1/5 Rupee - Shah Alam II

Shah Alam II was Mughal emperor in name for decades while exercising almost no real power — blind from 1788 after Ghulam Qadir had him physically blinded, a prisoner of the Marathas for much of his reign, and eventually a dependent of the British East India Company after 1803. The Bombay Presidency continued striking coins in his name throughout, a calculated political courtesy that lent the Company's revenue collection a veneer of Mughal legitimacy it no longer needed to earn.

The date range on this issue spans sixty-six years, making precise attribution difficult without die study.