DescriptionMalwa is in west-central India. Two contending “tribes” were in the region: the Chalukyas and the Paramaras. Both issued coins whose designs were derived from Sasanian drachms, in a series that is called “gadhaiya paisa.”The earliest ancient Indian coins were the “bent bar” punchmarked silvers of the Achaemenid Persians occupying Gandhara in northwest Pakistan. By the 3rd century BC coins were in general use in most of India and Ceylon, and in subsequent centuries struck round coins in gold, silver, and copper came into use throughout the subcontinent and beyond to Southeast Asia and Pacific islands to Java and beyond.
