ObverseLegend,

naming Aurangzeb Alamgir, but with AH date 1143

Reverse Legend,

including mint name Burhanpur and regnal year 4

DateAH 1145 ( = 1731-32 CE)

Weight 10.7 gm.

Diameter 23 mm.

Die axis 9 o'clock

Reference Unpublished

Comments

This is a highly intriguing coin that may be one of the earliest Sikh issues. The coin is in the style of a Mughal rupee and names the emperor Aurangzeb. However, the AH date on the coin is 1143, while Aurangzeb's reign ended in 1118. Thus it is clearly not his issue. Who's could it be?

 

Apparently there are several known coin types that imitate Mughal rupees but have dates that are incompatible with the ostensible issuers; this coin seems to belong to this group. The coins are apparently found in the Salt Range, a mountain range in northern Punjab. So it appears that the issuer of this coin may have done so somewhere in the hill country of northern Punjab.

 

Although there were several tribal groups who can be located in this area in the early 18th century, the most prominent of these would be the Sikhs. The Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar had commenced a campaign against the Sikhs in 1716, forcing many Sikhs to retreat into the hills where they could hide from the Mughal armies. From their hill redoubts they would raid Mughal caravans and in this way would acquire quantities of Mughal silver coins. They could well have used this silver to create their own coinage, basing it on Mughal prototypes in order to make it acceptable to the local population.

 

The particular dates on this coin could refer as year "1" to the martyrdom of the Sikh warrior Tara Singh of Wan who was executed by the Mughal army. The Sikh general Nawab Kapur Singh, who was awarded the title of Nawab by the Mughals in acknowledgement of their inability to contain the Sikhs and to stem the steady loss of treasure to the raiding Sikh armies, dated his entry to the ranks of the Sikh army to the killing of Tara Singh. The earliest Sikh coinage acknowledged by Herrli (his type 01.04.04) is dated to 1734, the time of Nawab Kapur Singh. Further, Herrli argues that those first issues were "clearly the work of experienced coiners" (Herrli, page 48). Had they acquired their experience making coins such as the present one? That seems plausible.

 

Yes, this argument is speculative and calls for proper research to be confirmed or rejected. But, as a preliminary conclusion, it seems very plausible to me that the present coin could well be one of the earliest Sikh issues. If it is, it is of great historical importance.

  very pleasing example with full details. Reference taken from Vcoin

.

...#NumisHobbyShop.