Mughal – History and curiosities about coins

The 18^th century in Indian history is full of political turmoil. On the one hand, it witnessed the slow downfall of the great Mughals and the emergence of several regional powers all over the subcontinent; on the other hand it also saw the emergence of another powerful empire- the British Empire under the East India Company. The death of Aurangzeb in 1707 CE marked the starting point of the decline of the Mughal Empire. However, Mughals continued to rule nominally up to 1856 CE. They were regarded by all the regional powers as well as the Company to be the sole source of sovereignty in the whole of South Asia. Coins were still struck in their name and Friday prayers or Khutba were still read in their names in the mosques all over India. We will look at some of those 18^th century Mughal coins and the various interesting facts associated with them.

Since the second decade of the 18^th century, the centralized Mughal state faced increasing difficulties in resource mobilization. Their main source of income was the land revenue collected from the provinces. With the weakening of the Mughal centre, the revenue supply from the provinces became irregular. This is also evident in the later Mughal coinage.

Gold and silver coins were continued to be issued in the name of the Mughal Padshah from Delhi. But their value and number was declining.

Farrukhsiyar who ruled as the Mughal emperor from 1713 to 1719 issued Gold Mohurs and silver rupees from both Delhi ( also known as Shahjahanabad after the great Mughal Shahjahan) and Itawa which is situated in modern Uttar Pradesh. The gold Mohurs of Farrukhsiyar weighed around 10.90 gm and recorded the name and reigning year of the Padshah on the obverse and reverse respectively. The dates were recorded in Al Hijri following the Mughal Islamic tradition.

A silver rupee of Ahmed Shah Bahadur (r. 1748-1754) was issued from Khambayat or Cambay, a port town on the western coast of India known for its considerable importance in maritime trade. This coin was issued in 1748 (1161 AH) and weighed around 11.50 gm. The style and decoration of the coin followed the usual Mughal style of inscribing the name and the regnal year of the emperor in beautiful ornamental calligraphy.

Shah jahan III (1759-60 CE) was a titular ruler but issued a silver coin from Delhi. These coins are particularly interesting for the numismatists for their strange source of silver. At that point of time, the Mughal emperor was in a difficult position facing the advancing Afghans. The Marathas from the south India marched towards Delhi to help the Mughal emperor. The Maratha general Sadashiv Rau Bhao reached Delhi to help the Emperor but he was short in cash which was essential to meet the expenses of the massive campaign against the Afghans. To solve this problem, he ordered the silver linings to be stripped off from the ceiling of the Diwan I Khaas and coins to be struck using that video porno gratis. Diwan I Khaas is a hall situated in the Red Fort, Delhi which was used by the Mughal Emperor for private audiences. Around 900,000 Rupee coins were issued using that silver.

Nuruddin Jahangir, the fourth Mughal Emperor’s reign (1605-27 CE) is remarkable in the history of India as a glorious period in the fields of art and culture, economy and trade, as well as political matters. He was the worthy successor of the Great Mughal Akbar as well as the able predecessor of another great Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal. The economic prosperity during the reign of Jahangir is well evident from the coins he issued. They are one of the best examples of Indian numismatics in terms of sophistication, artistic design and value.

The coins issued by Jahangir before the sixth regnal year is generally considered as his early issues. Here we will concentrate on his later issues, i.e., coins issued after the sixth year of his reign to the end of his reign.

Jahangir continued to issue gold, silver, and bronze coins. The obverse of the coins carries the inscription- Nuruddin Jahangir Shah Akbar Shah. The reverse is marked by the name of the issuing mint, the name of the Persian month, the regnal year of the Emperor and the year in the Hijri era. Though there were little variations over the year and some special issues, these remained the main issues of Jahangir until his 19^th regnal year. The special coins included a gold coin issued in a limited number between sixth and ninth regnal years carrying the portrait of the Emperor on the obverse. Some of these coins had a lion inscribed on the obverse. The Emperor is seen as either holding a cup or a rose.

The thirteenth regnal year of Jahangir is remarkable for the issue of the Zodiac coins. Jahangir replaced the name of the Persian months with the Zodiac signs denoting that particular month according to the Persian tradition. These coins are specially revered for their artistic execution.

Jahangir married a beautiful woman, Mehr-un-Nissa in 1611. The new queen is known as Nur Jahan or the light of the world in the Indian history. She is one of the best known figures among the Mughal elites. Nur Jahan, owing to her personality, gradually became the dominant figure in the royal court. She started influencing the state polities to a large extent. After some years of their marriage, the realm was virtually under the control of Nur Jahan. Jahangir became totally dependent on the Empress. And this fact is marked in the field of numismatic too.

By the nineteenth regnal year of Jahangir, there were coins issued which carried the following inscription in Persian-

“Zi Hukm Shah Jahangir zewar

Ba-nam Nurjahan Badshah Begum zar.”

The meaning of this couplet is, By order of Shah Jahangir gold attained a hundred beauties when the name of Nurjahan Badshah Begum was placed on it. This was completely an unprecedented event in the history of the Mughals; and, obviously a rare moment in the history of overtly male dominated Turko-Islamic stae polity. These coins in the name of the Empress were issued from the mints situated all over the Indian subcontinent including Lahore, Allahabad, Ahmadabad, Patna, Surat, Kashmir, Akbarnagar, and Agra.

Apart from the gold coins, there were also silver and bronze coins issued under the reign of Jahangir. They were mainly used by the common people for day to day transactions of small scale. They were relatively simple in style. They carried the name of the issuing Emperor on the obverse and the name of the issuing mint and the year on the reverse.

Tag: Mughal

Coins of Later Mughals

The later issues of Jahangir