2019-05-04 Sat

Tipu Sultan also known as the Tiger of Mysore was the ruler of the Independent Kingdom of Mysore from 1782 to 1799 AD. He had made a number of administrative changes during his reign. He introduced new coinage, calendar system, seven new government departments, and made military innovations in the use of rocketry.

Today on this day in 1799 in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is invaded and Tipu Sultan was killed by the British army, under the command of General George Harris. The British, with the allied Nizam of Hyderabad and Maratha, achieved a decisive victory after breaching the walls of the fortress at Serinagapatam and storming the citadel. Tipu Sultan, Mysore's ruler, was killed in the action.

During the reign, he issued gold, silver, and copper coins from various mints such as Dar-ul-Sultanate Pattan, Dharwar, Zafarabad, Salamabad, Kalikut, Dharwar, Faiz Hisar, etc. He introduced a set of new Persian names for the various denominations.

The above shown gold Four Pagoda is known as ‘Ahmadi’ (Most Praised) which indicates one of the names of the Prophet Muhammad. This coin was issued from Pattan mint and depicted the legend ‘Huwa al-Sultan al-Wahid al-AdilTarikh-i-Julus Saal Sakh Suyim Bahari Sanah 7 Julusee’ on its obverse face. The reverse of coins bore the legend ‘Muhammad Ahmad Deendar Jahan Ast Roshan Za Fateh Haidar Ahmadi Zarb Patan Saal Sarab Sanah 1217’.

The Classical Numismatic Gallery sold this coin for INR 16,00,000 in an auction held on 2nd February 2014.

Image Source: Classical Numismatic Gallery