Copper in Ancient India c8.s4: Copper Mints
Copper in Ancient India c8.s4
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Copper Mints
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The location of mints in which copper used to be coined would be of interest. The Ayeen Akbari says that gold coins were struck "first in the capital Agra, second Bengal, third Ahmedabad in Guzarat, and fourth in Kabul. Silver and copper besides being coined at the four above-mentioned places are also struck in ten other cities viz, Illhabad, Agra, Owjani, Surat, Dekhy, Patna, Cashmeer, Lahore, Multan and Tandah and only copper in the following 28 places viz., Ajmeer, Owedh, Attock, Allore, Badawar, Benares, Behkar Behret, Pulten, Jowhpoor, Jalundhar, Seharungpoor, Sarungpur, Sembehe, Kennaja, Rehutone, Herdewar, Hissar, Feerozeh, Calpee, Gualiar, Gorruckpur, Kelower, Lucknow, Mundow, Nagore, Sirhind, Secalhoote and Serownj.”¹ In Akbar’s time the price of one maund of copper was 1044 *dams* or *pysahs* (in value the fortieth part of a rupee) or about 24 rupees, and out of one maund of copper one seer was burnt out during minting and 1170 *dams* were coined.²
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¹ Gladwin’s Ayeen Akbari, Vol 11 p. 38.
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² Ibid., p. 40.
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Dr. G.P. Taylor³ has compiled an interesting table of Indian mints during the rule of the Moghul Emperors “commencing with the accession of Babar in 1525 A.D. and closing with the deposition of Bahadur (Shah) in the fateful year of the Mutiny,” from which the following list of places in which copper coins used to be minted has been compiled.⁴ It is to be noted that mints for coining copper coins existed in every considerable town throughout India during the Moghul period.
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³ G.P. Taylor, “the mints of the Moghul Emperors of India” (Journ.. Bomb. Roy. As. Soc., 1905, pp. 411-436).
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⁴ The names of places marked with an (*) are those in which silver coins were coined along with copper ones and with an (†) are those in which both gold and silver coins were coined in addition to copper.
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| Ahmadnagar† | Atak Banaras* | Bharatpur* | Chunar* |
| Adogam | Aurangabed | Bijapur† | Dadar |
| Agra† | Awad* | Buidraban | Damta |
| Ahmadabad† | Azimabad† | Bunch | Delhi† |
| Ajmir† | Bahraich | Burhanabad† | Dhar |
| Akbarabad† | Bairat* | Burhanpur | Elichpur* |
| Akbargarar† | Banaras | Champanir | Farrukhabad* |
| Akbarpur* | Bandarshahi | Chhachrauli | Farrukhnagar |
| Alwar* | Baroda* | Chitor* | Fathpur† |
| Amirkot | Bhakkar* | Chitrakut | Ferozpur |
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Gobindapur Gorakpur Gulburga Gwaliort Hafizabad* Haidarabad† Hasanabad Hisar* Illahabad† Illahabas Indrapur Islamabad† Ismailgarh Jahangirnagart Jaipurt
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Jalalnagar Jaunpurt Jhansi Jodhpur* Kabult Kachrauli Kalpi* Kanan Kashmir Katak* Khairpur Kharpur Kiratpur Lahort Laknau
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Machlipattamt Madankot Malpur Mandu Mangarh Manghir Manikpur Mirath Multant Muninabad* Muzaffarnagar Nahan Narnol* Patnat Peshwart
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Qanauj Qandahar Saharanpur* Sambal Sarhind† Shajanabad Sherpur Sholapurt Siroui* Surat† Tattat Udaipur* Ujjain Urdu Zafarquarint Walijacad.