Haider Ali was the sultan of the Mysore kingdom in Southern India. He ruled this kingdom from 1761 CE to 1782 CE.

Haider Ali began his career as a soldier in Wodeyar army, to his professional skills, he raised to the designation of ‘Commander in Chief’ in the army of Krishnaraja Wodeyar II. Later on, his career peaked and he was appointed to the position of Chief Minister in the year 1761. Haider Ali had fought very hard against military advances of the British East India Company in the first and second Anglo Mysore War.

During the reign, Haider Ali issued gold coins of the Pagoda series which depicts Hari Gauri's image on the obverse side of the coin and placed the Persian letter ‘He’ which is the initial of his name, on the reverse side of the coin. He also issued half pagodas and fanam in the same style. He introduced copper coins, showing an elephant on the obverse and the date and mint on the reverse side of the coin.

This gold fanam was issued by Haider Ali during his reign in Mysore, the weight of this coin is around 0.38g. The obverse of this coin depicts the image of seated ‘Shiva and Parvati’. The reverse of the coin depicts the Persian letter ‘He’ on a granulated field.

Image Courtesy: Todywalla Auction