2018-02-19 Mon

Coins issued by Tipu Sultan during the first four years of his reign bear the Hijri date in which dates are read from left to right. During the fifth year of his reign, he introduced Mauludi year in which the dates are written from right to left. The word Mauludi was derived from ‘Maulud-i-Muhammad’ which took its origin from the birth of Prophet Muhammad. Coins of the first four years of his reign are dated till 1200 AH, while coins from the fifth year bear the date from 1215 AM.

Tipu Sultan issued coins in gold, silver, and copper. He had also given a different name to all denominations that he had issued. All the gold and silver coins were named after the names of Muhammadan saints, Khalifas, and Imams. His copper coins had names of planets, e.g., ‘Paisa’ is also known as ‘Zohra’, ‘ Zohra’ is the Persian name of Planet ‘Venus’; ‘Half-Paisa’ is also known as ‘Behram’, ‘Behram’ is Persian name of Planet ‘Mars’, ‘Quarter-Paisa’ is also known as ‘Akhtar’, ‘Akhtar’ is the word for star.

This gold Double pagoda, also known as Siddiqui was issued by him from the mint at Patan. It was issued by him during the 8th year of his reign i.e. during the Mauludi Year 1218. The weight of the coin is around 6.8g. The obverse of this coin is inscribed as ‘Muhammad Ahmad Din Dar Jahan Ast Raushan Ze Fatah Haider He Sadiqi Zarb Pattan Saal Shita Sanah 1218’. The reverse of this coin is inscribed as ‘Huwa As-Saltan Al-Waheed Al-Adil Tarikh-i-Saal Sakh Seum Bahari Sanah 8 Julus’

Image courtesy: Todywalla Auction