Page:Origin and spread of the Tamils.djvu/88



NOTES TO LECTURE II 77 (2) " From the Pāņdya Kingdom, famous for its pearls, and ruled by kings entitled by the Greeks Pandion. They brought typically Tamil products, precious stones and pearls and perhaps elephants. Probably the Cola kingdom also sent an embassy. All may have been planned as commercial embassies by Alexandrian or Syrian Greeks in order to cut out if possible, the Arabians." (E. H. Warmington, op. cit., p. 37). Exportation of Roman money to India was really inevit. able. The Indian coinage made chiefly from base metals had little exchange value in international commerce. The Tamils accepted Roman money. A Roman currency of Roman coins in the Tamil districts was deliberately established and the Romans used Indian coinage of baser metal for very small change. It is only at a late period that Roman coinage of base metal reached India. Many thousands of Roman coins found in the Tamil kingdoms belong to the first century of the Roman Empire. The coins with the stamps of Augustus and Tiberius particularly those of the latter exceed in number those of any other reign. Gold coins of Vespasian and of succeeding Emperors are not found in large numbers. Thus according to Thurston's catalogue of the gold coins found at Pudukottai probably about 1898 we have : 51 coins Of the reign of Augustus Tiberius Gaius Claudius Nero Vespasian ... 123 . 3 1 . Total number in one hoard ... 501