Period of the Chola Invasion, Kahavanu ca. 990-1070
Obverse: Lord of Sri Lanka, king reclining to right, holding aloft an annulet
Reverse: King standing facing right, holding aloft a globule, altar, flame, conch, pellets and lotus in fields
Diameter 20 mm, weight 4.38 g
The Ceylonese gold Kahavanu in the name of the “Lord of Sri Lanka” are believed to have been struck starting around 960, and continued through the period of the Chola occupation, with Raja Raja Chola completing the conquest around 1001, and continuing until the expulsion of the Cholas by Vijaya Bahu around 1070. The standard anonymous Kahavanu have stereotyped figures of the king holding a sankh shell and lotus respectively on obverse and reverse. These variant types may have been struck at subsidiary mints around the island, or possibly even on the Indian mainland in Tamilnadu.
