2016-11-22 Tue

This silver rupee was minted in Alwar princely state during the sovereign of Maharaja Mangal Singh in 1788.

The Royal lineage of Alwar was ruled by Narula Lalawat clan of Rajput dynasty. Located in north-eastern part of Rajasthan today, it was established in 1722 by Rao Pratap Singh of Macheri. Rao Pratap Singh was descendent from the lineage who ruled Jaipur in the 14th century. Alwar was the first princely State to use coin minted in the Calcutta mint during British Raj.

The first issues of this silver rupee minted in 1877 were same as the weight and assay (quality of metal) as the imperial rupee. The obverse side of this coin depicts bust of Queen Victoria with the crown and royal robes with divided legend “Victoria Empress” within the toothed rim. The reverse features the inscription in Persian “Maharao Rajah Sawai Mangal Singh Bahadur” and the date 1788 AD. The date should be 1877 AD which by error was inscribed as 1788 AD.

Alwar princely State allied itself with East India Company against Marathas in early 19th century and later continued to maintain a good relationship with the Britain in coming year.

Alwar state merged with two other princely states to form Matsya union on 18th March 1948 and join the Indian union becoming the part of Independent India on 15th May 1949.