KOLKATA, Sept 2: A tussle over the estate of Priyamvada Birla, the widow of a leading Indian industrialist, has led to the discovery of a collection of ancient gold coins and other artefacts, a lawyer said Friday.

“Over 300 gold coins of the Gupta, Maurya and Mughal periods have been found in the strong-rooms concealed behind a wooden panel” in her home in eastern Kolkata city, Birla family solicitor N.G. Khaitan told AFP. “Gold artefacts like tea sets and flower vases are also lying on the dusty shelves.”

After the 1990 death of industrialist Madhav Prasad Birla, his widow ran his share of the family business until she died last year. Her accountant Rajendra Singh Lodha claimed she had left him her entire fortune in a will made in 1999.

The Birla business empire — one of India’s oldest family-run industrial houses, estimated at 50 billion rupees (about 1.1 billion dollars) — has closed ranks and challenged the will before the Kolkata High Court.

In the course of the legal dispute, a judge has appointed a team to make an inventory of the properties of Priyamvada Birla, and the officers stumbled on the treasure trove in the Birla residence on Wednesday, Khaitan said.

“We are yet to make the full list of the gold coins and the artefacts,” said Asim Banerjee, one of the officers who found the secret chamber.

Khaitan said Madhav Prasad Birla had collected old coins as a hobby.

“It’s an amazing discovery,” said Bimal Bandyopadhyay, superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of India. “The court should issue a direction for proper examination of the coins, which may throw new light on the history of India.”

The Mauryas ruled India during the third century BC, and the Gupta period spanned the fourth to seventh centuries AD.—AFP