Tradition · Sūr silver coinage · India
Sher Shāh's silver rupiya
Also known as Sur rupiya, Sher Shah rupee
The silver rupiya struck by Sher Shāh Sūrī at Agra and Delhi mints during his five-year reign (1540-45), fixed at 178 grains (11.53 g) of 97.5%% silver — a standard that was then adopted unchanged by the Mughals (Akbar's silver rupee from 1577), by the East India Company (Bombay rupee 1672, Bengal 1757), and by the Reserve Bank of India in 1935. The copper dām and the gold mohur rounded out the trimetallic system. The word rupiya itself derives from Sanskrit rūpya, 'wrought silver'. Few royal reforms have outlived their creator by so much.
- Periods
- Islamic Age and Bhakti Traditions, Early Modern Age
- Function
- Trade & production
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
Connections (4)
- Patron ofSasaram
Sher Shāh Sūrī's five-year reign (1540-45) was long enough to reform the land revenue, build the great trunk road from Chittagong to Peshawar, and fix the silver rupiya at 11.53 grams of 97.5% silver — a standard that the Mughals, the East India Company and the Reserve Bank of India all inherited unchanged. He is buried in a tank at Sasaram.
- Historical linkJahāngīr's zodiac rupees
Jahāngīr's zodiac rupees were struck to the Sher Shāh weight standard that the Mughals adopted in 1577.
- Historical linkKolkata: Fort William & the Maidan
The East India Company's Bengal rupee at Fort William continued Sher Shāh's 11.53-g silver standard; the Coinage Act of 1835 kept the weight across all Presidency mints.
- Historical linkReserve Bank of India, Mumbai
The Reserve Bank of India at Mumbai inherited the 11.66-gram silver rupee weight from Sher Shāh via the Mughals and the Company, retained until decimalisation in 1957.
On these journeys
Sources
Standard reference; Wikipedia Coinage of India.
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