What to do at home? Mughal Islamic coins from India!

WillieBoyd2

I bought several Mughal India coins recently and spent some time attempting to read the Arabic text on them with the help of Richard Plant's book Arabic Coins and How to Read Them.

The Mughal Empire was a Sunni Islamic kingdom which lasted from AD 1526 to 1857.
Their territory included most of India.
Its capitol was Agra and briefly Fatehpur Sikri.
Agra was also known as Akbarabad and was the location of a mint.

The Muslim Kalima or statement of faith sometimes appears on Mughal coins in part or whole.
It is "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah".

The Rightly-Guided Caliphs of Sunni Islam are Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali.
Their names sometimes appear on Mughal coins.

The KM number is from Krause Catalog of World Coins.

Jahangir AH 1014-1037 AD 1605-1627

Mughal Rupee Jahangir Rupee Jalnapur 1014-1017
Silver, 19 mm, 11:43 gm, KM 141.6
Mint: Jalnapur

Obverse: Three horizontal lines of text
Line 1: Ghazi (Fighter for Islam)
Line 2: Jahangir Badshah (Conqueror of the World, Emperor)
Line 3: Nur-ud-din (Light of religion)

Reverse: Two horizontal lines of text
Line 1: "There is no god but Allah"
Line 2: "Muhammad is his messenger" and mint name lower left

Shah Jahan AH 1037-1068 AD 1628-1658

Mughal Rupee Shah Jahan Agra AH 1038
Silver, 22 mm, 10:47 gm, KM 222.1
Mint: Agra

Obverse: Four horizontal lines of text
Line 1: Badshah Ghazi (Emperor and fighter for Islam)
Line 2: Muhammad Shah Jahan (King of the World)
Line 3: Shahab ud-Din (Star of the Faith)
Line 4: Sahib-i-Qiran-i-Sani Ahad
(Second Lord of the Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, First year of reign)

Reverse: Three horizontal lines of text
Line 1: "There is no god but Allah"
Line 2: "Muhammad is his messenger"
Line 3: Sanat Dar-i-Khilafa Agra (Struck at seat of capital Agra)

The year "1038" is on the left side. AH 1038 is around AD 1628

Mughal Rupee Shah Jahan Akbarabad AH 1039
Silver, 22 mm, 11:31 gm, KM 227.2
Mint: Akbarabad

Obverse: Four horizontal lines of text
Line 1: BadShah Ghazi (Emperor and and fighter for Islam)
Line 2: Al-din Muhammad Shah Jahan (Of the religion, King of the World)
Line 3: Sahib Qiran Sani (Second Lord of the Conjunction of two Planets Jupiter and Saturn)
Line 4: Zarb Akbarabad (Struck at Akbarabad)

Reverse: Circle with two lines inside it and four lines around it
Circle upper: "There is no god but Allah"
Circle lower: "Muhammad is his messenger"
Circle top: Caliph Abu Bakr
Circle right: Caliph Umar
Circle bottom: Caliph Uthman
Circle left: Caliph Ali

The year "1039" is on the lower right side of the circle. AH 1039 is around AD 1629

Mughal Rupee Shah Jahan Patna AH 1051
Silver, 21 mm, 11.38 gm, KM 235.20
Mint: Patna

Obverse: Square with two lines inside it and four lines around it
Square upper: Badshah Ghazi (Emperor and fighter for Islam)
Square lower: Shah Jahan (King of the World)
Square top: Shahab-ud-Din (Star of the Faith)
Square right: Muhammad Sahib (Lord Muhammad)
Square bottom: Qiran-e-Sani (Second Lord of the Conjunction of two Planets Jupiter and Saturn)
Square left: Zarb Patna (Struck at Patna mint, regnal year 15)

Reverse: Square with two lines inside it and four lines around it
Square upper: "There is no god but Allah"
Square lower: "Muhammad is his messenger"
Square top: Caliph Abu Bakr
Square right: Caliph Umar
Square bottom: Caliph Uthman
Square left: Caliph Ali

The coin has no year visible.
The obverse has the regnal year "15" below the long letter within the square.
It equates to AH 1037+15-1 or 1051 which is around AD 1641.

Shah Jahan had this building built for his wife:

Taj Mahal, Agra

Aurangzeb AH 1069-1119 AD 1659-1707

Aurangzeb was a devout Muslim and had the religious messages taken off coins as he did not want them to be handled by an infidel.
No "In God We Trust" for him.
He had 47 different mints putting out coinage.

Mughal Rupee Aurangzeb Akbarabad AH 1081
Silver, 22 mm, 11.36 gm, KM 298.1
Mint: Akbarabad

Obverse: Square with two lines inside it and four lines around it
Square upper: Badshah Ghazi (Emperor and fighter for Islam)
Square lower: Shah Alamgir (King Conqueror of the World)
Square left: Abul Muzaffar (Father of victory)
Square top: Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad (Preserver religion of Muhammad)
Square right: Aurangzeb (Ornament of the Throne)
Square bottom: Bahadur Sanat 1081 (Brave in the year struck 1081)

Reverse: Square with two lines inside it and four lines around it
Square upper: Akbarabad (Mint)
Square lower: Zarb (Struck at)
Square left: Julus (reign)
Square top: Maimanat (prosperity)
Square right: Manus (associated)
Square bottom: Sanat 14 (Year 14 of his reign associated with prosperity)

The year "1081" is on the lower left. AH 1081 is around AD 1671

Mughal Rupee Aurangzeb Rupee Akbarabad AH 1117
Silver, 22 mm, 11:38 gm, KM 300.6
Mint: Akbarabad

Obverse: Three horizontal lines of text
Line 1: Shah Aurangzeb Alamgir (King, Ornament of the Throne, Conqueror of the World)
Line 2: Munir Bedr Cho Zad (Like shining full moon)
Line 3: Sikkah Dar Jahan (Coin struck in the world)

Reverse: Three horizontal lines of text
Line 1: Manus (associated)
Line 2: Maimanat (prosperity)
Line 3: Zarb Akbarabad Sanat Julus 49
(Struck Akbarabad in year 49 of his reign associated with tranquil prosperity)

The coin has no year visible.
The reverse has the regnal year "49" is in the lower left.
It equates to AH 1069+49-1 or 1117 which is around AD 1705.

Aurangzeb had this building built for his wife:

SaorAlba

One thing I notice is that there is a decent consistency with the weights of the coins, the Shah Jahan coin that is a bit lighter has more noticeable wear. It demonstrates a principal of Islamic belief that money must not be debased as it would amount to usury which is forbidden in their belief. Of course there were violators in that part of the world, but I appreciate that the Mughal emperors were above that.

Namvet69

That is one daunting variety. I've got two, one round and one rectangular. I'm going to dig them out and post images later today. BTW, great info for me. Peace Roy

FilamCoins

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. These guys sure didn't lack any confidence. Conqueror of the world? King of the world? lol

Namvet69

@WillieBoyd2 Okay, here's my 2 cents worth.
Best I can tell the silver guy is a 1908 Mughal 1 rupee 9.6 g, 18mm. The copper guy is a 1929 Wakhat 1 paisa 7.3g, 18mm. I defer to your expertise. Peace Roy

WillieBoyd2

Namvet69, are you sure of the date 1908 on the first two pictures?

Namvet69

@WillieBoyd2 I'm sure you know way more than me. The reference images I have indicate Ahmad Ali Khan of Maler Kotla and thick at 5mm. But I'm always looking for better reference details. Peace Roy

WillieBoyd2

Ahmad Ali Khan of Malerkotla coin looks right. The coin do not have dates. Malerkotla was one of India's Princely States.

Namvet69

@WillieBoyd2 thanks for the confirmation. So is there a date spread on this rupee? Rather than 1908. Peace Roy

coffeyce

I have started a small collection of these in the last few months. The are quite affordable and have a large variety of designs and sizes depending on the where they were made.
1657-1707 India Mughal Empire One Rupee Silver Emperor Aurangazeb


1658-1707 AD Mughal India Emperor Aurangazeb Rupee


1781 Mughul Emp Shah Alam II Rupee


1872 India States Bundi Queen Victoria Rupee


AH1286 (1869) Indore Rupee


AH1286 (1869) Hyderabad Rupee


I was also able to obtain a AH1204/19 1819 gold 1/4 Mohar

Namvet69

They're all mystically attractive. I can imagine walking around a souk with a bag of those coins. Peace Roy

TwoKopeiki

@WillieBoyd2 - thanks for sharing! Lots of history in those coins.

WillieBoyd2

Three more Shah Jahan rupees from Kandahar, Lahore, and Multan.

All three have similar designs except for the mint name, the dates, and the order of the Caliphs.

Mughal Rupee, Shah Jahan, Kandahar (Qandahar), AH 1051 RY 14 (AD 1641)
Silver, 20.0 mm, 11.41 gm

Obverse: Square with two lines inside it and four lines around it
Square upper: Badshah Ghazi (Emperor and fighter for Islam)
Square lower: Shah Jahan (King of the World)
Square top: (Off flan) Shahab-ud-Din (Star of the Faith)
Square right: (Off flan) Muhammad Sahib (Lord Muhammad)
Square bottom: Qiran-e-Sani (Second Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction)
Square left: Zarb Qandahar (Struck at Kandahar)

Reverse: Square with two lines inside it and four lines around it
Square upper: "There is no god but Allah"
Square lower: "Muhammad is his messenger"
Square top, left, bottom, right: Caliphs Abi Bekr, Umar, Uthman, Ali
Caliphs Abi Bekr and Umar are off flan

The year "1051" (last two digits) is on the reverse bottom. AH 1051 is around AD 1641.
The regnal year "14" is on the obverse bottom.
The feather or quill on the reverse left is a mintmark for Kandahar.
Kandahar (Qandahar) is a city in Afghanistan.

Mughal Rupee, Shah Jahan, Lahore, AH 1053 RY 17 (AD 1643)
Silver, 22.0 mm, 11.40 gm

Obverse: Square with two lines inside it and four lines around it
Square bottom: Zarb Lahore (Struck at Lahore)
Reverse: Square with two lines inside it and four lines around it
Square top, left, bottom, right: Caliphs Uthman, Ali, Abi Bekr, Umar

The year "1053" is on the reverse right. AH 1053 is around AD 1643.
The regnal year "17" is on the obverse bottom.
Lahore is a city formerly in northern India and now in Pakistan.

Mughal Rupee, Shah Jahan, Multan, AH 1043 RY 6 (AD 1634)
Silver, 21.0 mm, 11.43 gm

Obverse: Square with two lines inside it and four lines around it
Square left: Zarb Multan (Struck at Multan)
Reverse: Square with two lines inside it and four lines around it
Square top, left, bottom, right: Caliphs Abi Bekr, Umar, Uthman, Ali

The year "1043" is on the reverse bottom. AH 1043 is around AD 1634.
The regnal year "6" is on the obverse bottom.
Multan is a city formerly in northern India and now in Pakistan.

bidask

You know your stuff !