2018-10-22 Mon

The Sur dynasty ruled the northern parts of India from 1540 to 1556 and was established by Sher Shah Suri. Sher Shah Suri supplanted the Mughal Dynasty during Humayun’s reign, establishing a dynasty which ruled for almost 17 years until the return of the Mughals. During the 17 years of their reign they ruled all of the Mughal territories from modern day Afghanistan in the west to modern day Bangladesh in the east.

Sher Shah Suri was a brilliant strategist and reformed the civic and military administration and re-organised the postal system in India. He also reorganised the entire empire and laid the foundation on which the Mughal Emperor Akbar built on later. What’s more...the First ever silver “rupee” coin was issued by Sher Shah Suri!

‘Rupiya’, the name for a silver coin of a standard weight of 11.66 grams, which was the precursor of the modern rupee, was also introduced during his reign! This coin shown in the image beside is a 11.14 g Silver Rupee struck in Bhanpur Mint, in AH 950.

The obverse has Shahada in rectangular border, names of Rashidoons and their titles around while the reverse has in border “al-Sultan Sher Shah Khallada Allah Mulkahu”, and Nagari legend “Sri Serasahi” along with other titles around and mint-name in the left margin.

Image Courtesy: Classical Numismatic Gallery