Maharathis of North Karnataka, Maharathi Mahakutuba, Lead, 4.30g, Obv: Strung Bow and Arrow in the centre, Swastika and Shrivatsa below and a battle-axe to right; Brahmi legend “…na Maha(rathisa) Mahakutubasa”, around, Rev: Ten-arched hill with dots in arches, small tree-in-railing to left (Unpublished in major sources). Very fine, extremely rare.
Maharathis flourished in Northern Karnataka during the Satavahana rule and some families, powerful enough, appear to have held rights to issue their own coins. ‘Bow-and-arrow’ type Maharathi coins, similar to this specimen, have been found in excavations at Bachingudda located near the royal city of Pattadakal. They suggest that the historicity of the Malaprabha basin, which later became the nucleus of the Chalukyan Empire, goes at least a few centuries earlier.