Audumbara republic and its coinage

The Audumbaras held the Beas–Ravi tract on the trade road from Takshashila to the Ganga valley. The Mahabharata makes them descendants of the sage Vishwamitra of the Kaushika gotra. They began as a republic with an elected king and later turned monarchical.

Their copper and silver coins, in Brahmi and Kharoshthi, have been found at Kangra, Jwalamukhi, Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur; several bear the name Mahadeva. Their economy rested on sheep-rearing and woollen goods.