ब्राह्मी टीचर- Brahmi Teacher: How to Study the Brahmi Coins

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I am feeling extremely joyous writing the foreword of the 'Brahmi Teacher' of Shri Pradip Dattuji Wankar. He is interested in the study of Ancient Indian History and Culture though he is more interested in the ancient coins. He is Jt-Secretary of 'Chandrapur Coin Society' and life member of INTAC chapter, Chandrapur. His first book published earlier "Regular Commemorative Coins of Republic India" was widely acclaimed by the coin collectors. The knowledge of numismatics and the ancient scripts is must, not only for the history of various rulers but also for the history of Administrative system during the period. In the countries like ours, where the written history is not available for ancient period, the ancient coins are valuable and of great importance to us as they fill up the gaps in the information derived from in scriptions. The importance of Numismatics is self-explanatory on various accounts but the materials for their study are scarce. The aim of this book is to help the new generation interested in the history of numismatics and to help coin collectors to derive information from the coins. I hope that this present work will not only satisfy the scholars but it will also inspire them to move ahead in their quest for more knowledge.
To make the exchange process simple, a permanent solution was found out and this source or instrument of exchange was coins. Though the coins are smaller in size and information are very short, they are of great importance, but at the same time extremely difficult to read and understand and here one requires the knowledge of ancient scripts and languages. Many books in english and hindi have been published on ancient coins and scripts but very few tried their hands in writing a book on how to read scripts. This is the first book in hindi on numismatics which fulfills a part of this field and the author rightly deserves compliments on this accout.
The importance of ancient coins and currencies in writing the history of ancient India is well know The name of many rulers came to light from the coins only and if these were not found their names would not have been known to us. This is one field of study in which very rarely one enters and for most of them it is only a hobby and for these people this book will serve as a knowledge bank and will sure show a new path to the research scholars.
The author has avoided the controversial issues and has concentrated into reading the inscribed matter of the ancient coins written using Brahmi Script.

During my college days I came across a book in brahmi titled 'Brahmadutta Agadattya' This book in Brahmi was written both in prose and poetry and was also translated in hindi. After reading the book, there arose a great desire in me to learn about brahmi script. I tried to get someone to teach me but all refused citing one or the other reason. My interest grew even stronger and in the meantime I started collecting coins of ancient period and got interested to acquire in-depth knowledge of ancient Indian history and culture.
It is essential to have complete knowledge of Brahmi and kharoshti scripts to understand the ancient indian history and culture in the right prospect. It was widely used between the period 3 & 4 century B.C. and upto 15the century A.D. Many changes occurred in the script during this long period. I went through all the available literature on the subject though they were very few in number. At this juncture, luckily, I got a chance to study ancient Indian language at Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies, Anjaneri, Dist Nashik. Here, under the able guidance of Dr. Amiteshwari Jha and Rehan Ahmed Sir I made a special study to leam Brahmi script. That time only I decied to bring out a book, in simple language, to help people to learn Brahmi script, sitting at home. After some time I came accross a book 'Let us learn Brahmi Script' written by Dr. Pradip Shalikram Meshram and prof. Dhiraj Chaudhari of 'All India Historical Archaeological Buddhist Research Institute, Mansar, Dist. Nagpur. This book provided a valuable knowledge about reading Inscriptions, cave Inscriptions and taking their prints. This inspired me to publish a book on coins of that period in Brahmi and I shared this thought with my Guru Respected Shri R.M. Saklecha and elder brother like Shri Ashok Singh Thakur, both were very pleased and encouraged me to go ahead and assured their full cooperation for the same. And it was due to their encouragement and affection that I could complete this book.
I have full confidence that this book will prove to be a mile stone for coin collectors, those interested in learning Brahmi script and also for those who want to study ancient Indian his- tory and culture.
I have avoided controversies and have utilized only widely accepted views in my work.
To help the readers to understand the changes that took place during the different developmental stages easily, I have given some charts with specific period of use.
Due care has been taken to avoid any mistake but possibility of few cannot be denied. And I request all the scholars to convey me the same so that they are corrected in the future editions.
I hope that this small effort on my part will be welcomed by the scholars in the field.
My work will be rewarded if it proves to be even of small help to all those studying ancient Indian history and culture.