Who was the first ruler in India to issue gold coins? (a)The Indo Greeks (b)The Mauryas (c)The Nandas (d)The Shakas
Answer
Verified
Hint: -During the last two centuries BC, the kingdom ruled over the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent (mainly modern Afghanistan and Pakistan, along with portions of northwestern India). -His rulers have been referred to in Indian literature as 'Yavanas.'
Complete answer:There was a time when India was referred to as Golden Sparrow or Sone ki Chidiya. Different cultures have relied over the years on gold as a currency and a sign of wealth.
(a)The Indo
Greeks- The first rulers in India to issue coins that can clearly be credited to the kings were the Indo-Greeks. They became the first to issue gold coins in India. By the $1^{st}$ century BCE, the coinage of the Indo-Greek kingdom was gradually inspired by coins from other regions of India. Up to 120 ships set sail a year from Myos Hormos to India during the early growth of Roman trade with India. Gold coins, used for this trade, were presumably recycled for their own coins by the Kushan
empire. (b)The Mauryas- The Mauryas is the wrong response as the gold coins were first issued in India by Indo-Greeks. This is not the correct answer, Hence Option B. is an incorrect option. (c)The Nandas- The Nandas is the wrong response as the gold coins were first issued in India by Indo-Greeks. This is not the correct answer, Hence Option C. is an incorrect option. (d)The Shakas- The Shakas is the wrong response as the gold coins were first issued in India by
Indo-Greeks. This is not the correct answer, Hence Option D. is an incorrect option. Hence, Option A is the correct answer.
Note: In India, however, these First Gold Coins were minted during the 6th century BCE by the Mahajanapadas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain in Buddha's time and definitely before Alexander the Great's invasion in the 4th century BC. The coins were punch-marked coins from this era. A lot of these coins had a single symbol, like a bull or a swastika, for
example.
