Previous Year Question

Fanam (or Panam) was a coin and a monetary denomination in medieval India, used particularly in South India. It was not confined to the currency of a single kingdom; coins called Fanams circulated in different parts of southern India over a long period.

With regard to the South Indian monetary system, Sources of Indian History, preserved in a Government of India archival collection, identifies the Varaha as an important gold coin and the Fanam/Panam as a smaller denomination. It generally describes the Fanam as about one-tenth of a Varaha, weighing approximately 5–6 grains. This establishes that Fanam was a monetary term, not a type of clothing, ornament or weapon.

The identification is also supported by evidence from the medieval period itself. A twelfth-century Cairo Geniza mercantile document connected with Quilon/Kollam on the Malabar Coast records commercial accounts in Fanams along with other monetary units. This is direct documentary evidence from medieval trade and demonstrates that the Fanam functioned as a unit of money in actual commercial transactions.

The use of Fanams continued in later centuries as well, with different South Indian political authorities, including Travancore, issuing Fanam coins and employing them in commerce.