Massa Coins

King Vijayabahu I who was responsible for toppling of the Chola dynasty, uniting the country and the inception of the Polonnaruwa Kingdom; also produced ‘Kahawanu’. He added his name to the face of the coin. Thus he is the first Sinhalese King to have had his name engraved on coins that were issued during his reign. This coin was known as ‘Massa’.

The practice of engraving the name of the King on coins continued from the beginning of the Polonnaruwa era until the end of the Dambadeni era. The coins that belonged to the period of the Polonnaruwa Kingdom bore the name of the King responsible for their production in ’Naagari Akshara’ or ‘Naagari characters’. Thus the name of King Vijayabahu appeared on the coin as Sri Vijayabahu, King Parakramabahu as Sri Parakramabahu, Chodaganga as Sri Chodagangadeva, Queen Leelawathi as Sri Raja Leelawathi, King Sahassamalla as Sri Sahasamalla, Dharmashoka as Sri Dharmashokadeva, and Bhuwanekabahu as Sri Bhuwanekabahu. But King Nishankamalla’s name appeared as Sri Kaligalakeja.

When names of kings Vijayabahu and Parakramabahu appear on coins, there is no specification as to which Vijayabahu or Parakramabahu it was. Only the name appears in same way in Naagari letters. In particular, Queen Leelawathi was in power in three different periods but there is no way of knowing which coins bearing her name came from which of the three periods. 

Coins produced under Chola kings such as Rajaraja I (985-1016 A.D), Rajendra I (1012-1044 A.D) and Rajadhiraja I (1018-1054) as well as under Pandya Kings were used during the Polonnaruwa Era. In addition, the use of coins minted under the kings of the Chinese Sun dynasty as well as the use of Arabic coins during this era indicates that Sri Lanka engaged in international trade in the Polonnaruwa era just as it did in the Anuradhapura era.