Book contents
- Frontmatter
- INTRODUCTION
- PART I c. 1200–1500
- PART II c. 1500–1750
- VI Population
- VII State and the Economy
- VIII Systems of Agricultural Production
- IX Agrarian Relations and Land Revenue
- X Non-Agricultural Production
- XI Inland Trade
- XII The Monetary System and Prices
- XIII Foreign Trade
- XIV Towns and Cities
- XV Standard of Living
- Appendix The Medieval Economy of Assam
- Bibliography
- Map 10 Asia and the Indian Ocean: major trade routes and ports, seventeenth century
- References
XII - The Monetary System and Prices
from PART II - c. 1500–1750
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
- Frontmatter
- INTRODUCTION
- PART I c. 1200–1500
- PART II c. 1500–1750
- VI Population
- VII State and the Economy
- VIII Systems of Agricultural Production
- IX Agrarian Relations and Land Revenue
- X Non-Agricultural Production
- XI Inland Trade
- XII The Monetary System and Prices
- XIII Foreign Trade
- XIV Towns and Cities
- XV Standard of Living
- Appendix The Medieval Economy of Assam
- Bibliography
- Map 10 Asia and the Indian Ocean: major trade routes and ports, seventeenth century
- References
Summary
MONEY
The Mughal empire could well boast of one of the finest coined currencies in the contemporary world, a tri-metallic currency of great uniformity and purity, with the silver rupee as the basic coin.
Until the reign of Sher Shāh (1540–5), the principal coin in circulation in northern India was the billon sikandarī, a copper coin with a small silver alloy, which had developed out of the progressive debasement of the silver tanka of the Delhi sultans. The silver tanka had other descendants also, coins of more or less coarse silver, such as the muzaffarīs of Mālwa and the mahmūdīs of Gujarat. The Deccan sultanates also coined billon tankas. The coinage of the Vijayanagara empire was, on the other hand, based on the hūn or ‘pagoda’, a gold coin. This continued to be coined by the principalities of southern India and the Qutbshāhī kingdom of Golkonda even after the disintegration of the Vijayanagara empire.
Sher Shāh occupies an important place in the history of Indian coinage, because of his attempt at establishing a coinage untainted by any element of debasement. This was exemplified by his coining of the silver rūpaya, or rupee, together with coins of pure gold and copper. But it was really under Akbar that the system was firmly established.
The basic coin, the rūpaya, or rupee, weighed 178 grains troy in which the alloy was never allowed to rise above 4 per cent. Akbar's successors continued mintage of this coin, with certain short-lived additional issues of heavier rupees by Jahāngīr.)
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- The Cambridge Economic History of India , pp. 360 - 381Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1982
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