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1/2 Rupee - Devendra Naryan

Issuer Cooch-Behar, Kingdom of
Year 1763-1765
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Shape Round (irregular)
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Obverse description Hammered silver field bearing a multiline Persian-style inscription arranged within a rectangular frame divided by ruled lines into quadrants, characteristic of Mughal-derived coinage adopted by the princely state of Cooch-Behar. The legend, rendered in Nagari script, occupies the central zone with surrounding marginal text partially visible at the periphery of the irregularly shaped flan. The overall presentation reflects the regional adaptation of Mughal monetary conventions under ruler Devendra Narayan. The coin's surface displays the typical uneven strike and flan irregularity associated with hand-hammered production of the mid-eighteenth century.
Obverse script Devanagari
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Cooch Behar in the 1760s was caught between the expanding Bhutanese power to the north and the encroaching British East India Company to the south. Devendra Narayan's reign was brief and troubled; he came to power as a minor and the kingdom functioned largely under regency. This coin was struck during a period when Cooch Behar's political autonomy was already compromised — within a decade, the kingdom would formally request British military assistance against Bhutan, setting in motion a relationship of dependency that would last nearly two centuries.

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