Bhavnagar was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil, and this piece dates to the reign of his successor — a state still consolidating its authority along the Kathiawar coast during the broader Maratha-Mughal power vacuum of the mid-eighteenth century. The Mughal emperor named in the attribution, Shah Jahan III, reigned for only a matter of months in 1759 before being deposed, making his regnal citation on provincial copper issues largely a formality of legitimacy rather than any meaningful imperial relationship.
Bhavnagar was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil, and this piece dates to the reign of his successor — a state still consolidating its authority along the Kathiawar coast during the broader Maratha-Mughal power vacuum of the mid-eighteenth century. The Mughal emperor named in the attribution, Shah Jahan III, reigned for only a matter of months in 1759 before being deposed, making his regnal citation on provincial copper issues largely a formality of legitimacy rather than any meaningful imperial relationship.