todd have produced an analysis and catalog of silver dammas that would have been unthinkable just a decade or two ago. These once obscure and poorly understood gems have a wealth of meaningful history attached, sure to entice the interest of coin collectors and historians." – Stephen Album