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1/8 Anna - Shah Alam II
| Issuer | Bengal Presidency |
|---|---|
| Year | 1781 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse bears bold Arabic Nastaliq script in the central field, reading the regnal year formula indicating the 22nd year of Shah Alam II's reign. The numeral 22 appears prominently in the lower central field in Eastern Arabic script. Decorative six-pointed star ornaments and small floral rosettes are distributed around the field as separators and embellishments. A curved baseline inscription divides the field in a manner consistent with Mughal administrative coinage conventions. The toothed border matching the obverse encircles the entire design. |
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| Reverse lettering | سنه ٢٢ جلوس (Translation: In the 22nd year of his reign.) |
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| Additional information |
Shah Alam II was, by 1781, a ruler in name only — blinded and humiliated by the Afghan chief Ghulam Qadir in 1788, and already by the early 1780s entirely dependent on British protection following his defeat at Buxar in 1764. The Bengal Presidency continued striking coins in his name for decades after any real Mughal authority had collapsed, a bureaucratic fiction that suited the East India Company's need to maintain legitimacy with local populations still accustomed to Mughal monetary nomenclature.
The Pr#197 reference places this squarely in Pridmore's cataloguing of EIC copper, where these fractional annas are noted for considerable die variability in the positioning of the Persian script.