1 Paisa Janjira Island

Janjira was one of the few princely states in British India whose ruling dynasty — the Nawabs of Janjira — descended from Sidi commanders, East African sailors of Abyssinian origin who had served as admirals under the Mughals and successfully resisted every Maratha and Portuguese assault on their island fortress for centuries. The right to strike coinage was among the jealously retained privileges that confirmed their autonomous status.

The island fort of Murud-Janjira, never taken by force, gave the state an unusual degree of negotiating leverage with surrounding powers well into the colonial period.