Patna: Frenzied villagers scrambled for thousands of ancient silver coins in Bihar, which were found packed in eight earthen pots during digging for the construction of a Hindu temple.

The incident took place in Purnia, an eastern Bihar district more than 350km east of Patna, on Monday.

Witnesses said digging for the construction of a temple was going on at Chandni Chowk locality of old city Purnia when villagers noticed shiny silver coins spread all over the freshly dug out soil. Further digging led to the discovery of more than 5,000 silver coins kept in eight earthen pots.

The find led to a sudden frenzy among as the villagers jostled to retrieve the coins and leave the scene before the police could reach the spot. Witnesses said several villagers took away handfuls of the precious coins.

Historians say the recovered coins were from the Mughal period and could unravel more hidden facts about Indian history.

“Coins with inscriptions in Arabic probably belong to the Mughal period and are over several hundred years old,” said a local historian Rameshwar Prasad.

A local senior official confirmed the finding of the silver coins but said he had no information about the exact number of coins recovered.

“I have asked the police to recover the plundered coins ... we are trying to recover them since they contain history,” local sub-divisional official Raj Kumar told the media on Tuesday.

Authorities say the area where the coins were found had fortress of Nawabs [native governors during the time of Mughal empire] and other kings.