2018-06-14 Thu

This quarter silver Rupee or Charn showed beside was issued in the reign of Akbar the great. The obverse of the coin showed the Ilhai creed ‘Allahu Akbar Jalla Jalalahu’. The reverse of the coin depicts Persian legend ‘Bahman Ilahi 47 Zarb Agra Charn’

The name of the quarter rupee derives from the Charn, a Sanskrit word which means ‘one fourth’. In section 10 of the Ain-e-Akbari, the chronicler of Akbar’s reign gives an inclusive list of coins. In subsection 2 which deals with silver coins, we find the information referring about the denomination of the coins.

The Darb is half Jalalah, Charn is a quarter Jalalah, Pandau is a fifth of the Jalalah, Asht is the eighth part of the Jalalah, Dasa is one-tenth of the Jalalah, Kala is the sixteenth part of the Jalalah, and the Suki is one-twentieth of the Jalalah. The same fractional parts are adapted for the [round] Rupee, which is however different in form. It is evident that barring the first name, that of the rupee, the others are derived from the Indian tradition.

Image Source: Classical Numismatic Gallery