Extremely fine, Unique.

Gadadhara Simha's coinage is unique in that he struck coins only with Ahom legends and all dating to the 33rd year of the 60 year cycle used by the Ahoms (equivalent to Ad1681). During late 17th century the Mughals had made inroads in the Ahom kingdom. Gadadhara Simha ascended the throne after a short period of political chaos but soon after his ascension, inflicted a defeat on the Mughals near Guwahati. The proximity to the Mughals, in spite of frequent skirmishes, meant that trade with Assam was revived and this is reflected in the large output of Gadadhara's currency. Most likely, as an occasional instance, Gadadhara might have struck fractional coins to facilitate trade, as is evident from this and so far unique coin.

This is the first specimen ever known, unpublished in any previous reference work on Assamese coins.

We acknowledge with gratitude the assistance of Mr. Ravi Shankar Sharma (Kolkata) in helping us decipher this verse inscription.