1 Rupee - Ranjit Singh Lahore

THE COINS OF THE SIKHS

The coinage of the Khalsa confederacy
It is still not clear who issued the first and today extremely rare Sikh coins, the so-called Khalsa rupees, but the beginning of a Sikh coinage meant for general circulation dates from 1765 AD. In the month of April 1765 the Sikh Sardars assembled at the Akal Takht Sahib and led by Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia founded the Sikh State by declaring their independence. They also decided to reconquer their lost territories and acquire new ones and to mint coins in the names of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh as a sign of their newly gained sovereignty. The first of these coins were rupees issued in VS 1822 (1765 AD) from Lahore, Amritsar followed in VS 1832 (1775 AD).

The coinage of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his successors
Although Maharaja Ranjit Singh was an autocrat he strove to be seen to rule his empire as the lieutenant of the Khalsa and in the last instance of Guru Nanak. When Raja Dhian Singh remonstrated with him on his wearing a dhoti like a humble servant, the Maharaja answered with the question:"In whose name are the coins struck?" Dhian Singh named Guru Nanak and Maharaja Ranjit Singh explained that he, in whose name the coins were issued; was the true ruler and the Maharaja only the Guru's humble servant. This story may well reflect Maharaja Ranjit Singh's true attitude; he never put his name on a coin (and neither did his successors), but surviving pattern coins seem to indicate that he once considered the introduction of anonymous pictorial rupees showing the ruler as a disciple of Guru Nanak.

The Sikh coinage started in the second half of the eighteenth century, reached its apogee during the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and ended abruptly with the annexation of Punjab by the British in 1849 AD. Although the Sikhs struck coins in about 20 mints, their coinage remained quite uniform until the end. Their rupees bear religious legends and never mention their issuer, but Amritsar, their main economic and religious centre, produced the most complex system of mintmarks in modern India.

The coinage of Lahore

The Sikh rupees of Lahore were struck at a mint outside the Taksali (or Taxali) Gate, which lies just south of the Badshahi Mosque. According to a British report of 1846 the mint had the capacity to strike 8'000 rupees a day. The coining of Rs 100 cost, due to the necessary amount of pure silver, Rs 98.5; it left the government just 1.5% for expenses and profit. As the annual profit oft he Lahore mint rarely exceeded Rs 3'000 it must normally have worked far below capacity.

- HANS HERRLI

This series of coins has two dates on the coin. There is a frozen date of VS 1885 on the reverse, with the actual date struck on the obverse.