Story of Indian Money - XVIII- Princely State Coinage

The Mughal Empire underwent a decline after the death of the last Great Mughal, Aurangzeb 'Alamgir in 1707 because of its overstretch in terms of land mass and incessant succession wars at the death of each emperor between his sons and other royal claimants. The weakening at the centre led to the growth of regional powers of different types like successor states in form of Bengal, Hyderabad and Awadh, resuscitated ancient powers like the Rajputana States, warrior states like the Marathas and Sikhs and more importantly colonial powers like the British, Dutch, Danish, French and the oldest, the Portuguese.
The currency of the regions assumed a sovereign role and soon became independent of the Mughal currency system in a gradual but sure manner. This trend led to a variety of regional currencies which led to difficulties in inter-regional trade caused by inferior types of local currencies.
The regional coins were in many cases issued in the name of the Mughal Emperor who became a titular figure but the right to coin either began to be literally sold 'farmed out' as in the period of the desperate Mughal emperor, Farrukhsiyar or taken as a right since the Emperor could not supervise or resist as in the case of all emperors after Muhammad Shah 'Rangeela' who lost the peacock throne and its attendant prestige to the Persian invader, Nadir Shah in 1739.
The Nadir of Mughal currency was the periods of Shah Alam II and Muhammad Akbar II stretching from 1759 to 1835 when the East India Company began to issue coins in the name of the English monarch formally.
The Princely States were soon goaded into discontinuing the Mughal Emperor's name altogether especially after the Revolt of 1857 which saw a revival of token coins in the name of the founthead of the rebellion, Emperor Bahadur Shah 'Zafar' II who was duly packed off to Rangoon.
However, the decline of the Mughals encouraged the other powers to exercise their right to issue coinage to exhibit their sovereignty and hence the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw an exponential growth in Princely States' Coinage. What began as an imitative currency acquired its own strength through modern innovations of mechanized coin minting which was introduced by the East India Company at its mints in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras Presidencies. The Princely States were offered facilities to mint their own coins or even encouraged to employ English Mint Masters. However, the East India Company and the Imperial Government that followed it after the 1857 Revolt tried to suppress the local mints giving various reasons like the coins gave trouble to local merchants in exchange, encouraged the money lenders to exploit the poor farmers, encouraged counterfeiting of coins, was a loss of revenue to the Government of India or plain that the coins were made by melting the Imperial coinage!
These reasons however did not deter the Native States from continuing their coinage as is apparent by the multitude of coinage of these powers. Additionally, though expected by the Imperial government, several Princely States like Baroda, Hyderabad did not acknowledge the British monarch as their superior though several of their peers took to using titles like Qaiser-i-Hind or Mallika-i-Hind for Victoria the Empress of India to impress the Imperial government of their support to the colonial project. The modernization of Princely State coinage led to improvement in their standards as opposed to their earlier shoddy monitoring of metallic content, design and market exchange value of the coinage. Hence, we come across the most beautiful samples of coinage from states like Hyderabad, Bahawalpur, Kutch, Baroda, Gwalior, Travancore and Indore with realistic images of their rulers and state emblems like the Char Minar in the case of Hyderabad.  Even religious images were used in the coinage of smaller states of North India. However, all Princely States' could not survive to the modernization and closed the local mints or restricted  them to ceremonial issues in case of accession or marriages to exercise their nominal power.
Another important aspect of the Princely States' Coinage was the use of English legends along with local languages and script

s on the coins like Tamil in case of Travancore, Urdu in case of Hyderabad and Bahawalpur, Hindi with Devanagari legends in case of Indore, Gwalior and Baroda. Mewar came up with the most innovative Devanagari legend of 'Dosti Landhan (London)' to show its solidarity with the British!
Another important cultural aspect of the Princely States' Coinage was the employment of local calendars or the Hindu Vikrama Samavat dates as earlier only the Islamic Hijri calendar dates were permitted by the Mughals. Some Princes also used the coinages to exhibit important events like the completion of 50 years of rule in the case of Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner
Thus, the Princely States' Coinage represents one of the most colourful chapter in the Numismatic History of the Indian sub-continent which has often been neglected.

 

 

 

 

  

Coin Images (Top to bottom left to right) 1 & 2  Late Mughal Rupee in name of Muhammad Akbar II issued from Delhi (Umbrella symbol may represent a local power

Images 3 & 4 Gold Hun issued by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on his coronation in 1674 with Devanagari legend

Images 5 & 6 Pseudo-Mughal Rupee issued by Marathas with Devanagari 'Shri' as mint marker

Images 7 & 8 Sikh Rupee issued by Maharaja Ranjit Singh with legend praising Guru Gobind Singhji

Images 9 & 10 Machine struck Silver Rupee issued by Baroda State with image of  Maharaja Sayaji Rao III Gaekwad with Devanagari legend/Reverse: State emblem 'Sword' and Vikrama Samavat 1949 (1893 A.D.) in Devanagari

Images 11 & 12 Machine struck Copper denomination issued by Mewar with Devanagari 'Chitrakoot Udaipur/Dosti Landhan V.S. 2000 (1944)

Images 13 & 14 Silver Machine struck Kutchi Kori issued in 1898 in name of Victoria 'Qaisar-i-Hind from Bhuj mint with twin dates of 1898 A.D. (in Persian) and 1954 V.S. in Devanagari

Images 15 & 16 Silver Machine struck Rupee issued by Alwar State with names of Queen Victoria 'Empress' with image/Rev. Persian legend with name of Maharaja Mangal Singh date 1880 A.D. in Persian and English denomination and State name

Images 17& 18 Silver Rupee issued by Hyderabad State with name of Nawab Asaf Jah Nizam ul-Mulk Mir Mahbub Ali Khan (indicated by Persian 'MEEM' in the gate of Char Minar with Hijri dates and reverse circular Mughal 'Sanah Julus' formula

Images Courtesy: National Museum, New Delhi

Imperial Mughal coinage (1526-1835 A.D.)

The  foundation of the Mughal Empire was by Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur (r.1526-1530) who adopted the central Asian ‘Shahrukhi’ (named after Timur’s son Shahrukh Mirza) as the prototype for his silver currency and minted silver Shahrukhis from Kabul initially and finally from Agra which was captured by him from the last Lodhi Sultan, Ibrahim Lodhi in the first Battle of Panipat on 21 April 1526.

The Shahrukhi standard was adopted by both Humayun and Akbar (in his initial years). The Shahrukhis are thin broad pieces of silver with Kalima and the names of the first four caliphs on obverse and the king’s regnal titles with date and mint place on the reverse. The mint names on the reverse help indicate the extent of each emperor’s actual domains. The Mughal Empire was unsteady in its initial period and Humayun the second Mughal emperor was deposed by Sher Shah Suri in 1540 A.D till he regained his power after 15 years with the Persian ruler, Shah Tahmasp’s help. Humayun’s later issues from Qandahar bear the name of Shah Tahmaspa as a formal acknowledgement along with the Shia Kalima which was a compromise accepted by Humayun to survive at the Shia Safavid Court.

His rival, Sher Shah began his coinage by employing newer weight standards and terms; the silver coin was christened ‘Rupaiya’ a term still current in modern India! He stopped the use of billon and introduced tri-metallic coinage which was adopted by Akbar and the later Mughals. Thus Sher Shah can be considered as a pioneer of Indian monetary system as his system was adopted till the British took charge in 1835 A.D.

Akbar (r.1556-1605) began his reign by adopting the Shahrukhi standard but reformed the Suri standard to issue gold coins called Muhars, silver Rupees and copper coins called Dams; 40 dams were equal to one rupee; 9 silver rupees were equal to 1 Muhar. He also issue heavier Muhars fetching 10 and 12 rupees. His coins were issued in square and polygonal shapes called ‘Mehrabi’ in addition to the circular.  

The coinage of the Mughals can be divided into three phases on the basis of the place of issue and condition of Mughal authority:

v  Wandering or regional phase (1526-1556) Babur and Humayun

v  Classical phase (1556-1707) Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb

v  Decadent phase (1707-1720) late Mughal Emperors beginning with Shah Alam I and his successors ending with the beginning of Muhammad Shah’s reign

v  Quasi-Mughal phase (1720-1835) issuing of ‘Mughal’ coins under regional powers like the erstwhile Nawabs of Awadh, Hyderabad, Rohilkhand, enemy powers like Marathas, Sikhs, Rajputs and European colonial powers like the French, the English, etc.

Babur's Silver Shahrukhi with Kalima on obverse (top image) and name, title of the Emperor along with mint name on reverse (bottom image)

Gold Mihrabi of Akbar from Agra Mint c. A.H. 981 with Kalima on obverse (top image) and Names and titles on reverse (bottom image)

Akbar's Gold Illahi Mohur from Lahore Mint with Illahi credo on obverse (top image) and date Illahi 39 Tir Month on reverse (bottom image)

Jahangir's Libra Gold Mohur issued in A.H. 1033 (1624-25 A.D.) with image of Libra on obverse representing the month 'Dii' in Persian Caledar (top image) and reverse legend with date, mint (Agra) and regnal year 19 (bottom image)

Shah Jahan's Agra Gold Mohur dates A.H. 1042 (1632-33 A.D.)  with Kalima on obverse (top image) and names and title of the Emperor including Sahib-e-Qiran Sani  on reverse (bottom image)

Aurangzeb's Silver Rupee of Itawah mint dated A.H. 1102 (1690--91 A.D.) Regnal Year 34 with poetic legend replacing the Kalima in praise of Aurangzeb on obverse (top image) and formulaic legend containing Mint name, Regnal year, etc. on reverse (bottom image)

Silver Rupee issued by East India Company in the name of Shah Alam II from Murshidabad with Fixed Regnal Year 19 with obverse legend praising Shah Alam II (top image) and date and mint name on reverse (bottom legend)

Akbar initially issued coins with the Kalima till 1585 A.D. but in the thirtieth year of his reign he found the new religious creed ‘Din-i-Illahi’ and issued coins with the Illahi credo ‘Allah hu Akbar Jalla Jalaalah’ (God is great, may His glory be glorified). He also began dating his coins as per his regnal era called Illahi era replacing the earlier Hijri era. He also introduced the practice of issuing coins with Persian verses praising the ruler which was emulated by all his successors.

Akbar’s successor, Jahangir (r.1605-1627) began his reign by issuing commemorative coins with portraits of his father and then issued coins with the image of various zodiac signs to illustrate the date; he resumed the use of Hijri era on his coins. Jahangir also bestowed upon his royal consort, Nur Jahan, the royal privilege of issuing her own coins, making her the first queen after Raziyya Sultan to issue her own coins. Jahangir also issued heavy gold coins as mementos to various dignitaries at his court. One such coin weighing around 1000 tolas (around 12 Kg) has been found making it the heaviest gold coin in the world!  It is currently in the Museum of Islamic Art in Kuwait.

Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658) began his rule by reintroducing the Kalima on his coinage and using the title ‘Sahib-e-Qiran Sani’ (the Second Lord of Fortunate Astronomic Conjunctions) based on an earlier title used by Timur on his coins. Shah Jahan turned to appease the orthodox clergy by ordering the melting of Jehangir’s portrait coins and employed the Kalima almost exclusively on the coinage.

His successor, Aurangzeb (r.1658-1707) forbade the use of Kalima to prevent its defiling as they passed through the hands of men! His coins used poetic verses to praise his rule on the obverse and the reverse had a formula that was copied by all succeeding Mughals including the regnal year of the Emperor along with the name of the minting town.

Aurangzeb’s death in 1707 A.D. began the downward slide of the great Mughal Empire with the emergence of regional and foreign powers who slowly usurped the minting privileges of the Mughal emperor. Farrukhsiyar (r.1713-1719) began the policy of issuing Farmaans for minting rights to interested powers. The East India Company obtained the rights to mint coins in the name of the Mughal Emperor from Bombay in 1717.

The Mughal power further reduced during the reign of Muhammad Shah when Delhi was sacked by the Persian adventurer Nadir Shah in 1739 A.D.  Muhammad Shah’s subordinates like the Nizam-ul-Mulk of Hyderabad and Saadat Ali Khan, Nawab of Awadh retreated to their provincial capitals to create their own kingdoms and issue their own coinages. The Mughal power was totally shattered when Shah Alam II (r.1759-1806) lost the Battle of Buxar in 1764 A.D. to the East India Company’s army and became a puppet in the hands of the British when the British entered Delhi in 1803 A.D. The British continued to issue coins in Shah Alam’s name till his death and his successor Muhammad Akbar II (r.1806-1837) forfeited the minting rights in 1835 A.D. when the British East India Rupee became the official currency of the country.

His successor, Bahadur Shah ‘Zafar’ (r. 1837-1858) became the central figure of the revolt of 1857 when his coin was issued by the rebel soldiers after crowning him the ‘Emperor of Hindustan’. However, he was finally deposed by the British in September 1857 and exiled to Rangoon.

Story of Indian Money - XVI - Regional Sultanates' Coinage c. 1347-1687 A.D.

The Dehli Sultanate reached its zenith under Muhammad bin Tughluq almost covering the entire Indian sub-continent under him as the South Indian Hindu kingdoms collapsed under sustained campaigns by the Sultanate's cavalry. However, the empire grew too unwieldy and the centre couldn't hold the vast and remote areas. However, another factor which worked against it was Muhammad bin Tughluq's eccentric and cruel nature which alienated his nobility and created the right atmosphere for dissensions both during and after his reign.
Thus, the Bahamani Sultanate and the Madura Sultanate came to be born in his lifetime. The former was born under the patronage of his Deccani nobles who combined forces under a Persian soldier-of-fortune, Zafar Khan who replaced the hesitant leader of the initial rebellion Ismail Shah and ascended the throne as Alauddin Bahaman Shah.  The latter was too short-lived yet has left good numismatic evidence of the same.
Thus began the Bahamani Sultanate with its own coinage majorly in silver and copper of which the latter was more profuse during one hundred and eighty years of existence which saw its fragmentation into five Deccani Sultanates of Ahmadnagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur and Golconda.
The coinage of these successor states was as colourful as their chequered history with variation in legends related to their Shiite faith and even adoption of South Indian gold pagodas and Persian larins (hairpin shaped coins with the name of the king originated in Laristan region of Persia) as testimony of their existence. 

After Muhammad bin Tughluq's death more successor states evolved in his Northern and Western territories in the form of Jaunpur in North India, Gujarat, Khandesh and Malwa in Western and Central India respectively.
Even the erstwhile Rajput kingdoms regrouped under Rana Kumbha (d. 1468) and Rana Sanga (d. 1527) later but have left little numismatic evidence.
The successor states of Gujarat, Khandesh and Malwa lasted longer till the rise of the Mughals under Akbar the Great while their coinage evolved on local pattern. Malwa was under the Khaljis evolved its own coinage in the three metals, gold, silver and copper tankas with square shape as the preferred shape and beautiful mint marks as the hallmark of their coinage.
Gujarat on the other hand, developed its own coinage, popularly known as Mahmudis (after Mahmud Begada I, the Great Sultan of Gujarat) which had a longer circulation than the Sultanate due to its forging by later rulers as a defiant gesture to the Mughals!

Bengal Sultanate had its own long history of defiance of the central rule of the Dehli Sultans and had its own history of two hundred and thirty odd years from the period of Illyas Shah (r. 1342-1358) to the Afghan dynasty of Karranis. The Sultanate also had an uninterrupted coinage in silver which was intermittently transmitted to the coffers of the Dehli Sultans or held back for circulation. The coinage from Bengal was the probable inspiration for Illtutmish's silver tanka which became the standard coin of the Slave dynasty.

Kashmir was the only sultanate which did not come under the sway of the Dehli Sultans probably on account of its inaccessible location. It however had its own unique silver coinage called Sasnu (square in shape weighing around 6 grams with a twisted wire border around its legends) ; the Sasnu was complemented by the copper Kaserah (also weighing 5.5 to 6 grams having a line with a central knot between its legends)

Thus, each regional sultanate of the pre-Mughal period tried to lend a unique stamp on the numismatic history of the Indian sub-continent by playing around with metrology, calligraphic styles and shapes of the coins. The coins are a reflection of local calligraphic development as in the case of Jaunpur Sultanate whose sultans preferred the use of Tughra calligraphy a convoluted form of writing style developed in Turkey under the Ottoman Sultans.
The regional sultanates were gradually absorbed into the growing Mughal Empire which engulfed all of them in stages of its own evolution in a period stretching from 1530-31 when Humayun beseiged Malwa and Gujarat and also temporarily took over Bengal till 1686-87 when Aurangzeb engulfed and absorbed the Deccan Sultanates of Bijapur and Golkonda in 1686 and 1687 respectively.

Silver Tanka of Ala-ud-din Bahaman Shah founder of Bahamani dynasty styled  on Ala-ud-din Khalji's tanka  A.H. 758 c.  1357-58 A.D. 

Silver Larin of Ali Adil Shah II 1071 A.H. c. 1660-61 A.D.

Gold Tanka of Jaunpur Sultan Ibrahim Shah with Tughra Calligraphy on obverse

Silver Half Tanka of Mahmud Shah 'Begada' from Muhammadabad Champanir with long drawn out legends

Silver Tanka of Bengal Sultan Fakhr-al-din Mubarak Shah Hazrat Sunargaon  Mint

Silver Sasnu of Hussain Shah of Kashmir Sultanate A.H. 970 c.  1562-63 A.D.

Story of Indian Money XV - Islamic States of Dehli Sultanate & their Coinage c. 1192 - 1555 A.D.

Mahmud Ghazni (r. 998-1030) began raiding the Indian territories on a regular basis between 1001 and 1021 A.D. and established a Ghaznavid province in Punjab consistent with his Afghan territories in 1028 A.D. He issued coins with the Kalima (Islamic expression of faith) inscribed in Arabic with the title ‘Leader of the faithful’ on the obverse. His Indian coins have reverse inscriptions stating ‘dinara struck for cities captured during the Holy War with India’. One Silver Dinara issued by Mahmud in 1028 A.D. from Mahmudpur (Lahore) has a unique bilingual legend with the Kalima in Arabic on the obverse and its translation in Sanskrit on the reverse! 

Mahmud’s successors adopted the ‘Bull-and-Horseman’ type modifying it into a ‘Bull-and-legend’ type with the name of the ruler in Kufic Arabic script. 
The Ghaznavids were deposed by Ghorids in Ghazni and finally evicted from Lahore by the Ghorid brothers, Ghiyath-uddin and Muizz-uddin in 1186 A.D. Muizzuddin or Muhammad Ghori (known as Muhammad bin Sam on his coins) succeeded in laying down the foundations of the Dehli Sultanate by defeating Prithviraj Chauhan at the Battle of Tarrain in 1192 A.D.
Muhammad bin Sam copied the ‘Bull-and-Horseman’ coin called Dehliwalas with either side devoted to Arabic inscriptions and issued them in billon and copper. Muhammad  also copied the Lakshmi type gold coin when he captured Kashi from Jayachandra, the famed rival of Prithviraj Chauhan, with the Nagari legend ‘Sri Mahamada bini saam’! In Bengal, his general Bakhthiyar Khilji initiated a new gold prototype with the obverse image of a charging Turkish horseman with a mace and the Nagari legend ‘Gaud Vijaye’ and a reverse Arabic inscription with Muhammad’s titles.
Muhammad was succeeded by his slave general Qutb-uddin Aibak (r. 1206-1210); however, no coins are found in his name or his immediate successor, Aram Shah. 
Aibak’s ultimate successor, his manumitted slave, Shams-uddin Illtutmish (r.1211-1236) reintroduced the Islamic coins with Kalima as silver tankas while continuing the copper and billon Dehliwalas. The most important feature of these ‘Islamic’ coins was the total abhorrence of images and the use of exact date and place of issue. 
Illtutmish also began the trend of invoking the Abbasid Caliph on his coins to ensure his religious sanction. This trend was continued by all his successors; notably Rukn-uddin Firoz his son (r.1236) Jalalat Raziya his daughter and the first woman to ascend the Dehli throne (r.1236-1240). 
The Dehli Sultanate's 'Slave Dynasty' continued under Illtutmish’s clan till 1266 when the last ruler, Nasir-uddin Mahmud was replaced by Balban, the Chancellor of the Sultanate. 
Balban was succeeded by his grandson, Qaiqubad who was replaced by his minor son, Kayumarth. 
The dynasty was finally replaced by a rank outsider, Jalal-uddin Firuz Khilji (1290-1296); Firuz and his successor, Rukn-uddin Ibrahim (r.1296) continued the coinage of the previous regime. 
However, Ibrahim was soon deposed by Firuz’s ambitious nephew, Ala-uddin Muhammad Khilji (r.1296-1316) who soon embarked with his army to capture riches from Deogiri, Malwa, Gujarat and Rajasthan; he also captured rich booty from Warangal and Dwarasamudra through his general, Malik Kafur. Ala-uddin and his successor Qutb-uddin Mubarak issued heavy gold and silver coins. 
Ala-uddin issued his coins with the haughty title ‘the second Alexander, the right hand of the Caliph’ while Qutb-uddin used the arrogant title ‘the supreme head of the faith, the Caliph, Lord of heavens and earth’ in Arabic.

 Qutb-uddin was replaced by Ghiyath-uddin Tughluq (r.1320-1325) who continued the Khilji coinage. However, his successor, Muhammad bin Tughluq (r.1325-1351) ushered in an era of unsurpassed numismatic glory by producing numerous types of gold coins with fine Islamic calligraphy. He also increased the weight of his coins after his South Indian campaigns.

However, his greatest numismatic achievement was his attempt to introduce ‘token currency’ in 1329 A.D. when he attempted to replace silver and billon coins with a token equivalent in copper validated by the state! He engraved "He who obeys the Sultan obeys the Compassionate" to scare and fascinate people into accepting the new system. 

However, the coins were forged by locals causing a collapse in the system till the Sultan agreed to replace the copper coins with actual silver ones causing a heavy drain on the exchequer. Muhammad also issued a variety of coins with religious legends including the name of the first four caliphs; he also revived the use of Kalima on his coins. Muhammad faced local revolts towards the end of his rule with the founding of Bahmani Sultanate in Deccan in 1347 A.D. which issued its own coinage.  

Muhammad’s successor, Firuz Shah Tughluq (r.1351-1388) issued some coins with the name of the ruling Caliphs but had to sanction the use of billon coins due to the reduced revenues during his reign.

Firuz’s successors witnessed the formation of local Sultanates in Gujarat (1391), Jaunpur (1394) and Malwa (1392). 

However, the greatest disaster was the invasion by Timur’s army in 1398 A.D. which reduced the Sultanate’s domains to the outskirts of Delhi. Mahmud, the last Tugluq ruler died in 1414 A.D. inviting counterclaims from two powers; Daulat Khan Lodhi the governor of the Doab region and Khizr Khan Sayyid.

Khizr Khan succeeded in the power struggle leading to the founding of the Sayyyid dynasty. 

The Sayyids refrained from issuing coins initially but the second ruler Mubarak Shah issued a novel coinage followed by his nephew Muhammad who preferred the Tughluq standard in billon. Alam Shah, the last ruler issued fewer coins and gave way to Bahlol Lodhi in 1451.

Bahlol Lodhi retained only copper and billon coins with a new formula of issuing coins extolling the virtues of the ruler on both sides and seeking divine blessings for his rule; this type was preferred by his successors, Sikandar and Ibrahim.

Ibrahim Lodhi was killed in 1526 A.D. in the first battle of Panipat by Zahir-uddin Muhammad Babur, the exiled ruler of Farghana who claimed descent from both Timur and Genghis Khan laying the foundations of the Mughal Empire.

 

Silver Tanka of Mahmud of Ghazni with Kalima in Arabic and Sharada Script

Gold Tanka of Muiz-ud-din Muhammad bin Sam issued along from Ghazna mint with the name of the Caliph Al-Nasir 

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Silver Tanka of Illtutmish in name of Caliph al-Mustansir

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Gold Tanka of Ala-ud-din Khalji with title 'Sikandar Sani' 'Second Alexander

Copper 'Token' Tanka of Muhammad bin Tughluq with legend 'Man ata Sultan faqd ata-ur-Rahaman' 'If I obey the Sultan, I obey God'