Sher Shah 'Suri', the emperor who 'coined' the rupee

Who introduced rupee in India? This question causes inquisitiveness among all. The answer is not unknown, but surely it is unthinkable.

Sher Shah Suri introduced the 'Rupee'. Who is Sher Shah Suri. He is the founder of the Sur Empire who ruled North India from 1540 to 1545 AD. He captured power from Mughal emperor Humayun in 1539 AD, breaking the chain of Mughal dynasty. However, the dynasty staged a comeback after Sher Shah. Akbar The Great assumed the power and the dynasty ruled for several years after.

A Coin Exhibition showcasing the history of coin-making, collection, and history of the Saifabad Mint in Hyderabad was inaugurated on June 8. It consists of interesting coins dated back from the days of yore. The following article will be about the coining of the word 'Rupiya' and the history of the first silver coin made by The Mint.

On Sher Shah Suri's arrival, he discovered that the monetary system had practically collapsed in India. The coins that existed had devalued, and there is no fixed ratio between the coins and various metals. Another issue was that coins from all previous eras were allowed to circulate as legal money.

The emperor brought many reforms to the administration and the most noteworthy of these were the changes in the coinage system. These coins and currency reforms of Sher Shah Suri proved very useful and had done away with a great deal of inconvenience which was experienced by the general public and particularly by the trading community.

He abolished all old and mixed metal currency coins. He fixed a rate between the copper and silver coins.

Silver rupee coins weighed 180 grains, of which 175 grains was pure silver.

Sher Shah's name and title and place of the mint were invariably inscribed on the coins in Arabic characters. Some of the coins he had introduced also had the names of the first four Khalifas.

The silver coins were known as Rupiya (a term derived from Sanskrit, raupya, meaning silver) which we use to this day.

The domination remained in usage through the Mugal, Maratha, East India Company, and British rules.