Tradition · Mughal zodiac silver coinage · India
Jahāngīr's zodiac rupees
Also known as zodiac mohur, burj coin
Mughal silver rupees issued by Jahāngīr between 1618 and 1624 bearing the twelve zodiac signs — Aries (meṣa) through Pisces (mīna) — on the reverse in place of the mint name. The reasons given by Jahāngīr himself in the Tuzuk-i-Jahāngīrī are two: his horoscope-mindedness, and the aesthetic pleasure of twelve different reverses. Aurangzeb later had the issue called in and melted on the grounds that it was un-Islamic, which is why complete sets are so rare today.
- Periods
- Islamic Age and Bhakti Traditions, Early Modern Age
- Function
- Trade & production
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
Connections (3)
- Minted hereAgra Fort
Jahāngīr's twelve zodiac rupees — Aries to Pisces, one coin per sign — were struck at the Āgra Dār-ul-Khilāfat imperial mint between 1618 and 1624. The emperor says in the Tuzuk-i-Jahāngīrī that he commissioned them for his horoscope-mindedness and 'the aesthetic pleasure of twelve different reverses'. Aurangzeb later had the series called in and melted on religious grounds.
- Historical linkSher Shāh's silver rupiya
Jahāngīr's zodiac rupees were struck to the Sher Shāh weight standard that the Mughals adopted in 1577.
- Minted hereLahore mint
Jahāngīr's zodiac rupees were struck at Lahore as well as Agra.
On these journeys
Sources
Standard reference; Wikipedia Coinage of India.
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