Later Mughals v1.c9.s41.t4: D.—Coinage.

Later Mughals v1.c9.s41.t4

Language: English

D.—Coinage.

v1.c9.s41.t4.2

*Sikka zad, az fazl-i-Haq, bar sim o zar,*
*Padshah-i-bahr-o-bar, Farrukh-siyar.*

v1.c9.s41.t4.3

"By the grace of the True God, struck coin on silver and gold. The Emperor of land and sea, Farrukh-siyar."

v1.c9.s41.t4.4

A parody of these lines was current at the time in Dihli :—

v1.c9.s41.t4.5

*Sikka zad bar gandum o moth o mattar*
*Badshah-i-dana-kash, Farrukh-siyar.*

v1.c9.s41.t4.6

"Struct coin on wheat, lentils and peas, The grain-gathering Emperor, Farrukh-siyar."

There are 116 coins of this sovereign in the three collections, at the British Museum, in Lahor, and in Calcutta ; of gold, 18 (14 of the large and 4 of the small issue), and of silver, 98 (circular 97, square, that is, the *dirham-i-sharai* or legal *dirham*, 1). One hundred and twelve are dated by the regnal year. Each year of the reign is represented, 1st (8 coins), 2nd (17), 3rd (9), 4th (7), 5th (19), 6th (19), 7th (29), 8th (4). All except 6 coins (3 places not identified, 2 forged, 1 mint illegible) can be classed under the *subahs* in which their mints were situated. These 110 coins belong to 23 mints in 15 out of the 21 *subahs*—those unrepresented being Kabul, Kashmir, Ajmer, Allahabad, Bidar and Berar. The number of coins from each mint is Lahor (16), Multan (7), Tattha (1), Dihli, 33 (Shahjahanabad 27, Bareli 2, Sarhind 4), Gujarat, 7 (Surat 7), Akbarabad, 11 (Akbarabad 6, Etawa 3, Gwaliyar 2), Oudh 1, (Lakhnau 1), Malwa 2 (Ujjain 2), Bihar 8, (Patna Azimabad 8), Bengal 7, (Murshidabad 6, Jahangirnagar Dhaka 1), Orissa, 3 (Katak 3), Khandesh, 4 (Burhanpur 4), Aurangabad (1), Bijapur (1), Haidarabad, 8 (Arkat 3, Adoni 1, Chinapatan 3, Guti 1). This distribution represents the facts fairly well: Kabul was practically lost, but the absence of coins from Kashmir, Ajmer, Allahabad and two of the Dakhin subahs, is difficult to account for.

v1.c9.s41.t4.8

The square silver "legal drachma" or *dirham-i-sharai* is a curious coin, and to all appearance unique. By its weight it holds the proportion to a Rupee of about one-fourth (exactly it is ·23, or 3 annas and 8 pie, taking the standard Rupee to have weighed 176 grains). From an analysis of the weights of the 97 circular Rupees, I find more than half (54) range between 175 and 177 grains, the lowest weight (1) is 166·5 and the highest (4) is 187 grains. These latter coins come from the Katak and Murshidabad mints, and are probably a local variation. The diameters range from ·80 of an inch to 1·1 inch; there are 60 of ·85, 34 of ·90, 11 of ·95 and 9 of 1·0. Judging from the above facts, it is probable that the standard Rupee was 176 grains in weight, and ·90 of an inch in diameter.