Kalinga Ancient Trade Routes

Roman coins

Probable Archaeology

Roman coins have turned up in two places on the old Kalinga coast. One writer reports gold Roman coins found in the Mayurbhanj hills, probably carried inland through the port of Tamralipti, and another reports Roman coins found at the ruined port of Kalingapatnam.

Real Roman coins have been dug up both at Kalingapatnam and in the Mayurbhanj hills.

Roman gold coins have been found in the Mayurbhanj hills. The spot is called Bamanghati. Historians think they probably came overland through the port of Tamralipti. A lot of rouletted ware, a stamped pottery, came the same way. [Patra, n.d., p. 110]

Roman coins have also turned up at Kalingapatnam. This old port sits at the mouth of the Vamsadhara river. Digs there, in 1928 and again in 1977-79, found pottery, brick walls and glazed tiles. They dated the settlement back to 300 BCE. [Patra, 2014, pp. 122-123]

For scholars

Both reports come from the same writer, Benudhar Patra. So they count as one source, not two. That keeps the tier at Probable. The Mayurbhanj coins are an Odisha find. But scholars argue they came overland from the Bengal port of Tamralipti. They did not come by sea into Kalinga. Neither source names the coins’ Roman ruler or date. [Patra, n.d., p. 110; Patra, 2014, pp. 122-123]

Facts

Category
Metal
Direction
Imported into Kalinga
Scholar notes

Both accounts I could read are by Benudhar Patra (one co-authored), so they are not fully independent works; the tier is held at Probable for that reason, following the same judgement already made for the roman-amphorae entry. Bamanghati (Mayurbhanj) is in Odisha, but the coins are argued to have arrived overland from the Bengal port of Tamralipti, not directly by sea into Kalinga. No coin type, ruler or date is given by either source beyond 'Roman'.

  1. Sushanta Kumar Patra, Benudhar Patra. *Archaeology and the Maritime History of Ancient Orissa*. in Orissa Historical Research Journal XLVII. n.d. , p. 110 ('Roman gold coins from Bamanghati in Mayurbhanj' are 'argued to have arrived through Tamluk' (Tamralipti), alongside large quantities of rouletted ware from the port.)
  2. Benudhar Patra. *Ports in Ancient Odisha: Historical Perspective*. in Odisha Review. 2014 , pp. 122-123 (At Kalingapatnam, on the Vamsadhara mouth: an excavation in 1928 found pottery, brick walls and glazed tiles, and ASI work of 1977-79 dated settlement to 300 BCE; Roman coins are reported from the site.)