2018-02-09 Fri

During the reign of Krishnaraja Wodeyar-II, Hyder Ali was a Commander in Chief of Mysore. He soon became the de-facto ruler of the Mysore kingdom. He conquered Bednore, Sandra, Sira, Canara and Guti. The growing power of Haider Ali was a threat to the Nizams of Hyderabad, the English and the Marathas. The latter Nizam formed an alliance with the Marathas and fought the famous 1st war of Mysore.

The brave Haider Ali, with his son's involvement, fought the war and the British suffered heavy casualties. British had to sue for peace, and the treaty was signed which in fact defended Haider from further attacks. The First Mysore war ended in favour of Haider Ali.

When Haider Ali issued his gold coins of the Pagoda series he retained the Hara Gauri image on the obverse side of the coin and placed the Persian letter ‘He’ which is the initial of his name, on the granulated 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 beautiful gold Mohur of Haider Ali Khan was struck in the name of Shah Alam II. The obverse of the coin bears Persian legend ‘Ilah Hami Deen Saya Fazl Shah Alam Badshah Gazi’ while the reverse of the coin reads as ‘Zarb Bahadurpattan Sanah 15 Julus Mainamat Manus’ and Persian letter ‘He’ for Haider Ali. This coin was sold for INR 17,00,000 by Classical Numismatic Gallery.