By Anil Sharma,

Jaipur, Sep 2 (IANS) Ajay Dev, a 12th century ruler of the Chauhan dynasty whose kingdom was in Ajmer, loved his wife so much that he had coins issues engraved with her name. Some of his coins are among the over 500 on display at an exhibition of old coins at Jawahar Kala Kendra here.

The exhibition, which ends Sep 5, is attracting many visitors. Some of the coins date back to 2,600 years and include the 'panch mark' coins (with five marks), which officials say date from 600 BC to 200 BC.

There are other ancient coins too - from the Indo-Greek period (around 200 BC-1 AD) and Kushan period from roughly the same age, Gupta period (320-600 AD) and Mughal period (1527-1707 when Aurangzeb died and the empire started declining).

There are special coins of princely states, including Jaipur, Kota, Bikaner and Marwar. The exhibition has been organised by the archaeological and museum department of Rajasthan in collaboration with Jawahar Kala Kendra.

"It's a modest attempt by the archaeological department to display such coins. These are said to be the oldest coins in our country. They provide the source material to know about our glorious past and to educate people about the ancient cultural, political and socio-economic life," said Zafarulla Khan, a known numismatic and circle superintendent with the archaeological and museum department.

The Panch Mark coins are crowd pullers. They are the oldest in the exhibition and said to be the first known coins to be circulated in Indian history. Most of these silver coins have five marks on them and each weighs 3.2 grams.

Several coins have engravings that look like three human figures and a horse while some show a bent human figure with an object on his shoulders. Others depict a figure carrying two pots on the shoulder slung on the ends of a rod.

On certain coins the images are so blurred and invisible that it is difficult to decipher the impression. These coins were found from different parts of Rajasthan, particularly Virath Nagar, Tonk, Sikar, Chitorgarh and Sambhar areas.

According to Zafarulla Khan, it was noted numismatic John Ellen who first deciphered the marks on the coins in accordance with Western terms. But several Indian experts have challenged the interpretation of the coin engravings.

Indian numismatics including Zafarulla Khan think the engravings on the coins are purely figures of Indian gods and goddesses. They think a correct interpretation of the engravings could reveal important information about the culture of that era.