1/2 Rupee - Shah Jahana Begum

Shah Jahana Begum ruled Bhopal from 1868 to 1901, one of four successive women who governed the state across most of the nineteenth century — an unbroken female succession unique among the princely states. Her coins were struck under continued British suzerainty, but Bhopal's nawabs retained the right to issue regal coinage, a privilege many contemporaneous states had already surrendered by this period.

The KM#28.1 and 28.2 varieties differ in die details accumulated across the production run, reflecting the informal minting practices of smaller state operations rather than any deliberate design revision.