2019-07-23 Tue

Murshidabad is a town in the Indian States of West Bengal; once it was a capital of Bangla, Bihar, and Odisha. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, distributaries of the Ganges River.

During the medieval period, it came into the hands of the Mughal Empire, the Mughal Empire had made Murshidabad as the capital of West Bengal. The Mughal Empire ruled Murshidabad for about seventy years, with a jurisdiction covering modern-day Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa.

The old name of Murshidabad was Makhsusabad, later it was changed to Murshidabad by Murshid Quli Khan; the founder and the first nawab of Bengal, who served Bengal from 1717 CE to 1727 CE. Murshid Quli Khan introduces a coin with inscription Zarb Murshidabad in the year 1704 and the subsequent ruler also issued a coin with the same mint name Murshidabad.

During the Medieval period, Bengal was the richest Mughal provinces, later the European companies like British East India Company, the French East India Company, the Dutch East India Company and the Danish East India Company started conducting their business and operations around this city. Murshidabad is well known for the production of silk. The city was also a center of art and culture, including for ivory sculptors, Hindustani classical music and the Murshidabad style of Mughal painting.

This silver rupee was issued by Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah during the 24th year of his reign. The obverse of this coin is inscribed with the name and title of the king with the Hijri Year 1154. The reverse of this coin is inscribed with the mint name Murshidabad and regnal year 24.

Image Courtesy: Todywalla Auction